Pigeon Island National Park

Pigeon Island National Park

Pigeon Island National Park
4
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Top ways to experience Pigeon Island National Park

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles1,233 reviews
Excellent
539
Very good
349
Average
194
Poor
79
Terrible
73

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Marta G
Appiano Gentile, Italy15 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
Price absolutely disproportionate to the experience. We paid 60 euros each for just 2 hours of snorkeling. We saw sharks and a turtle, beautiful water but in every other part of the world we have been such an experience costs a third of what we spent
Google
Written September 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

anibal p
San Esteban De Gormaz, Spain6,591 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples

Another of the many things I wanted to mention about this trip, and this country, keep in mind one very important thing, in most of the paid excursions, temples and places to visit, they are going to put your eyes out, while The locals pay a pittance, the tourists' pockets are bleeding, with super outrageous prices... The island park doesn't mean anything to me at all, an excursion to spend some time and little else, it's not worth visiting at all, you You stay on the beach of the hotel you are in and that's it... a big waste of time and money... DO NOT go...... Stay on the beach in your town.....
Google
Written October 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Colin B
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
Tricky one. I wanted to love it. Went with our 4 kids ages 16,13,10,10. It absolutely is not suitable for 10 year olds. The snorkelling on the near side of the island is rough and deep and not safe for young kids. Our guide did not inform us it was deep snorkelling with really strong swimming skills needed. We stopped after 5 mins to get life jackets for the 10 year olds but it was too tough for them. So they headed back with my wife. I continued with my older 2. We did see sharks and amazing fish. There are far too many people there. Our guide actually lost us meaning we ended up being washed up on shallow coral which was obviously awful for the coral. I think I’d have loved it if there had been half the number of people, had been half the price and we’d had a better guide and we didn’t have young children. Miss it if you have younger kids.
Written August 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

davoid k
Ciampino, Italy29 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
The place itself is very nice.
The equipment that the boatmen rent is not very worn.
But extremely expensive for what it offers, the coral reef is almost all dead, the fish are there but I didn't see any sharks or turtles.
For the same price you can visit a national park in
inland and see the elephants.
Google
Written August 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Meg B
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
We got an offer from a guy, just by walking by the water, to have a trip with a boat next day. It was so surreal, no paper work, tickets, just a verbal situation. We did not know till the last minute if our trip will happen. But it did! ant id was amazing! You have to go and experience it your self. No shops, rentals, suveniers, no civilization, just wilderness on a small island. Everything was pretty relaxing, just have in mind, to have enought water, blanket to sit or cover ourself (from the sun), get some food with yourself, and you can have a very nice day like no other.
Written December 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sue F
99 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2012 • Couples
We went to Pigeon Island through one of the guys on the beach next to our guest house - we paid 7000 for the two of us to go - this included the national park fees (which I think was more than 4000), some water and coke in a cooler and some indian snacks and fruit. We could choose our own departure times. We went at 8am on a weekend - definitely go this early if you can - we were one of the first on the island but later it got crazy busy with sunbathers(???) and families just swimming. We had our own snorkeling gear and the fish were fantastic - saw an eel almost as soon as I got in the water. Really stunning. We came back at 11am but if we'd realized in advance how good it would be, we would have taken books and more food and made more of a day of it. A must do!
Written August 14, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

bogi1995
Moehrendorf, Germany309 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019
That sounds rude, I know.

It is my first time, that I would have liked to give less than one point, but that's not possible....

I have already been there in 2013. Even six years ago it was not the "hidden gem" anymore but it was not too crowded and one could believe that the guards of the national park might be there to protect the enviorment.

But now it's 2019.

Masses of tourists were brought to Pigeon Island and it's a challenge to get into the deep water, fighting against arms and legs, paddeling like mad, you can see that there much to much people that doesn't know how to behave in the water or just how to move in the water. We got away from the entrance point as quick as possible and in the deeper water it got better.

Yes, you might see fish. We saw at leat 7 black-tipped-Reef Sharks one Turtle...nothing to complain, one could say.

And we saw tourists that entdered the inner, strictly protected part of the reef, went on swimming while guards were yelling at them, finally climbing the top of the reef and walking on the reef top.

Yes, I complained. I complained why there are no guards that really take care, complained why there are signpostings indicating the fee that is to be payed when someone destroys parts of the reef....but the guards of the so called national park are here to get the entrance fee and to organise the landings of the ships, not to disturb the paying tourists.

No, there are no regulations you have to obey (of course there are, but nobody cares about it).

Yes, there are certain tourists that didn't know how to behave, not really able to control themselves, needing life vests to be protected from drowning, well equipped with long sleeves and gloves that made it easy to touch and finally to walk on the reef.

I really felt angry and disappointed when leaving that island. You might feel the same, if you would go there. Better stay somwhere else...at the beach, at a bar, in the bed....it's your choice...but better avoid a ttrip to Pigeon Island!
Written August 30, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

cadsden
Princes Risborough, UK54 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2018
I was puzzled by the contradicting reviews of Pigeon Island with some rating it 1 and others 5. So here's the explanation:
1. The bay where everyone heads to is small, massively overcrowded (00's of people) and any coral within 20 metres of the shore has been destroyed. Anyone who doesn't past here will rate it 1 out of 5
2. However, once you get past this there is some pretty decent snorkelling. The best coral was to the right as you face the sea so head over there and go out a bit further and there is plenty to see. I've done plenty of diving and wouldn't be unhappy to see this on a dive.
3. There is also good fish life here, we saw a Black Tip Reef Shark close up as well as the usual mix of tropical fish.
4. On the side where the boats come in there is a cordoned off area where they are trying to re-grow the coral and you can see an entire bed of new coral. There is a rope surrounding the area that you can use as a guide - there were very few people here compared to the main bay. It's good to see what the Sri Lankian authorities are trying to do here.
Written August 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alexander K
Haarlem, The Netherlands24 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2018 • Couples
There is absolutely no coral. A least not the coral that is alive... Damn..... So sad to snorkle around a graveyard of dead corals.
No matter what the locals tell you (they really just want to make money after all) there is NO CORAL. Many retards write reviews about how pretty the snorkeling was, are you blind?
For the uneducated ones: What you see there are some rocks, dead coral, homeless fish and tons of plastic waste.
At the ticket office they hardly speak English so very little explanation about the situation. Parkrangers at the island itself also do not speak a word of English (very handy for a tourist spot) so why the hell sell this place as a coralhaven?
A conservation disaster we call this. I hope they close it down and protect it so it can perhaps one day recover.
Please do not go there. Don't support this.  You'll see more plastic waste then fish.
Written March 8, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Heiko L
Amsterdam, The Netherlands154 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2016 • Couples
tldr: Most dead, some tourists are idiots, the government has to step in!

This is a tough one. We are almost as guilty as anyone else who keeps on going to this place to add to the destruction.

First things first. You can get there either by a tour operator anywhere on a surrounding beach. Tickets to the park cost 2300, gear and boat depends on how you negotiate .. but you can also get all in price of 3500 (standard) and perhaps 3000 if you are good. Per person, of course.

Visibility was acceptable. It is not so polluted (at least I did not see it), as some make it to be. The boats all come through a (by now) corral free corridor and land on the beach. You go snorkeling from there and walk a few meters across the island to the second spot.

The first is where you will see sharks. I saw at least a dozen. Plus some other fish. Sometimes also turtles, but I did not see them. There are a few living corrals still left, but not many. Some area is behind a line and I think you are not supposed to go in there. Some corrals are still alive behind the line and the water is really shallow ... so if you are not very careful you could damage the few remaining corrals. Unfortunately, this is neither told us nor enforced or anything. So we saw many people swim in there, some literally standing up in the shallow water, probably standing on top of the corrals. This is heartbreaking and makes me very angry. And also feel guilty for fueling this industry myself.

On the other side of the island, there are hardly any corrals left. You'll see more fish (and more colorful as well) ... and some big corrals that are not really that colorful ... but that is it. So not sure what the point is. I think if you want to see some more you have to swim around the island .. but since the whole trip is just 2 hours on the island, you do not have the time for that (plus, after 2 hours you cool out).

So, would I do it again? No! I have seen it and I am sure there are other areas with nicer corrals that are actually preserved. The visit left me with mixed feelings. I mean, I saw sharks and lots of interesting fish .... and some live corrals ... but many dead ones, stupid people behaving like idiots and no one who cared about that. For the money the government makes here, they should protect the island much better.

If you made it till here, thanks for reading I hope I was helpful to your decision making.
Written September 28, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Pigeon Island National Park - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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