East Coast

Sri Lanka's East Coast is the great unknown of international tourism, long kept off classic circuits by the civil war (1983-2009) that particularly affected the region. Since pacification, the eastern shoreline — 250 kilometres between Pottuvil in the south and Mullaitivu in the north — has gradually opened to travellers, offering a radically different experience from the south-west of the country: nearly deserted beaches, predominantly Tamil culture, still-virgin landscapes, developing infrastructure, and above all a tourist season in perfect counterpoint to the south coast (May to September, versus December to March on the west coast).

Arugam Bay in the south-east has become a mythical name in the international surfing world. Its crescent-shaped bay offers one of the best right-hand reef breaks in the world, attracting each summer (June to September) surfers from Australia, Brazil, the United States and Europe. The village of Arugam Bay has gone in fifteen years from a fishing hamlet to an international surfing hot spot, with its schools, shaping workshops, vegan cafés and guesthouses on the sand. Outside the surf season, the village recovers its calm and its fishermen.

To the north, Trincomalee (Trinco for regulars) is one of the most beautiful natural bays in the world — a strategic port coveted by every colonial power since the 17th century. The beaches of Uppuveli and Nilaveli north of the city offer fine white sand, turquoise translucent sea and direct access to Pigeon Island, a marine national park with its preserved coral reef, green turtles and harmless blacktip reef sharks. The region also concentrates the Hindu temple of Koneswaram perched on Swami Rock, one of the five sacred temples of Shiva in Sri Lanka, and the Kanniya hot springs used since antiquity. Between the two, the coast hides still-dormant treasures: Pasikuda (circular beach ideal for family swimming), Kalkudah, Batticaloa and its mysterious lagoons populated by singing fish.