Snorkelling

Ten days of touring, then four nights of doing nothing. This is the shape of trip that German and Austrian travellers ask for by name – a Rundreise with a Badeurlaub attached – and it is, for most people, the most satisfying way to use a fortnight in Sri Lanka. You see the whole island while you have the energy, and then you stop.

A marine national park twenty minutes off Nilaveli beach, with live coral, reef sharks and turtles in water shallow enough to snorkel from the sand.

The east coast's whale season runs when Mirissa's is over – March to September, peaking June to August. Sperm whales are far more common here than in the south.

When the monsoon reaches the west and south coasts, the east coast is at its best – calm, sunny and uncrowded. Begin with Sigiriya, then travel down the coast from Trincomalee's snorkelling reefs to the shallow lagoon of Pasikudah and the surf town of Arugam Bay.

When the monsoon reaches the west and south coasts, the east coast is at its best – calm, sunny and uncrowded. Begin with Sigiriya, then travel down the coast from Trincomalee's snorkelling reefs to the shallow lagoon of Pasikudah and the surf town of Arugam Bay.