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Dive Trincomalee (www.DiveSriLanka.com) The virgin seas of the east East Coast Diving - April through October.		About Trincomalee - Map location - Getting there - Dive Operators - Accommodation




	Welcome to the ancient port city of Trincomalee! Lot of history here and what a beautiful place both for sight seeing and diving. It is said that the sea around Trincomalee is littered with ship wrecks as well as remains of Japanese Zero fighters which bombed the living daylights out of the massive fuel silos near the harbor. Dive Trinco! Visit some of its greatest high lights the MV Cordiality and encounter sharks at Black Tip Rock Blog about Trincomalee Diving!

Site Name

Type

Depth

Boat Time

Our Rating

Worth mentioning...

MV Cordiality
Wreck
18M 10 Mins from Pulmudai or 2 Hours from Trinco World Class One of the best ship wreck dives in Sri Lanka! The massive MV Cordiality with a full load of the mineral Ilmonite was sunk off the coast of Pulmudai by LTTE Terrorists in the late 90's. Now more than a decade later this is a haven for Fishlife!

Black Tip Rock
Reef
Fish

6M
15 Min from Nilavali Beach
Excellent
The coolest thing to do! Swim with about 20+ Black Tip Reef Sharks early in the morning at Black Tip Rock

Kotuwey Gala
Scenic
Reef
Fish
30M 15 Mins from Uppaveli Beach
Excellent
A scenic rock outcrop about 1 KM east of Swami Rock. Great dive site full of soft coral, anemones and other forms of sea life like Lobster, Moray Eel, Anemonefish, Pufferfish, Schools of Snappers, Lionfish, Mantis Shrimp. Has great visibility most days.

Admiralty Floating Dock 23

Wreck

Un

None

Unkonwn

One of the largest ship wrecks in the world, this 80,000 Ton dry dock is over 1000 ft long and 200 ft wide. AFD23 was moored beside the 30,000 Ton battleship Valiant when a giant buoyancy tank broke loose. The impact of these tanks from AFD23 caused extensive damage to the Valiant and thus she was retired from service.

Here is an amazing and hitherto unheard account of the sinking of Admiralty Floating Dock 23 on August 08, 1944 at the Trincomalee Harbor. This account is brought to us by Geoff Spooner as narrated to him by his father Commander Spooner RN Rtd. At that time Commander Spooner was Executive Chief Engineering Officer in HMS Renown and experienced the sinking first hand.

Swami Rock

Scenic
Rock
Fish

22 M

15 Min from Uppaveli Beach

Excellent
Dive to the past and peer at the replica of Lord Ganesh! Click here for pictures.

Sitanampara

Scenic
Rock
Fish

18 M

20 Min from Nilavali Beach

Excellent
A beautiful "rock called Sita". A lovely rocky terrain full of Stingrays, Moray Eels and other reef and pelagic fish.

Eel Rock

Scenic
Rock
Fish

18 M

15 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good
The rock of the Morays. A good place to see at least 5 kind of different Moray Eel species. Here, we bumped into the biggest ever Giant Moray we have ever seen in Sri Lanka! Also has lovely Sea Anemones, Nudi Branch's, and rarely seen species of a Pyramid Boxfish.

Small Grouper Rock
Scenic
Rock
Fish

15 M

15 Min from Nilavali Beach

Excellent
What a lovely dive site! The uneven rocky terrain was fully covered with beautiful hard and soft coral appears very colorful at this shallow depth. Hiding in crevices were all sorts of little denizens of the ocean ranging from Pixy Hawkerfish to spirited little odd looking Crabs waving their agitated claws at us. The abundance of color and reef life reminded us of our recent expedition to Great Barrier Reef. We were also intrigued by the very large and artificial looking square slabs that looked the work of man than the work of nature. Await pictures soon!

Muttigala
Scenic
Rock
Fish

15 M

40 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good
A Brand new site! About 5 minutes boat time east from the Irrakandy Ship Wreck. The place was full of Magnificent Sea Anemones, Maldives and Clarks Anemonefish, Panther Torpedo Rays, Blue Spotted Sting Rays and Trumpetfish. Click here for pictures

Coffin Ray Point
Scenic
Rock
Fish

20 M

25 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good
Another rarely dived site. This is just about 5 minutes boat ride east of Pigeon island and has a rock formation about 20 meters and deeper. However the best scenery is towards Pigeon island side. Over here you are guaranteed to see an Electric Coffin Ray which can pack a nasty 200 Volt punch. Click here for pictures.

White
Rock
Scenic
Rock
Fish

12 M

10 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good
A good place to bump into different species of Ray. Click here for more info and pictures.

Knife Rock
Scenic
Rock
Fish

15 M

10 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good
A nice site with lots of fish. Click here for more info and pictures.

Ship Wreck
Scenic
Wreck
Fish

9.5 M

40 Min from Nilavali Beach

Excellent
One of our favorite dive sites in Trinco. The ship is really a wreck but full of fish all the time. If you are lucky you'll be visited by the Captain... Click here for more info and pictures.

Pigeon Rock

Scenic
Coral
Fish

10 M
15 M

10 Min from Nilavali Beach

Good to
Excellent
Pigeon island can be seen from the Nilavali beach. It's that close. It's a lovely little island, uninhabited but surrounded by robust growth of beautiful coral. Ideal place for Snorklers as well as divers. There are good sites all around the island and you will always see lots of Bannerfish, Butterflyfish, Flutefish, Crocodile Needlefish, Turtles and Pufferfish. Be A.W.A.R.E and take care not to step and brake Coral as this eco system is very fragile and requires our protection. Click here for pictures.

Blog about Trincomalee Diving!

Site Name	Type	Depth	Boat Time	Our Rating	Worth mentioning...
MV Cordiality	Wreck	18M	10 Mins from Pulmudai or 2 Hours from Trinco	World Class	One of the best ship wreck dives in Sri Lanka! The massive MV Cordiality with a full load of the mineral Ilmonite was sunk off the coast of Pulmudai by LTTE Terrorists in the late 90's. Now more than a decade later this is a haven for Fishlife!
Black Tip Rock	Reef Fish	6M	15 Min from Nilavali Beach	Excellent	The coolest thing to do! Swim with about 20+ Black Tip Reef Sharks early in the morning at Black Tip Rock
Kotuwey Gala	Scenic Reef Fish	30M	15 Mins from Uppaveli Beach	Excellent	A scenic rock outcrop about 1 KM east of Swami Rock. Great dive site full of soft coral, anemones and other forms of sea life like Lobster, Moray Eel, Anemonefish, Pufferfish, Schools of Snappers, Lionfish, Mantis Shrimp. Has great visibility most days.
Admiralty Floating Dock 23	Wreck	Un	None	Unkonwn	One of the largest ship wrecks in the world, this 80,000 Ton dry dock is over 1000 ft long and 200 ft wide. AFD23 was moored beside the 30,000 Ton battleship Valiant when a giant buoyancy tank broke loose. The impact of these tanks from AFD23 caused extensive damage to the Valiant and thus she was retired from service. Here is an amazing and hitherto unheard account of the sinking of Admiralty Floating Dock 23 on August 08, 1944 at the Trincomalee Harbor. This account is brought to us by Geoff Spooner as narrated to him by his father Commander Spooner RN Rtd. At that time Commander Spooner was Executive Chief Engineering Officer in HMS Renown and experienced the sinking first hand.
Swami Rock	Scenic Rock Fish	22 M	15 Min from Uppaveli Beach	Excellent	Dive to the past and peer at the replica of Lord Ganesh! Click here for pictures.
Sitanampara	Scenic Rock Fish	18 M	20 Min from Nilavali Beach	Excellent	A beautiful "rock called Sita". A lovely rocky terrain full of Stingrays, Moray Eels and other reef and pelagic fish.
Eel Rock	Scenic Rock Fish	18 M	15 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good	The rock of the Morays. A good place to see at least 5 kind of different Moray Eel species. Here, we bumped into the biggest ever Giant Moray we have ever seen in Sri Lanka! Also has lovely Sea Anemones, Nudi Branch's, and rarely seen species of a Pyramid Boxfish.
Small Grouper Rock	Scenic Rock Fish	15 M	15 Min from Nilavali Beach	Excellent	What a lovely dive site! The uneven rocky terrain was fully covered with beautiful hard and soft coral appears very colorful at this shallow depth. Hiding in crevices were all sorts of little denizens of the ocean ranging from Pixy Hawkerfish to spirited little odd looking Crabs waving their agitated claws at us. The abundance of color and reef life reminded us of our recent expedition to Great Barrier Reef. We were also intrigued by the very large and artificial looking square slabs that looked the work of man than the work of nature. Await pictures soon!
Muttigala	Scenic Rock Fish	15 M	40 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good	A Brand new site! About 5 minutes boat time east from the Irrakandy Ship Wreck. The place was full of Magnificent Sea Anemones, Maldives and Clarks Anemonefish, Panther Torpedo Rays, Blue Spotted Sting Rays and Trumpetfish. Click here for pictures
Coffin Ray Point	Scenic Rock Fish	20 M	25 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good	Another rarely dived site. This is just about 5 minutes boat ride east of Pigeon island and has a rock formation about 20 meters and deeper. However the best scenery is towards Pigeon island side. Over here you are guaranteed to see an Electric Coffin Ray which can pack a nasty 200 Volt punch. Click here for pictures.
White Rock	Scenic Rock Fish	12 M	10 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good	A good place to bump into different species of Ray. Click here for more info and pictures.
Knife Rock	Scenic Rock Fish	15 M	10 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good	A nice site with lots of fish. Click here for more info and pictures.
Ship Wreck	Scenic Wreck Fish	9.5 M	40 Min from Nilavali Beach	Excellent	One of our favorite dive sites in Trinco. The ship is really a wreck but full of fish all the time. If you are lucky you'll be visited by the Captain... Click here for more info and pictures.
Pigeon Rock	Scenic Coral Fish	10 M 15 M	10 Min from Nilavali Beach	Good to Excellent	Pigeon island can be seen from the Nilavali beach. It's that close. It's a lovely little island, uninhabited but surrounded by robust growth of beautiful coral. Ideal place for Snorklers as well as divers. There are good sites all around the island and you will always see lots of Bannerfish, Butterflyfish, Flutefish, Crocodile Needlefish, Turtles and Pufferfish. Be A.W.A.R.E and take care not to step and brake Coral as this eco system is very fragile and requires our protection. Click here for pictures.