On the southeast coast, approximately 10km south of Tissa, lies the pretty village of KIRINDA.  The village itself boasts a superb beach and an interesting Buddhist shrine on the rocks.   However, it is best known as a base from which to experience some excellent diving at the famous 'Great Basses' wreck and the Great and Little Basses reefs (southeast of Kirinda). The famous Arthur C Clarke also put Kirinda on the map when he used it as his base for his diving exploration in order to write his book 'The Treasure of the Reef'.  A particularly unique feature of the Great Basses is the light-house that was actually constructed on the reef in 1860.

The Term " Basses',  is an extention of the  Portuguese word  'Baxos' &   is  a  massive reef  , 40 Kms in length , starting off  around  2 km southeast of Kirinda in close proximity to the  'Great Basses light-house', and extending towards Kumana and ending at  the 'Little Basses light- house .

The Basses' consist of a combination of  sandstone reefs carved by  strong tides & are  also home to many species of  fish including ,angel-fishes, rays, giant maori wrasses  porpoises, gray sharks & tuna .

In 1961 , 2 divers - Sir Arthur  C Clarke  - the world renowned Sri Lankan Scientist and Mike Wilson discovered a rich haul of Indian silver rupees from a ship wreck in the " basses "  .

• 24-gun ship belonging to the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707) which was sent off for trade in the far east but sunk in a storm off the Great Basses.
• Flute Overness' (sunk 1704) - Great Basses
• Alette Adriana' (sunk 1760s) - Great Basses
• '40-gun frigate 'Daedulus' (sunk 1813) - Little Basses