RedDot dash to Trinco

Red Dot are committed to regular hotel checks and May is a month which offers us opportunities to escape the office from time to time to check out new hotels and also to catch up with those who have become a well-known part of Sri Lanka’s holiday scene.

So this time it was obvious where we were heading – the east coast and Trinco, which is reopening to tourists again. Since May is the start of the beach season on the east coast, we were
all excited to see what Trinco holds for us.

I am not much of a beach person — everyone in office knows that — but I was actually looking forward to seeing the amazing white beach and clear blue seas of Trinco which I last visited when I was four-years-old. I still remember playing on the white sand.

We did a few stops en route in Dambulla, Sigiriya and Habarana to see some hotels. Amaya Lake particularly appeals to me because of its simple, natural feel, but the rest of the party told me it was time to go and pushed me into the minibus. So we reached Trinco rather late around 6pm. The clear blue sky and hot weather which prevails in this part of the island during this time of year was a great change to the monsoon-hit west coast. The evening was wonderful, the sea was calm, and the beach was so wide it was like a rugby ground. I was tempted to rush in and have a dip but the cosy room I was in at Chaaya Blu kept me back.

I was very keen on seeing the sunrise on the east coast for the first time, so I was up very early the next morning (after a late night) and walked down to the beach at 5.30am by which time it was quite bright. A lovely clear sunrise from the beach of Trinco was even better than I expected and this song kept playing in my head ‘Turn on the sun, turn on the sun light up the world, come everyone!’

I wanted so badly to jump in to the sea but since my swimming skills are a disgrace I decided to wait till the rest of the Red Dot team woke up and we all headed to the sea. You could keep walking in to the sea for a long time and the water was still only waist deep, perfect for me. I highly recommend a dip.

We also visited the Nilavali Beach where I stayed on my visit as a child, and this beach is even better and the sand was as white as I remember. We so wanted to spend the rest of the day dipped in this wonderful blue swimming pool but the clock was ticking and we had to head back to Colombo and visit more hotels on the way back (and Wilpattu National Park– which was not on the original plan but more of that in my next blog).

We drove to Anuradhapura from Trinco on the A12 road which was a wonderful drive. The road was a bit bumpy but it was all light jungle and beautiful wetlands along the way. Perfect for some birdwatching but no such luck for me this time!
The ‘season’ in Trinco lasts for most of the year and May to Oct is the best time to visit.

The newly-refurbished Chaaya Blu and Nilavali Beach Hotel are the two 4 star hotels you can stay here with Palm Beach Hotel a good guest house in Uppavali which can be recommended. I am sure other hotels and guest houses will now be springing up and rest assured the Red Dot team will be heading that way again soon to check them out.