Surfing in Sri Lanka in September

September is the last month of the south-west monsoon, and on the east coast it behaves like the tail of a good season. The days that work are as good as July's. There are fewer of them, and the offshore grows less reliable towards the end of the month.

Fewer is the word to take seriously. At Whiskey Point, the gentle break north of Arugam Bay, one day out of seven is worth paddling out for, and that is its best month of the year. The wind is not what stops it, it almost never is on this coast; the sea simply stops sending enough. On the days the swell does arrive, every point along the twelve kilometres wakes up at once, so keep the scooter ready.

Against that, everything on land improves. The European holidays are over, Arugam Bay empties through the first week, prices drop from their summer peak, and the points that had an audience in August have room on them. By October half the town has shut, so September is the last month it is fully open, with the bars and restaurants still running.

Take the first half of the month rather than the second. The offshore weakens towards the end, and the back of September is the season closing around you rather than running. The south coast will not work again until November, so everything happens on this side, six to eight hours from the airport across the interior.

The sea is 28°C, the days are long, and a rash vest is the whole kit. If you already surf and can live with some flat days, September is the best value of the east coast year. If you want a guaranteed week, this is not the month in Sri Lanka, and November on the south coast is the one to wait for.

If you already surf, September at Arugam Bay is the east coast season signing off, and it signs off well. The days that arrive are as good as July's, there are fewer of them, and they come with far fewer people in the way. The south-west monsoon still holds the offshore through most of the month, and it is the swell that thins out: even Whiskey Point, the gentlest point north of the bay, has its best month now at one day in seven, which tells you how much the whole coast depends on size.

Pottuvil Point, the long right north of the bay, gives five days out of seven in July and August and four in October, and September sits between the two. The Main Point at the bay loses its July crowd, and Peanut Farm and Elephant Rock further along the coast are close to empty. Watch the swell height, not the wind, and be ready to ride to whichever point is getting the most of it.

Take the first half of the month rather than the second. The offshore grows less reliable towards the end of September and half of Arugam Bay has shut by October, so the back of the month is the season closing around you. What you get for the timing is the best value of the east coast year: good waves, prices down from their summer peak, and twelve kilometres of right-hand points with room on them. If you can be flexible about size, it beats July on everything except certainty.

Rent a scooter for the week rather than relying on shuttles: with the town emptying, the camps run fewer of them, and the whole value of September is being able to look at two or three breaks before choosing one. The south stays shut until November, and the drive from the airport is six to eight hours across the interior.