Pigeon Island Sri Lanka: How to Visit in 2024

Pigeon Island, a tiny island just off the east coast of Sri Lanka, is one of Sri Lanka’s hidden gems. Blessed with crystal-clear waters and an abundance of marine life, this is the best place to snorkel in Sri Lanka. 

The clear waters around Pigeon Island make snorkelling here very easy and a very enjoyable day trip. If you’re on the East Coast and want to get underwater, we recommend you make the trip out to Pigeon Island. 

Read on for our quick guide to visiting Pigeon Island, Trincomalee.

Pigeon Island National Park Location

Pigeon Island is located just off the northeast coast of Sri Lanka. The nearest beaches are Uppuveli Beach and Nilaveli Beach, located around 10 – 20 km from Trincomalee. 

Read our guide to Uppuveli and Nilaveli Beaches

Pigeon Island Overview

Tiny Pigeon Island is around 200m long and 100m wide. The island sits within Pigeon Island National Marine Park, which spans over 470 hectares, of which only 9 hectares are on land. The rest consists of a sprawling underwater aquarium of colourful coral reefs.

The island is fringed by coral reef comprised of more than 100 species of coral, making it unmatched by any other live coral reef in Sri Lanka. This diverse array of corals has created the perfect breeding ground for over 300 types of tropical reef fish. 

The breadth of live coral and the diversity of fish make it the best place to snorkel in Sri Lanka.

Read The Essential Sri Lanka Travel Guide (2024) for the best Sri Lanka travel info

Pigeon Island: Coral Reef Damage

Unfortunately, in the past decade or so, due to over-tourism and poor management, the coral reefs around Pigeon Island have suffered extensive damage.

After reading so much online about this damage, we visited Pigeon Island National Park with pretty low expectations. We decided to give Pigeon Island snorkelling a go anyways, and we were so glad we did. We were impressed with the abundance of fish, turtles and sharks on the main side of Pigeon Island and the beautiful corals on the ‘other side’ of the island (to find these corals, read our pro tip below). 

While the coral has been seriously damaged, there are positive signs of restoration. The Pigeon Island National Park Authority has created ‘no-go zones’, which they have cordoned off to prevent any further damage and to encourage rejuvenation.

Important: do not enter or swim inside the cordoned-off area to not interfere with the rejuvenation process. 

When to Visit Pigeon Island National Park

The best time of the year to visit the Pigeon Island Marine National Park is from April until October. Outside of this timeframe, the northeast of Sri Lanka has its monsoon, making it an undesirable time for Piegon Island snorkelling. 

Read our 47 Essential Sri Lanka Travel Tips for everything you need to know about travelling in Sri Lanka

How to Get to Pigeon Island Sri Lanka

Pigeon Island National Park is accessible by boat from either Uppuveli or Nilaveli Beach.

Trips out to Pigeon Island are very easy to arrange. Various guesthouses, tour operators or random fishermen operate trips out to Pigeon Island. If you spend any time on either Uppuveli or Nilaveli Beach, you’ll most likely be approached by someone offering a tour before you even get the chance to inquire. 

Our tip: unless you’re already staying on Nilaveli Beach, start your tour from Uppuveli Beach. It’s not worth making the extra trip to Nilaveli to start from there. Plus, it’s a beautiful ride and nicer to spend more time on the water. 

All companies in the area are pretty much the same in what they offer. A trip usually includes getting you there and back (30 minutes each way), 3 hours of island time, a snorkel set and some light snacks (cookies, bananas and water). 

All the boats arrive and anchor at the ‘front’ of the island, where the cordoned-off areas are. There is another small beach and area to enter the water at the back of the island. 

If you have enough time and energy you can swim around the whole island. It should take around 2-3 hours.

2024 Update: Unfortunately, the price of a visit to Pigeon Island has increased dramatically since we visited. It now costs 40 euros just to enter the Marine Park and most operators charge an additional 8000 LKR on top of this for the trip. Whilst it’s undoubtedly a stunning area to visit, the high cost is now a very real consideration when deciding whether to visit Pigeon Island.

Pigeon Island Snorkelling Tours

Of course, you can always pre-arrange a trip to Pigeon Island as part of a tour and there are many on offer.

What You Can Expect From Pigeon Island Snorkelling

Pigeon Island National Park is hands down one of the best places for snorkelling in Sri Lanka, so expect to see lots of tropical fish and other marine life. Pigeon Island snorkelling is a great activity on the east coast of Sri Lanka.

The tropical fish you can expect to see include ragged-fin parrot fish, melon butterflyfish, black-wedged butterflyfish, titan triggerfish and different varieties of angel fish. 

One of the biggest highlights for visitors is the sheer abundance of black tip reef sharks in the area. It is easy to see anywhere from 5 – 20 of them at a time, another reason it’s the best place to snorkel in Sri Lanka. Don’t worry, these sharks are not dangerous. 

You can also see different varieties of sea turtles including loggerheads, leatherbacks and the hawksbill sea turtle. 

If you look very closely you may also see cuttlefish, moray eels or lobsters hiding between rocks. 

Looking to do some hiking after your trip to Pigeon Island? Check out our guide to Duwili Ella, the best hike in the Knuckles Mountain Range

Pigeon Island Tips and Tricks

• Pigeon Island has no facilities at all, so bring anything you might need with you for the day. 
• That said, do not bring anything valuable. Unless you can bring it snorkelling with you, you will be forced to leave it on the beach or in the boat.
• Do not enter inside the marked area and do not step on the coral. 
• Clean your mask before going to the water with a defogger or spit saliva onto the glass of the mask otherwise, the mask will fog up.
• Leave nothing but bubbles.

Pro tip: the best coral is on the ‘other’ side of the island (opposite where the boats dock). Most people stick to the main side, but if you just swim around the island, you will be amazed at the vibrant and exquisite coral on the other side. 

Related: 21 Amazing Places to Visit in Anuradhapura in 2024

Where to stay when visiting Pigeon Island

The two best areas to stay when visiting Pigeon Island National Park are Nilaveli Beach and Uppuveli Beach.

Nilaveli Beach is hands down the more beautiful beach of the two. It’s also more remote and quieter, with fewer restaurants and less activity. It’s the furthest north of all the beaches, so will involve more travel to the attractions in the south. If you just want a quiet, pristine beach to hang out on, then choose Nilaveli Beach. 

Uppuveli Beach isn’t that particularly gorgeous, and rubbish can be a problem here, but it also has a great community feel to it. It feels like being part of a big, friendly neighbourhood.

There are plenty of good restaurants and bars on the beach, plus it’s centrally located, making it easy to get to any of the surrounding attractions. Choose Uppuveli Beach if you plan to spend less time directly on the beach and more time hanging out and exploring the area. 

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