There are two National Marine Parks in Sri Lanka and Pigeon Island National Park is one of the two National Marine Parks. It is located about a kilometer off the Nilaveli beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the Eastern Province, north of Trincomalee.

Pigeon Island gets its name from the fact that hundreds of endemic Blue Rock pigeons inhabit the island. Visitors can still see Blue Rock pigeons as they enter the island.


This marine sanctuary covers an area of ​​471.4 hectares, of which 9 hectares is covered by land. The rest is submerged and consists of coral reefs up to the park boundary.

Pigeon Island Marine Sanctuary consists of two islands known as the Large and Small Pigeon Islands. It was designated a Marine Sanctuary in 1963 and selected as a National Park in 2003.

Here you can see a magnificent coral reef consisting of coral reefs spread over an area of ​​about 200 meters long and 100 meters wide. There are about 100 species of corals that are very rare and are not found anywhere else in Sri Lanka. This has been identified as the highest biodiversity-ecosystem in Sri Lanka.