Finding the beach in Trincomalee

When we hear "tourist beach resort," I guess what normally comes to mind is similar to what we found in Hikkaduwa. A road with shops/restaurants/accommodation on both sides, and a beach near by. 
Or, even better, with shops/restaurants/accommodation on one side of the road, and the beach on the other like in Unawatuna. 
What we have found here in Sri Lanka however, is that most of the time, it's not quite like that. 
Resorts/ hotels seem to own the beach. So unless you are staying there, it can sometimes be really difficult to even get to the beach. And if, heaven forbid, you wanted to eat somewhere else, or go shopping, you have to get a taxi to take you. 
It's clever marketing on the side of the businesses, but really inconvenient as a traveller (unless you have a tuktuk like we do.)

Beautiful but secluded Nilaveli beach.

We had heard that Uppuveli and Nilaveli north of Trinco were beautiful beaches with a good selection of rooms etc. 
What we found was, really different. When we finally did find it!
If it wasn't for a tiny tiny sign advertising a guesthouse that we had read about in the guidebook and knew to be on the beach, we would have driven straight past and missed the beach!

In Uppuveli, there was a small splattering of accommodations along the beach, but not really anywhere else to eat..
Nilaveli was so spread out, it was almost impossible to even locate the accommodation, let alone try to find somewhere different from the hotel to eat!! If you want seclusion, and a private beach resort holiday where you really don't need to move further than between your room, the restaurant and the beach, well Nilaveli is for you! The beach is beautiful that's for sure.

Beautiful Uppuveli beach.

Uppuveli was also nice, but we like to be able to explore and eat in different places, and preferably, to eat local food. After all, we didn't travel all of this way to eat pizza! So we found ourselves driving into Trinco town for most meals.

Colonial Trinco. So quaint!

Trinco town is actually super cute! It's a very colonial style place, with lots of old architecture and even wild dear wandering around. The fort has been well restored and, whilst still being an active military facility, is also home to Swami Rock, a beautiful temple on the top of the hill.

The Swami temple on top of Swami rock.

The view of the ocean from the top of Swami rock. You can even scuba dive around here!

The views from Swami rock are just gorgeous!! Just look at the colour of that water!!

From Swami rock looking back towards Uppuveli.

We actually much preferred the beaches in Trinco near the fort. The water was crystal clear - the clearest and most beautiful water we have seen in Sri Lanka so far, and the waves were really small and perfect for swimming with Gypsy!

Our favourite beach! Trincomalee beach!

So whilst Uppuveli and Nilaveli are both also nice, if you find yourself in Trinco, do make the effort to go and explore Trinco town aswell. You won't be dissappointed!

The water around Trinco fort. And no this photo ISN'T enhanced! This is how stunning the water was!!