Quick summary
- Overall recommendationAll year except OctoberBest all-round conditions
- Warmest weatherNovember – MayHot days and warm water
- Best for beginnersNovember – AprilMellow waves, smaller crowds
- Cheapest monthsMay & OctoberBest value for surf camps
- Quietest monthsMay & OctoberFewer people in the lineup
Surf conditions by month
Pick a month to see the detail
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | ||||||||||||
| Swell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Period | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Air temp. | 30° | 31° | 32° | 31° | 30° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 30° | 30° |
| Water temp. | 28° | 28° | 29° | 30° | 29° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 29° | 28° |
| Wetsuit | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm | Shorty or 2 mm |
| Learning | ||||||||||||
| Crowds | ||||||||||||
| Prices |
January in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Excellent
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to JanuaryFebruary in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Very good
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to FebruaryMarch in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 29° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Very good
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to MarchApril in Sri Lanka
Very good- m
- 30° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Medium
- Medium
Learning : Very good
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to AprilMay in Sri Lanka
Very good- m
- 29° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Low
- Low
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : Arugam BayThe full guide to MayJune in Sri Lanka
Very good- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Medium
- Medium
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : Arugam BayThe full guide to JuneJuly in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : Arugam BayThe full guide to JulyAugust in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : Arugam BayThe full guide to AugustSeptember in Sri Lanka
Very good- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Medium
- Medium
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : Arugam BayThe full guide to SeptemberOctober in Sri Lanka
Good- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Low
- Low
Learning : Off season
Best region by month : HiriketiyaThe full guide to OctoberNovember in Sri Lanka
Very good- m
- 29° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- Medium
- Medium
Learning : Very good
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to NovemberDecember in Sri Lanka
Excellent- m
- 28° · Shorty or 2 mm
- h
- High
- High
Learning : Very good
Best region by month : AhangamaThe full guide to DecemberWhich month for you
Six ways to arrive here, six different answers. Each is computed from the table above: correct a row and the recommendation follows.
I have never surfed
November – April
Pleasant sandbars, and a budget that does not disappear into high season.
I want to progress
November – April
Enough swell to work on, not so much that it picks the spot for you.
I came for the points
All year except October
The country's headline breaks at their best.
I want the swell without the crowd
April – June, September & November
Real conditions, without high-season prices or queues.
I am travelling cheap
May & October
The months where crowds and prices are both low.
I want the warmest water
March – May & November
A shorty rather than a fullsuit, and long sessions without thinking about it.
Learning: there is a spot in every month of the year
No month is closed to beginners, and the table above does not say otherwise: the Surf row rates the headline breaks, not the sheltered beaches. What the month changes is the size of the waves, and so the choice of spot, not whether you get in the water.
The spots that stay reachable all year
Weather month by month
A mild climate all year. Average temperature, sunshine and rainfall, month by month.
Average air temperature
Sunshine hours per day
Rainy days per month
Where these figures come from
Air temperature: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals. Taken at Galle, on the south-west coast twenty minutes from Ahangama, with the east coast running a degree or two warmer. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.
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