Trincomalee on a honeymoon

Trincomalee suits a summer honeymoon because it offers a beach with something beside it. The sea is warm and flat, the sand is pale and long, and within a short drive there are temples, a colonial fort, hot springs and a marine national park.

The area is less developed than the south coast. Hotels are spaced out, cattle sometimes stroll the beach and the nightlife amounts to a few bars at Uppuveli. For couples who find Mirissa too busy, that is the appeal.

Nilaveli is the quieter of the two beaches. It runs for several kilometres with only a scattering of hotels, and Pigeon Island floats just offshore. The sand is wide, the water shallow for some distance, and by late afternoon you may have it to yourselves.

Uppuveli is closer to town and more sociable. Guesthouses, dive shops and beach restaurants line its southern end, and tuk-tuks into Trincomalee take ten to fifteen minutes. Honeymooners who want dinner choices should stay here. Those who want silence should choose Nilaveli.

Pigeon Island National Park is one of only a few marine national parks in Sri Lanka. Boats from Nilaveli land on a small beach, and snorkellers swim over coral gardens with parrotfish, turtles and, often, young blacktip reef sharks. Visitor numbers are controlled, and mornings before ten have the clearest water.

Whale and dolphin trips leave at about six. Blue whales and sperm whales pass the deep canyon off Trincomalee between roughly May and September, and pods of spinner dolphins are frequently seen. Nothing is guaranteed. Choose an operator who keeps a proper distance from the animals.

Trincomalee town deserves a late afternoon. Enter Fort Frederick through its gate, dated 1675, pass the spotted deer grazing under banyan trees and climb to Koneswaram Temple, a Hindu shrine to Shiva rebuilt on the site of one destroyed by the Portuguese in 1624.

Behind the temple, Swami Rock drops straight into the sea. One ledge is known as Lover's Leap, after a legend of a Dutch official's daughter who is said to have jumped as her lover sailed away. The story ends unhappily, though the view at sunset does not.

Four or five nights at Trincomalee suit a honeymoon, given the distance travelled to reach it. Good hotels are fewer than in the south, with a handful of resorts and boutique properties at each beach, so reserve three to four months ahead for July and August.

The drive from Sigiriya takes about two hours and from the airport five to six. Lankan Stays & Trails generally places Trincomalee last on a summer route and books an evening flight home, or a final night in Negombo, to keep the last day gentle.