Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Province :   Eastern Province

For nearly 26 years, Trincomalee didn’t have single tourist due to the raging civil war. In 2009 the bloody war ended, and the tourists began to return in 2010, and gradually tourism began to take off and Trincomalee’s stunning stretch of coastline has since become very popular.

The Sri Lankan blue whale was found by chance during a sperm whale research project conducted off Trincomalee Bay, in the early 1980s by scientists Jonathan Gordon and Hal Whitehead. They came across blue whales feeding in the bay  . The Sri Lankan Civil War erupted in 1983 as fighting broke out between the Tamil Tigers and the government forces, and raged on for the next 26 years, effectively ending research in the northeast of the country. The civil wars in Sri Lanka ensured that– no one was hunting them, no one was harassing them, they were left in peace .

The Sri Lankan blue whales are encountered along the south coast of Sri Lanka, off Dondra Head, near the village of Mirissa and in the northeast of the country off the deepwater bay of Trincomalee. During certain times of the year, the whales migrate westwards to the Arabian Sea past the Maldives and into waters north of Seychelles, and the Gulf of Aden off the south coast of Oman. 

Trincomalee is still much less well known as a whale watching hotspot than Kalpitiya or Mirissa, due to the area only relatively recently opening itself back up to tourism since the cease of the civil war. Trincomalee holds the World’s fifth largest natural harbour and the coastline here is particularly diverse and rich in different marine life.  Whale watching in Trincomalee is gaining popularity – & visitors have reported incredible sightings of the Blue and Sperm whale. The best time to see them here  is between August to October, due to their migration patterns.

Main Attraction :  Blue Whales