Trincomalee tide times

Trincomalee Harbour occupies the northeastern tip of Sri Lanka, where the Koddiyar Bay and the Inner Harbour basin are enclosed by a series of headlands forming one of the world's great natural deep-water anchorages — approximately 5 kilometres wide, 10 kilometres deep, with minimum channel depths of 15 to 20 metres throughout the main basin. Fort Frederick stands on the headland that forms the eastern arm of the harbour entrance; the original Portuguese fort of 1624 was rebuilt by the Dutch in 1665 and substantially modified by the British. The Koneswaram Temple (Koneswaram Kovil), one of the five Isvarams of Shiva in Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu tradition, occupies the summit of Swami Rock at the fort's eastern edge — the cliff at Swami Rock drops 130 metres to the sea.

1 metres above chart datum. Two highs and two lows of unequal size each day, with the diurnal inequality producing one larger and one smaller cycle within each 24-hour period. The tidal current inside the harbour is modest by open-coast standards; the large enclosed basin moderates the current that the tidal exchange drives.

The harbour's strategic value comes from its combination of depth, shelter, and size: it can accommodate large-draft vessels year-round when Colombo Harbour closes to cargo operations during the SW monsoon. The Royal Navy established the Trincomalee base in the 18th century and expanded it through the 19th; during WWII it served as the Eastern Fleet's primary base in the Indian Ocean theatre. On 9 April 1942, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked Trincomalee in a coordinated strike (Operation C); the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, escorted by HMCS Vampire, was sunk by dive-bombers approximately 65 km south of the harbour — the first aircraft carrier sunk by carrier aircraft in history.

The wreck of HMS Hermes lies in 55 metres; it is a dive site accessible from Batticaloa on the coast to the south. Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) and sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) are reliably sighted in the waters off Trincomalee between March and April and again in November; the seasonal upwelling cycle in the northern Bay of Bengal concentrates prey organisms that attract both species into the offshore approaches. Whale-watching boats operate from the Trincomalee harbour jetties; the operators use forecast weather and known cetacean aggregation zones 20 to 40 km offshore.

The town of Trincomalee has a mixed Tamil-Sinhalese population; the Dutch Fort area, Marble Beach (4 km northwest of town), and Uppuveli Beach (5 km northwest) are the primary tourist-accessible sections of the coast. Uppuveli and Nilaveli beaches are calm from April through October (the SW monsoon calm on the east coast) and rougher from November through February. Shore angling along the Trincomalee headlands and the rocky promontories around Fort Frederick targets the trevally, barracuda, and reef species that concentrate around the structures at the harbour approaches; the incoming tide is the standard window.

The Kanniya Hot Springs, 8 km inland from Trincomalee, are seven natural freshwater spring pools of different temperatures attributed in local tradition to Ravana's footprint; the springs emerge from the limestone substrate at a constant warm temperature year-round, independent of the tidal cycle. Families and day-trip visitors from Trincomalee combine the springs with Marble Beach (4 km north of town on the harbour's eastern shore), one of the more sheltered and calm beaches near Trincomalee, accessible by road past the naval base gate with a tourist access permit. 3 metres on height.

NARA (National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Sri Lanka) is the authoritative Sri Lanka tide source and operates the principal gauge station at Trincomalee.