Pigeon Island Tour Prices & Nilaveli Excursion Costs

For the 2026 season, a seat on a shared Pigeon Island snorkeling boat costs €48 per adult at 8:30 AM or €50 at 1:00 PM, with children aged 6–11 at €28 and infants under 5 at €5. A private boat costs €85 to €340 for the whole boat, depending on how many of you there are. Pigeon Island combined with whale and dolphin watching costs €75 per adult on the shared boat or €150 to €440 per private boat. These are foreign visitor rates, and all of them include the national park entrance ticket.

Snorkeling on the shared boat is €48 per adult in the morning and €50 in the afternoon, €28 per child aged 6–11 and €5 per infant under 5. The price covers the national park entrance ticket, the return boat from Nilaveli, mask, snorkel and fins, a life jacket, bottled water and all park fees and taxes, and the trip lasts about 3 hours. If someone in your group cannot swim, add a snorkeling guide (lifeguard) for LKR 1,000 per person.

Yes. Unlike many operators who quote the boat only and collect the park ticket separately at the jetty, our prices include the national park entrance ticket, all park permits and taxes. The price you see is the price you pay.

€85 for one person, €115 for two, €160 for three, €210 for four, €260 for five, €300 for six and €340 for seven. The price is for the whole boat and includes everyone's park ticket, snorkeling gear, life jackets and bottled water. Infants under 5 travel free but count toward the maximum of seven on board. You choose any departure between 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM and stay 3 to 6 hours.

The 8:30 AM shared boat at €48 per adult and €28 per child aged 6–11. If you simply want the cheapest trip from Nilaveli, shared Angel Rock snorkeling is €15 per adult and shared whale and dolphin watching is €20 per adult. The Angel Rock trip lasts 1.5 hours; the whale trip lasts 2 hours.

The afternoon departure carries fewer guests and reaches a quieter reef, so it runs at €50 per adult instead of €48. Children aged 6–11 pay €28 and infants under 5 pay €5, exactly as on the morning boat, and everything included is identical. From 15 September to mid-November afternoon seas can be rough, so in that period we recommend the morning boat.

Shared Angel Rock snorkeling is €15 per adult and €10 per child aged 5–11, leaving Nilaveli at 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM for about 1.5 hours. A private Angel Rock boat is €40 for one adult, rising to €130 for seven. Mask, snorkel, fins and life jackets are included; bottled water is included on the private trip only. We do not recommend Angel Rock for children under 5.

Shared whale and dolphin watching is €20 per adult and €10 per child or infant for a 2-hour sunrise trip. A private dolphin watching boat is €80 to €150, private whale watching is €150 to €400 for 4 hours, and the full-day whale watching safari is €200 to €460 per boat. Blue and sperm whales pass Trincomalee roughly May to October.

Angel Rock 1.5 hours, whale and dolphin watching 2 hours, Pigeon Island shared 3 hours, private whale watching 4 hours, the whale plus Pigeon Island combo 6 hours, and the full-day whale safari 8 hours. A private Pigeon Island boat runs 3 to 6 hours because you decide when to come back.

Yes. Life jackets are free, mandatory and available in every size, and the reef at Pigeon Island is shallow and calm. Anyone who cannot swim needs a snorkeling guide (lifeguard) at LKR 1,000 per person, who stays in the water beside you for the whole snorkel and holds the float ring. Whether non-swimmers can go in depends on sea conditions and our crew's safety decision on the day.

Yes. A snorkeling guide (lifeguard) costs LKR 1,000 per person, paid in cash on the day. One guide looks after one person: they stay in the water beside you for the whole snorkel, fit your mask and life jacket, hold the float ring and lead you over the best coral. It is not a swimming lesson. The guide is required for non-swimmers and optional for confident swimmers. Add the number you need in the booking form and we bring them to the boat.

Yes. Children snorkel at Pigeon Island every day, wear life jackets at all times on the boat and in the water, and are watched by the crew. Angel Rock is the one exception — we do not recommend it for children under 5 because of open-water conditions.

No. Swimming, diving or entering the water with whales and dolphins is prohibited on our tours and regulated by Sri Lanka's Department of Wildlife Conservation. You watch from the boat with engines idled, then swim safely at the reef.

Seven is the maximum on Pigeon Island, Angel Rock and combo boats, and that seven counts everybody on board — adults, children and infants alike. Private whale watching takes up to six and the full-day safari up to four. Larger groups are split across two boats at the same rates, departing together.

No. Reserve with a message and pay cash on the day in EUR, USD or LKR, or by bank transfer beforehand. Paying online by card adds a 3.5% convenience fee. From 15 November to 15 March online payment is unavailable and bookings are arranged on WhatsApp. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure.

Safety decides. If the harbour master or our captains judge conditions unsafe, you choose between a free reschedule to the next available slot or a 100% refund. We check conditions daily and message you the evening before. No tour can be guaranteed in advance, and morning departures usually have the better chance of suitable conditions.

From 15 November to 15 March the northeast monsoon reaches Trincomalee. Weather and sea conditions change from day to day, and boat trips can only run on days when it is safe. During this period we take bookings by WhatsApp only and online payment is unavailable. We check the forecast for your date first, so you only pay once we know your tour can go ahead, and you never wait for a refund if it cannot.

May to September usually brings the calmest seas and clearest water. From 15 September to mid-November afternoon seas can become rough, so we recommend morning departures. From 15 November to 15 March the northeast monsoon reaches Trincomalee: trips run only on days when it is safe, and bookings are taken by WhatsApp only. Blue and sperm whales pass Trincomalee roughly May to October.

Yes, but it is never included in the listed price. The charge depends on how far your hotel is from the jetty, so tell us your hotel name and area in the booking form and we will confirm the exact amount before you travel. Pickup is available from Nilaveli, Uppuveli, Trincomalee town and Kuchchaveli.

You pay for it. Mask, snorkel, fins and life jacket are lent to you at no charge with every snorkeling tour, and while they are in your care you are responsible for them. Anything lost or broken is charged at replacement cost, settled in cash on the day. Hand the full set back to the crew when you finish and there is nothing to pay.

Yes. The prices on this page are foreign visitor rates, so they do not apply to Sri Lankan citizens and residents or to SAARC passport holders from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan. We price those bookings by hand. Select Sri Lankan or SAARC in the booking form, fill in your dates, group and contact details, and we reply with your price on WhatsApp, WeChat or email. The one exception is the shared Pigeon Island boat: it is sold with the foreign visitor park ticket and we cannot put you on it, so book the private Pigeon Island boat instead.

For the SAARC rate, every guest must bring a valid SAARC passport from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives or Afghanistan. That takes USD 5 per person off the national park entrance ticket. For the Sri Lankan rate, every guest aged 16 and over must bring a National Identity Card, Sri Lankan passport, SL driving licence, student ID card, dual citizenship certificate or resident visa. Bring the original document, because the park checks it at the gate and charges the full foreign ticket to anyone who cannot show one.

We are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. Messages sent overnight or from another time zone are answered the same way as any other — on WhatsApp, WeChat or by email. Our office is at 42/1B, 4th Cross Lane, Kannaki Amman Kovil Road, Gopalapuram, Nilaveli, and it is also where every boat tour starts.

Our team answers in English, Sinhala and Tamil, and this website translates itself into your device language automatically. Write to us on WhatsApp in your own language — we translate every message, so German, French, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and anything else is fine.

Email info@pigeonislandtours.com, or add us on WeChat at pigeonislandtours — useful for guests travelling from China. The booking form has a button that sends the same request by email, and a copy button if you prefer to paste it somewhere else. We answer all three the same day. From 15 November to 15 March, bookings are arranged on WhatsApp only.

Yes. We run jeep safaris in Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks from our Habarana base, alongside the boat tours from Nilaveli. A seat in a sharing jeep is €25 per person for a 3-hour morning or evening drive, €55 for a full day with two game drives, and €48 for the two-park combo. A private jeep for up to six guests starts at €60. Safaris are booked and paid on their own pages, with the permit issued on the spot.

No, and this is the one place where our pricing works differently from the boat tours. Minneriya and Kaudulla entrance tickets are set by the Department of Wildlife Conservation at roughly €30 per adult and €15 per child aged 6 to 12, including service charge and VAT. You can add them when you book online so there is nothing to pay at the gate, or buy them yourself at the entrance. Food and drinks are not included on any safari either.

It depends on the month. Minneriya holds the bigger numbers from June to September during The Gathering, when hundreds of elephants come onto the drying tank bed. Kaudulla takes over from about October to January, as the Minneriya tank refills and the herds walk north. Kaudulla is the quieter park all year, with fewer jeeps and more forest track. If you cannot decide, take the two-park combo and do both in one day. Either way we track the herd daily and take you to whichever park the elephants are actually in, at no extra cost.

Yes, and most guests do it over two days: Pigeon Island or whale watching from Nilaveli, then the drive inland to Habarana for a safari. Habarana is about 4 to 5 hours from Nilaveli by road, so a safari cannot be squeezed into the same day as a boat trip. Send us your dates on WhatsApp and we will lay the two out in an order that works.