Trincomalee and Pigeon Island from Sigiriya is Majeste's private day tour. It takes about 12 hours door to door and costs $105 per person for two, including your own car with an English-speaking driver, and the boat from Nilaveli, the park tickets and a mask and snorkel. Prices checked 7 Nov 2026. Nothing to pay now.
Snorkel the reef and see Koneswaram, with five hours in the car.
An east-coast day from the Cultural Triangle in the May to September season: a boat from Nilaveli to Pigeon Island to snorkel, with reef sharks and turtles on some mornings, not all, then lunch on the beach, then Koneswaram temple and the deer of Fort Frederick before the drive back. It is about two and a half hours each way through Habarana, so five hours in the car for a beach day.
Planning times from Sigiriya, not promises.
Pickup in Sigiriya; A6 via Habarana. Watch for elephants on the road at dawn.
Nilaveli beach: boat to Pigeon Island, ten minutes.
Snorkelling on the reef, two to three hours. Go early; the shallow reef is full by 10:00.
Lunch at Nilaveli, paid directly.
Fort Frederick, the deer and Koneswaram temple. Shoes off, modest dress.
Start the drive back.
Arrive in Sigiriya.
Koneswaram Temple
Free entry
Free. A working Hindu temple; no ticket.
Source
Pigeon Island snorkelling
$116.45
About LKR 15,000 (USD 45) per boat for up to 6 people, a 2025 figure, plus Category I park tickets with the gazette's boat fee of LKR 150: about USD 71 for two adults.
Source
Amounts are for two adults. Entrance fees for Sri Lankan residents differ. Message us and we price them for you.
Entrance fees last checked 7 November 2026. Activity prices last checked 7 November 2026. Rupee fees converted at LKR 332.5 to USD 1 (XE mid-market rate, 6 Nov 2026).
Good months: May, June, July, August, September.
Harder months: February.
From May to September the east coast is the right beach: June averages 25 mm of rain at Trincomalee against 205 mm at Colombo. Checked 7 November 2026.
Sigiriya is USD 35, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura USD 30, the Temple of the Tooth LKR 3,000; a park ticket for two is USD 71.86. Checked 7 November 2026.
January to March is driest on the west and south coasts, in the hills and the Cultural Triangle; May to September suits the east. Checked 7 Nov 2026.
Where the figures come from
From Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana) · about 11.5 hours
The medieval capital in the morning, an elephant safari in the afternoon
$154
per person for two, from Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana), tickets included
From Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana) · about 12.5 hours
The first capital, then 1,840 steps at Mihintale in the late afternoon
$74
per person for two, from Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana), tickets included, temple-run sites paid there
From Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana) · about 6.5 hours
Two climbs before 11:00, both tickets included
$76
per person for two, from Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana), tickets included
Example for 2, no date chosen
$105per person, rounded up$209.45 total
for 2 adults, from Sigiriya (Dambulla and Habarana), car
Nothing to pay now. You pay your driver in cash when the trip starts. Plans change? Cancel free up to 24 hours before pickup. Replies within 30 minutes, 07:00 to 21:00 Sri Lanka time.
