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Colourful fishing boats moored below the ornate golden gopuram of the temple on Nainativu island

Sample journey · 8–10 days

Beyond the lagoons: Jaffna and the islands of Sri Lanka's far north

Kalpitiya, Mannar, Jaffna, Nainativu & Delft

Photo: Thineshkumar Lingeswaran / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Many travellers know Sri Lanka through the Cultural Triangle, the tea hills and the south coast. The north is another world: flat, sun-baked land of palmyra palms and shallow lagoons, home mostly to Tamil communities, where Tamil is spoken and the rhythm of daily life follows the festivals of the Hindu temples. In Jaffna, worshippers gather at the gilded Nallur temple, markets sell mangoes and palmyra sugar, and the cooking is spicier and more of the sea than in the south.

For a long time this region was cut off from the rest of the island, and travel routes passed it by. Today it is open again, and guests are welcomed warmly, with none of the polish of the tourist trail. The journey suits curious travellers who already know Sri Lanka, love food and history, and are happy with simpler stays, from a guesthouse on a lagoon to a restored colonial-era house in Jaffna. The route is easy to adapt: the north combines well with the east coast or the Cultural Triangle.

The route

The journey

  1. Colombo
  2. Kalpitiya
  3. Mannar
  4. Jaffna
  5. Nainativu
  6. Delft
  7. Point Pedro
  8. Colombo
  1. A yellow bicycle beside a fishing boat in Kalpitiya harbour

    01Days 1–3 · Kalpitiya

    Lagoon, dolphins and wind

    From Colombo airport it's about three hours north, past coconut plantations and salt pans, to the Kalpitiya peninsula, a narrow strip of sand between the lagoon and the Indian Ocean. Two nights in a simple guesthouse on the lagoon shore, where fishermen's lamps glow in the evening. On the second morning, if the season and the sea allow, a boat out to open water with local fishermen, where large pods of spinner dolphins often appear, and occasionally whales. In the afternoon, a slow walk through the fishing village and harbour, where women dry fish in the sun, or, on windy days, a first kitesurfing lesson in the shallow lagoon. Kalpitiya is a small borderland between the Sinhalese south and the Tamil north, with churches, mosques and temples side by side, and the peninsula is a good place to recover after the long flight.

  2. Old brick ruins on a grassy shore by the sea at Mannar

    02Days 3–4 · Mannar

    Baobabs and a sandbar towards India

    On day three it's about four or five hours north to Mannar, a flat island joined to the mainland by a causeway. Just one night here, but the day is enough. In the afternoon, the old Dutch fort at the entrance to the island and a huge baobab whose trunk is said to measure almost 20 metres around; the trees are thought to have been brought by Arab sailors centuries ago. In the evening, Talaimannar at the island's tip, where the old pier looks out towards Adam's Bridge, a chain of sandbanks reaching towards India that features in both Hindu and Muslim tradition. In winter, flamingos and other migrating birds often gather on Mannar's lagoons. On the fourth morning, across the Pooneryn causeway and past the lagoons, about two and a half to three hours to Jaffna.

  3. The white and gold gateway tower of the Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna

    03Days 4–6 · Jaffna

    Temple drums and crab curry

    Four nights in Jaffna, in a restored house with verandas and a garden. The first afternoon brings the Nallur Kandaswamy temple, the largest and most important Hindu temple in the north: men enter bare-chested, and during puja the drums and nadaswaram pipes sound. In late summer a festival lasting several weeks draws great numbers of worshippers. On day five, around town with a local guide: the Dutch fort by the lagoon, the public library, destroyed in 1981 and later rebuilt, and the busy market with its mangoes, palmyra sugar and dried fish. For lunch, Jaffna crab curry, and in the evening, if you'd like, a cooking lesson in a family kitchen: odiyal kool, a soup where seafood meets palmyra-root flour. In conversations about the recent past, we let our hosts lead.

  4. The view from a wooden boat towards colourful boats and ferries on turquoise water off the Jaffna islands

    04Days 6–7 · Nainativu & Delft

    By boat between the islands

    Early on day six, along causeways across the shallow lagoon to the islands of Kayts and Punkudutivu, then by boat to Nainativu. On this small island, the colourful Hindu temple of Nagapooshani Amman and the Buddhist Nagadeepa vihara stand close together, a place sacred to both communities. Further on, if the weather allows, a ferry crossing of about an hour to Delft, the most distant island. Time slows here: low walls of coral stone, ruins from the Dutch era, an old baobab and wild ponies whose ancestors, it's said, were left by the Portuguese or the Dutch. We tour the island with a local driver and lunch simply in the village. Ferry timetables and seat numbers change, and boats don't sail in strong winds, so day seven is kept in reserve; if it isn't needed, it's a free day in Jaffna or a bike ride through the palmyra fields.

  5. People bathing in a turquoise temple tank with stone steps at Keerimalai springs, Jaffna

    05Days 7–9 · The Jaffna peninsula & the way back

    The island's northernmost point

    On day seven (or the reserve day, if it wasn't needed), a loop around the peninsula. In the morning, Keerimalai springs on the north coast, where fresh water rises right beside the sea and local people bathe in stone pools beside a temple. Then Point Pedro, Sri Lanka's northernmost point, with its lighthouse and fishing boats, the Manalkadu dunes and the Vallipuram temple among the palmyras. In the afternoon, Casuarina Beach on Karainagar island, where the shallow water is as warm as a bath. On the eighth morning, the train to Colombo: about six or seven hours down the length of the island, past Elephant Pass and across the plains of Vavuniya and Anuradhapura, watching the palmyras slowly give way to rice fields and coconuts. The evening is in Colombo, or Negombo near the airport, and on day nine you fly home. If time is short, a domestic flight is sometimes possible instead of the train.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The Nallur temple

    The north's most important Hindu temple, where drums and pipes sound during puja.

  2. 02

    Delft

    The most distant island, with coral-stone walls, Dutch ruins and wild ponies.

  3. 03

    Jaffna's kitchen

    Crab curry, odiyal kool and palmyra sweets: a spicier, more maritime Sri Lanka.

  4. 04

    Kalpitiya's dolphins

    A morning boat trip with fishermen, when in season large pods of dolphins often appear.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Slower

    One more night on Mannar and another in Jaffna would allow more time in the lagoons, birding spots and villages.

  • At festival time

    The journey can be timed for the Nallur festival in late summer; then we book stays well ahead and fit each day around the processions.

  • With the east coast

    From Jaffna it's natural to continue to Trincomalee and the east-coast beaches, where the season is usually best in summer.

  • With the Cultural Triangle

    On the way back you could stop at Anuradhapura and Sigiriya, making the north the first part of a longer Sri Lanka journey.

Practical considerations

  • The best time is roughly January to September, when the north is dry; from October to December the north-east monsoon brings heavy rain and rough seas, and ferries to the islands sail less often. April to August can be very hot.
  • The dolphin season at Kalpitiya usually runs from about December to March or April; the sea and its animals are unpredictable, so sightings are never guaranteed.
  • Ferries to Delft and Nainativu depend on the weather and their timetables change; we check them before you travel and on the ground, and always keep a spare day for the islands.
  • In temples we follow local custom: shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, and in some, men enter bare-chested. Stays in the north are simpler than in the south; we choose the most characterful we can find.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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