Point Pedro

Point Pedro is the northernmost settlement in Sri Lanka, a small fishing town on the Jaffna peninsula's northern coast where fishing boats work the waters between the island and the Indian subcontinent, roughly 50km from the Tamil Nadu coast across the Palk Strait. The landmark value is geographic rather than visual: standing at the lighthouse area and the northernmost shoreline, you are at the most extreme northern point of the island, a fact with quiet significance when combined with an understanding of how recently this area was inaccessible to most Sri Lankans. The town itself has a working fishing harbour and a small market with the particular character of northern Tamil fishing communities. The lighthouse is the practical marker for the geographical point. A short drive along the northern coast road reveals some of the raw, windswept coastal character of the Jaffna peninsula that is absent from the calmer lagoon side.