Surfing in Sri Lanka in July

Conditions in July

Water temp. : 28 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

July is the middle of the east coast season and the month the points are at their best. The south-west monsoon is at full strength, so the offshore holds most of the day, and the swell arriving from the Indian Ocean is at its most consistent of the year.

The main point at Arugam Bay is a long, workable right-hander and in July it has a crowd to match. Whiskey Point, Peanut Farm and Elephant Rock spread that out, and they are the reason a week here is a week of driving up and down a short coast rather than surfing one wave. The south of the island is in its wet season and closed for business. The water is at 28°C.

Learning in July

The main point is not the place. Baby Point handles a beginner and the schools in town know which days it does not.

Where a beginner goes in July

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Excellent

The best month on the east coast, and the busiest. Book accommodation early; there is not much of it.

How July compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.