Pasikudah & Vakarai

Pasikudah's bay is famous on land for its unusually shallow, calm, turquoise water — one of the few places on Sri Lanka's east coast where you can wade out a long way before the seabed drops away. That same shallow reef shelf extends the diving too, with lush coral gardens close to shore.

Further north around Vakarai, the diving turns genuinely exploratory. Several shipwrecks are known to lie in these waters, but many remain unconfirmed and undocumented — this is still very much pioneer-diver territory, with new sites and wrecks still being surveyed rather than a fixed, mapped-out dive trail.

The season runs May to October, in line with the rest of the east coast. For divers who want a genuine sense of discovery rather than a well-worn route, Pasikudah and Vakarai are among the most rewarding — and least crowded — regions in the country.