East Coast in early July - where to dive

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pelan-pelan

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We're off to East coast Sri Lanka in early July. Recommendations for dive operations? Comments on dive conditions, depths etc? Priority - dive safely and see fish and things, dive guides interested in the fish-life and environment.

We had a really good time with Polhena Diving in the South a year ago. Would have gone back there but we didn't have the opportunity.
 
July is technically east coast dive season but can be quite windy. Expect viz around 10m. Mostly shallow coral and rock reefs with a few deeper sites. Fairly easy diving, with the usual reef fish and a mix of hard and soft corals. You will find more coral than in the south, and interesting macro at sites like Swami Rock.

Trincomalee is the best known area and has heaps of dive shops. There is some nice diving in the Pasikudah area including a really nice WWII wreck but less options for dive shops. You can access it via a small operator. Basic operation but the guide is a nice guy and very experienced. You can ask Randunu from Polhena Diving Center for a recommendation in Nilaveli (Trincomalee) :wink: or feel free to PM me.
 
Thanks Nishan. Will take a look at Pasikudah. I have been in touch with Randanu.
 
Pasikudah options are limited. Much quieter than Trinco. I would recommend going to Trinco and if you have time plan a day or two in Pasikudah. The British Sergeant is the best recreational wreck on the east coast. I spend a lot of time there doing reef research so feel free to check in on conditions etc. closer to the date.
 
Pasikudah options are limited. Much quieter than Trinco. I would recommend going to Trinco and if you have time plan a day or two in Pasikudah. The British Sergeant is the best recreational wreck on the east coast. I spend a lot of time there doing reef research so feel free to check in on conditions etc. closer to the date.
Nishan can you comment on the reef health in Eastern Sri Lanka? My family is considering a trip to Sri Lanka in July or August and we are trying to decide how much of the time to spend snorkeling and diving. The last trip I had the chance to snorkel the reefs we were at were 95% dead, it was very very sad.
 
Where did you snorkel and when?

Reefs arounds Sri Lanka have beeen very badly impacted by coral bleaching. There is some good diving a bit deeper on rocky reefs and wrecks. On the east coast there are some decent coral reefs with reasonably healthy coral cover. The best known is Pigeon Island which has good hard coral cover, decent fish life, reef sharks and turtles. Another less known but nice coral reef is Kayankerni reef north of Pasikudah. July/August Pigeon Island tends to have more consistent conditions being a bit more sheltered from winds. Kayankerni/Pasikudah can get a bit windy but advantage is almost no tourists on the reef.
 
Where did you snorkel and when?

Reefs arounds Sri Lanka have beeen very badly impacted by coral bleaching. There is some good diving a bit deeper on rocky reefs and wrecks. On the east coast there are some decent coral reefs with reasonably healthy coral cover. The best known is Pigeon Island which has good hard coral cover, decent fish life, reef sharks and turtles. Another less known but nice coral reef is Kayankerni reef north of Pasikudah. July/August Pigeon Island tends to have more consistent conditions being a bit more sheltered from winds. Kayankerni/Pasikudah can get a bit windy but advantage is almost no tourists on the reef.
Thanks Nishan!!
Last July we did some very sad snorkeling all around Vieques, Puerto Rico. Blue beach, Green Beach, Airport beach, all so beautiful topside and very sad underwater. The coral was dead and covered in algae. We also snorkeled at the steps beach in Rincon PR; the coral was about 30% living there.
 
Hi Tara, sorry I misunderstood and thought you had snorkelled in Sri Lanka on your last trip. I think overall Caribbean reefs have much less coral cover than those in the Indo-Pacific although many reefs in the latter have also been severely impacted by coral bleaching. This is the case on shallow reefs on the west/south coast of Sri Lanka. But the east still has some decent coral reefs. It is not comparable to places like Indonesia but still offers nice snorkelling. The only drawback is there is no good shore based snorkelling and all the reefs need to be accessed by boat. But its usually a 5-10 minute ride.

A few pictures attached below.
 

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