The Eastern Province is one of
the nine provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th
century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to
the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and
2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the
North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee.
Eastern province has an area of
9,996 square kilometres (3,859 sq mi). The province is surrounded by the
Northern Province to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Southern
Province to the south, and the Uva, Central and North Central provinces to the
west. The province's coast is dominated by lagoons, the largest being
Batticaloa Lagoon, Kokkilai lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullackalie Lagoon. The Eastern province's population was 1,551,381 in 2012. The province is the most diverse in Sri Lanka, both ethnically and religiously. The population of the province, like that of the Northern Province, was heavily affected by the civil war. The war killed an estimated 100,000 people. Several hundred thousand Sri Lankan Tamils, possibly as much as one million, emigrated to the West during the war. Many Sri Lankan Tamils also moved to the relative safety of the capital Colombo. The conflict has also caused some of the Tamils, Moors and Sinhalese who lived in the province to flee to other parts of Sri Lanka, though most of them have returned to the province since the end of the civil war.
Nilaveli Beach in Sri Lanka
Nilaveli beach is considered one of the purest white sand beaches in Asia. It has remained protected from tourists and visitors for a long time because of the war and after the war thousands of people are visiting Trincomalee and the Nilaveli beach. With the reconstruction of the roads and the newly built hotels the visitor count is ever growing and the beach is losing some of its serenity. Nilaveli beach is relatively less crowded than most beaches in Sri Lanka and you want find many small shops or various other traders. Although this makes it ideal to relax sometimes it is an inconvenience because you can’t find a place to have a quick bite.
Nilaveli beach hotel is the oldest and the most prominent hotel near the area. Although there is a new luxury hotel in Chaya Blue. Most people who can’t afford a stay in a luxury hotel prefer to stay in small houses and small hotels in the nearby area. There are plenty of these around so you want have trouble finding one. Visiting Pigeon Island, going snorkeling in the nearby corals and dolphin watching are some of the activities available to you to do in your leisure time.
Pasikuda Beach in Sri Lanka
Pasikuda beach although popular among locals and well known among locals isn't a place frequented by locals or foreigners. Which is a bit strange because it is one of the safest beaches for sea bathing in the east coast. Because of the lack of crowd is very clean most of the time and the nave does a good job of keeping it clean. It has the basic facilities like fresh water bathing etc. as well making it an ideal place for a sea bath. You want find any shops or traders unless you go on a weekend and even if you go on a weekend you want find many people. There are no luxury hotels in the area and you have to do with small hotels or houses rented out for visitors.
The prices are very reasonable and you can get it very cheaply especially if you happen to visit on week day. The closest major town is Batticaloa which is about 20-30 minutes ride in a vehicle. Although the road is a bit tricky now it is being constructed and should be finished by 2011. Lack of hotels in the Pasikuda area is one of the major reasons why tourism is not taking off in that beach but some of the land are already bought by some hotel groups so in the future we are bound to see an increase in tourism in the Pasikuda beach.
Arugam Bay Beach in Sri Lanka
Arugam Bay beach is considered one of the top ten surfing destinations in the world and compared to most other famous beaches it is relatively less crowded as well. Because i it is far away from Colombo and also because of the poor condition of the roads leading to Arugam Bay, the beach has being kept relatively clean all these times. But because of the end of the war and also because of the roads being built in the east more and more people are visiting there and enjoying the waves. Because it is not attracting tourists like most other famous beaches there are not many luxurious hotels near the area, mostly they are small hotels with adequate facilities. Having said that there are small boutique like places where they have all the modern day facilities like cable TV and Internet and they do offer quite a variety when it comes to food as well.
When it comes to Arugam Bay the most popular activity is surfing. Compared to most other beaches in Sri Lanka you can surf here almost throughout the year but April to October it is perfect for surfing. You can easily buy a surfing board here and if you are a novice in surfing but want to try it out for fun there are special places that teach your surfing. You won’t become a professional overnight but at least you can try out something adventurous.
