Kinniya Hot Springs
- Location
- Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
- Water type
- bicarbonate, silica
- Temperature
- 38 °C
- pH
- 7.9
Water profile
Soothing — neither hot nor cold, perfect balance.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.
Near the ancient harbour city of Trincomalee on Sri Lanka's northeastern coast, Kinniya Hot Springs is a sacred natural site where thermal water rises through the earth in a cluster of small wells. Long venerated by the local Hindu community, the springs sit close to the shoreline and carry a spiritual significance that draws pilgrims as much as curious travellers. The surrounding landscape — coconut palms, warm sea light, the Bay of Bengal nearby — gives the site a tropical atmosphere unlike any other hot spring destination in South Asia.
The water emerges at a soothing 38 °C and carries a bicarbonate-silica composition with an alkaline pH of 7.9, lending it a soft, clean quality. The combination of silica and bicarbonate minerals gives the water a subtly smooth sensation, and the traditional practice of bathing here has persisted across generations of Tamil and Sinhalese communities. Visiting Kinniya is as much a cultural encounter as it is an encounter with geology.