Best time to go to Sri Lanka for a perfect weather and where to go?

Find the perfect time to go to Sri Lanka from average climate conditions in many locations like Batticaloa or Ella below.

When is the best time to go to Sri Lanka?

The best times to visit Sri Lanka depend on the chosen destinations. Thus, the period from December to March is favorable to discover the capital Colombo and the communities located west and south of the country. During this time of year, one will have the opportunity to go snorkel diving in peace because the beautiful sunshine and an almost ideal water temperature enlighten and liven the days. Furthermore, this ideal period is also favorable for sightseeing in the center of the country.

In order to best discover the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, choose the period between May and September. Although the vast monsoon season is in full swing on the western side of the country, the rest of the territory is spared by the rain, thanks to the geography of the Ceylon island.

If you wish to explore this beautiful island combined with its many attractions while distanced from the large crowds of tourists, pick a period that does not coincide with the school holidays. This will be the best opportunity to visit Sri Lanka, all while sparing your wallet.

So, when is the best time to go to Sri Lanka? Here's some more information to help you in your decision:

In Sri Lanka, the weather is at least tolerable in January, February, March and September
The best months to go to Colombo are January and February
On average, the warmest months in Colombo are January, February, March, April, May, September, October, November and December
The rainiest months in this city are May, June, July and August
The cities with the best climate are Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Trincomalee and Wilpattu National Park, with good weather at least 7 months a year
The sea temperature is suitable for swimming all year round in Colombo

For information about the climate and the weather city by city in Sri Lanka for a specific month, click on the corresponding line below:

Month			Our opinion	View Details
January	21°C to 31°C	43%	tolerable to good*	Sri Lanka in january
February	22°C to 31°C	44%	tolerable to good*	Sri Lanka in february
March	23°C to 32°C	56%	tolerable to good*	Sri Lanka in march
April	24°C to 32°C	79%	very bad to tolerable*	Sri Lanka in april
May	23°C to 32°C	75%	very bad to good*	Sri Lanka in may
June	23°C to 32°C	66%	very bad to good*	Sri Lanka in june
July	22°C to 31°C	65%	very bad to good*	Sri Lanka in july
August	22°C to 31°C	71%	very bad to good*	Sri Lanka in august
September	23°C to 31°C	69%	tolerable to good*	Sri Lanka in september
October	23°C to 31°C	76%	very bad to tolerable*	Sri Lanka in october
November	22°C to 31°C	84%	very bad to tolerable*	Sri Lanka in november
December	21°C to 31°C	71%	very bad to good*	Sri Lanka in december

* weather varies across the country ; please check out the Where to go section below.

Best time to travel to Sri Lanka by cities

Best time to go to Colombo

The best months to go to Colombo are january and february.

Best time to go to Jaffna

The best months to go to Jaffna are january, february and march.

Best time to go to Anuradhapura

The best months to go to Anuradhapura are february, march, may, june, july, august and september.

Best time to go to Arugam Bay

The best months to go to Arugam Bay are february and march.

Best time to go to Batticaloa

The best months to go to Batticaloa are february and march.

Best time to go to Bentota

The best months to go to Bentota are january and february.

Dambulla

Ella

Galle

Hikkaduwa

Kalutara

Kandy

Negombo

Neluwa

See full list of cities

Tours and organised trips in Sri Lanka

Climate and Weather in Sri Lanka

Located at the heart of the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of India and not far from Indonesia, Sri Lanka is a country of equatorial or tropical climate, with a warmth that prevails from morning to night, without any interruption. The latter is still tempered by the presence of ocean winds. Humidity also reigns over most of the territory. However, the weather is heated among the plains or on the coast, as it is in Trincomalee and Jaffna but the mountainous areas on the other hand experience more bearable temperatures.

Tropical, the climate of Sri Lanka therefore faces two major monsoon periods. During the wet season, the country is covered in many rains that are usually followed by very cloudy periods. The main hazard of this monsoon season lies on the coast of the country, as the underwater currents are often very dangerous at this time of year.

The great monsoon season plagues the entire southwest of Sri Lanka, especially towards the capital, Colombo, from the months of May to late August. The country undergoes a humidity level of around 95% and is covered by a very moist heat. Meanwhile, the early monsoon season which does not occur every year, rages from October to late January on the east coast just as it does in Trincomalee.

Outside of these somewhat troubled weather periods for the country, the temperature is quite pleasant. While the rain still remains fairly common, other than between late January and April which is described as the driest period of the country, the climate of Sri Lanka does enjoy beautiful sunny periods.

Temperatures and rainfall in Sri Lanka

On these 3 graphs, we present the evolution of temperatures of Sri Lanka and month-by-month rainfall for the cities of Colombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Arugam Bay and Batticaloa, as well as the month-by-month sea temperature for coastal cities.

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	33°C 28°C	34°C 28°C	35°C 30°C	34°C 30°C	33°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 28°C
Précipitations	34%	40%	61%	85%	87%	95%	95%	94%	85%	78%	81%	69%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	28°C	28°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	29°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	30°C 27°C	30°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	34°C 30°C	34°C 31°C	33°C 30°C	33°C 30°C	32°C 30°C	32°C 29°C	33°C 30°C	32°C 29°C	30°C 28°C
Précipitations	23%	13%	15%	20%	24%	30%	38%	51%	56%	72%	70%	57%
Température de la mer	27°C	28°C	29°C	31°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	29°C	30°C	29°C	28°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	30°C 24°C	32°C 24°C	35°C 26°C	35°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	33°C 27°C	33°C 28°C	33°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	33°C 26°C	31°C 26°C	30°C 25°C
Précipitations	37%	33%	43%	76%	48%	26%	23%	34%	35%	61%	80%	64%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	30°C 26°C	31°C 26°C	33°C 27°C	34°C 28°C	35°C 28°C	35°C 28°C	35°C 27°C	35°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	32°C 26°C	30°C 26°C
Précipitations	53%	42%	37%	59%	61%	38%	42%	59%	66%	75%	81%	80%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	30°C 26°C	31°C 26°C	33°C 27°C	34°C 28°C	35°C 28°C	35°C 28°C	35°C 27°C	35°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	34°C 27°C	32°C 27°C	30°C 26°C
Précipitations	53%	42%	37%	59%	61%	38%	42%	59%	66%	75%	81%	80%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	33°C 27°C	34°C 28°C	34°C 30°C	34°C 30°C	33°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 28°C
Précipitations	36%	43%	64%	87%	88%	95%	96%	95%	86%	82%	83%	71%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	28°C	28°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	29°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	30°C 26°C	32°C 27°C	35°C 29°C	36°C 29°C	34°C 29°C	34°C 29°C	34°C 29°C	34°C 29°C	34°C 29°C	34°C 28°C	32°C 27°C	30°C 26°C
Précipitations	39%	36%	45%	78%	55%	12%	17%	24%	36%	59%	76%	66%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	25°C 18°C	25°C 18°C	27°C 19°C	27°C 21°C	26°C 21°C	25°C 20°C	25°C 20°C	25°C 19°C	26°C 20°C	26°C 20°C	25°C 20°C	24°C 19°C
Précipitations	65%	61%	69%	91%	98%	80%	78%	89%	86%	92%	95%	86%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	32°C 27°C	33°C 27°C	33°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	32°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	32°C 28°C	32°C 28°C	32°C 28°C
Précipitations	40%	50%	67%	83%	86%	93%	94%	92%	82%	77%	83%	69%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	29°C	28°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	29°C	29°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	32°C 27°C	33°C 27°C	33°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	32°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	32°C 29°C	32°C 28°C	32°C 28°C
Précipitations	40%	50%	67%	83%	86%	93%	94%	92%	82%	77%	83%	69%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	28°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	29°C	29°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	33°C 27°C	34°C 28°C	34°C 30°C	34°C 30°C	33°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 28°C
Précipitations	37%	43%	64%	88%	88%	96%	96%	95%	86%	82%	83%	71%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	28°C	28°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	29°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	29°C 24°C	31°C 25°C	33°C 27°C	33°C 27°C	31°C 27°C	30°C 26°C	30°C 26°C	30°C 26°C	31°C 26°C	31°C 26°C	30°C 26°C	29°C 25°C
Précipitations	45%	43%	58%	81%	82%	55%	51%	67%	65%	81%	87%	71%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	33°C 27°C	34°C 28°C	35°C 29°C	34°C 30°C	33°C 29°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	31°C 28°C	33°C 28°C	33°C 29°C	33°C 28°C
Précipitations	31%	35%	54%	77%	83%	92%	93%	91%	80%	78%	81%	66%
Température de la mer	28°C	29°C	29°C	30°C	30°C	29°C	28°C	27°C	28°C	29°C	29°C	28°C

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Sea temperature

	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Températures moyennes	32°C 21°C	33°C 22°C	34°C 23°C	33°C 23°C	31°C 24°C	30°C 24°C	30°C 24°C	30°C 23°C	30°C 23°C	31°C 22°C	31°C 23°C	31°C 22°C
Précipitations	51%	58%	80%	99%	94%	90%	88%	89%	84%	84%	90%	78%

Average temperatures

Chance of rain

Where to go in Sri Lanka?

This table allows you to see the maximum temperature for each city and our opinion on the weather month by month (see colour legend below the table).

Cities	jan.	feb.	mar.	apr.	may	jun.	jul.	aug.	sep.	oct.	nov.	dec.
Colombo	33°C	34°C	35°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	33°C	33°C	33°C
Jaffna	30°C	30°C	33°C	34°C	34°C	33°C	33°C	32°C	32°C	33°C	32°C	30°C
Anuradhapura	30°C	32°C	35°C	35°C	34°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	30°C
Arugam Bay	30°C	31°C	33°C	34°C	35°C	35°C	35°C	35°C	34°C	34°C	32°C	30°C
Batticaloa	30°C	31°C	33°C	34°C	35°C	35°C	35°C	35°C	34°C	34°C	32°C	30°C
Bentota	33°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	33°C	33°C	33°C
Dambulla	30°C	32°C	35°C	36°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	32°C	30°C
Ella	25°C	25°C	27°C	27°C	26°C	25°C	25°C	25°C	26°C	26°C	25°C	24°C
Galle	32°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	32°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	32°C	32°C	32°C
Hikkaduwa	32°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	32°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	32°C	32°C	32°C
Kalutara	33°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	33°C	33°C	33°C
Kandy	29°C	31°C	33°C	33°C	31°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	31°C	31°C	30°C	29°C
Negombo	33°C	34°C	35°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	31°C	33°C	33°C	33°C
Neluwa	32°C	33°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	31°C	31°C	31°C
Nuwara Eliya	25°C	26°C	27°C	27°C	26°C	25°C	25°C	25°C	26°C	26°C	25°C	24°C
Puttalam	31°C	32°C	34°C	34°C	33°C	32°C	32°C	32°C	32°C	32°C	32°C	31°C
Trincomalee	30°C	32°C	35°C	36°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	34°C	32°C	30°C
Udawalawe National Park	32°C	33°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	30°C	31°C	31°C	31°C
Wilpattu National Park	30°C	32°C	35°C	35°C	34°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	34°C	33°C	31°C	30°C
Yala National Park	32°C	33°C	34°C	34°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	33°C	34°C	33°C	32°C

Legend:

good weather

tolerable weather

bad weather

very bad weather

Map of Sri Lanka

Click over cities for information about the weather.

Chargement en cours

Legend:

cities in Sri Lanka

About Sri Lanka

What can I do in Sri Lanka?

Beaches / swimming

Nature and countryside

Culture and heritage

Sports

Family travel

Crafts / shopping

Gastronomy

Nightlife

Recommended for you:

Is this weather information for Sri Lanka reliable?

Climate data for Sri Lanka has been gathered every day since January 2009. The analysis of these meteorological data for Sri Lanka allows us to determine the average for each month in Colombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Arugam Bay, Batticaloa, Bentota, Dambulla, Ella, and 20 other cities.

So yes: this data is reliable except in cases of temporary climate disruption in the region.

Best time to go to Sri Lanka for a perfect weather and where to go?

When is the best time to go to Sri Lanka?

Best time to travel to Sri Lanka by cities

Best time to go to Colombo

Best time to go to Jaffna

Best time to go to Anuradhapura

Best time to go to Arugam Bay

Best time to go to Batticaloa

Best time to go to Bentota

Other cities and places in Sri Lanka

Dambulla

Ella

Galle

Hikkaduwa

Kalutara

Kandy

Negombo

Neluwa

Tours and organised trips in Sri Lanka

Climate and Weather in Sri Lanka

Temperatures and rainfall in Sri Lanka

Where to go in Sri Lanka?

Legend:

Map of Sri Lanka

About Sri Lanka

What can I do in Sri Lanka?

Recommended for you:

Is this weather information for Sri Lanka reliable?

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