Sri Lanka is an island of varied landscapes, rivers and water falls, beaches and coral reefs, hills and valleys, and each landscape comes with its own set of climatic conditions. Being so close to the equator, the temperature remains fairly constant throughout the year, making the real seasonal change with the onset of rain. The rains come in two batches but affect only certain regions of the island at a time, that means there are parts of the island unaffected by the monsoon altogether. Therefore, there are certain times of the year ideal to visit one part of the island and other times for the other.

Yala Monsoon Season (April/May to September), for example, would ideally be the best time to visit places on the eastern side of Sri Lanka. While the First Inter-Monsoon Season (March and April) will be the best to visit places like Nuwara Eliya, Kandy etc. Humidity is high and constant everywhere on the island, all year round.

This short season is characterized by hot and wet winds and occasional thunderstorms. Colombo and the western shores have an average temperature of 28 degrees centigrade and the central highlands remain cool with a mean of 17 degrees and have lesser rainfall than the coasts. This is a great time to visit places like Nuwara Eliya, Kandy etc.

The more ferocious of the two monsoon seasons begins by early April in the south-western parts of Sri Lanka and the winds continue its journey towards the north eastern side, providing ample rain as it passes. Places like Colombo and Nuwara Eliya experience heavy rainfall and strong winds during this time. This would ideally be the best time to visit places on the eastern side of Sri Lanka. The average temperature in Colombo and other coastal cities are about 30 degrees centigrade in the day. The central highlands, including, Nuwara Eliya, experience an average day time temperature of 20 degrees centigrade. The dry regions experience a temperature of around 35 degrees during the day.

This season is subjected to unpredictable dry and wet days. Depressions in the Bay of Bengal can cause sudden torrential rain in any part of the island. Popular tourist destinations like Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, etc. experience a great amount of rain during these months.

These monsoon winds hit the island from the north-eastern side, so by the time they reach the southern and south-western ends the rain is less severe. The season brings along with it cold dry winds and lower than usual temperatures. Months from December to March are most popular among tourists for visiting cities on the south-western coast and the hilly central parts. Coastal cities like Colombo have an average day time temperature of 26 degrees centigrade and very little rain. The central highland has more frequent rains and the mean day time temperature is around 15 degrees centigrade.