Surfing in Sri Lanka in December

The north-east monsoon is properly established in December, and the south coast does what it will do until March: clean mornings, dependable waves, and a string of breaks from Ahangama to Hiriketiya that suits everybody from a first lesson in Weligama bay to the reefs at Midigama. In a week, count on five days out of seven at Plantations and three in Weligama bay. The east coast has been out of season since October.

The forecast is not what you plan around; the date is. The island fills from about the twentieth and stays full into the second week of January, and Weligama in particular is small. The first fortnight is the same surf with far fewer people on it, and it is the most useful thing to know about a December trip here. The second fortnight is the busiest stretch of the Sri Lankan year, and prices follow.

That makes the choice of village heavier in December than in any other month, because what varies between them is the crowd and not the wave. Weligama is the shortest transfer, two and a half to three hours from the airport, and the only sand, so it fills first and hardest. Midigama has four reefs over two kilometres, room on them even now, and is dark by nine. Ahangama has The Rock, a both-ways reef peak off Kabalana beach, and it has the evenings: rooftops, kitchens worth the walk, cafés that open early, and enough people arriving alone that nobody eats alone. Hiriketiya, at the eastern end, is the quiet option, lanes and early nights around a cove that keeps a wave when the open beaches close out.

The sea is 28°C, so a Christmas here is a rash vest and two sessions a day rather than a wetsuit and one. Book early whichever fortnight you choose, and if your dates can move, fly before the twentieth.

If you already surf, December on the south coast is full season, and the reefs at Ahangama and Midigama are what the week is for. Plantations in Midigama comes up clean five days out of seven, the north-east monsoon holds the mornings offshore, and the swell is dependable from Ahangama to Hiriketiya.

Start at The Rock, off Kabalana beach at Ahangama: a reef peak breaking both ways that works at any tide, with urchins on the bottom. A few minutes east, Midigama has four reefs across two kilometres on the same swell and the same offshore. Lazy Left peels, Plantations breaks both ways, Rams Right is short, hollow and shallow and strictly for experts, and Coconuts closes the run at the eastern end. With five reefs inside a short ride, you pick by shape rather than by conditions, and a crowded peak is never the only choice.

Where you sleep matters more in December than in any other month, because what varies between villages is the crowd and not the wave. Weligama is the shortest transfer and the only sand, so it fills first and hardest. Midigama has room on all four reefs even now and is dark by nine, which is what its regulars come back for. Ahangama has The Rock and the only real evenings on the coast: rooftops, cocktail bars facing the sunset, kitchens worth the walk, cafés that open early.

The date matters as much as the village. From about the twentieth until the second week of January the island is full and prices are at their peak, so the first fortnight gives you the same waves with far fewer people. The east coast is out of season until May, so everything worth surfing this month is on one short stretch of road, and the train from Colombo stops in the middle of it, running beside the water on its last stretch.