July Weather

HI Grousewood,
You're right, the weather is different in different parts of the country.
There are two wet spells in Sri Lanka. May/ June and early July. Then Oct/ and most of November. With May and Oct. being the wettest months.
July is the transitional period from wettish, to Aug. which is mostly dry, hot and sunny, so the end of July, should be quite good.
No guarantee,s on that but keep your fingers crossed.

Beaches. In July the best beaches will amost certainly be on the east coast. Arugam Bay in the south east and Nilavelli and Upavelli on the north east coast.
No one knows whats going to happen around the nrth east now that the LTTE have been defeated but it may still be a bit dodgy for a while.
Arugam Bay has always been OK and should continue that way. Trouble is, it's a long way to go although it can be a great trip taking the train to Kandy, then south through the hill country and a bus from Haputale.

I,ve been quite a few times , from the end of July through to late Sept. and It's my favorite time of year on the south west beaches.
On the open to the sea beaches, it tends to be very rough for swimming at that time of year but there are some places where you can.

Hikkaduwa,,,, two seperate beaches.. One wide, clean and long that goes south of town for miles. Open to the sea and a bit rough.
The other is the reef sheltered beach nearer to Hikkaduwa town centre. Clean, long and quite wide you can swim all year around as the reef breaks up the waves. Hikkaduwa has lots of small bars, cafes, restaurants, shops etc.

Unawatuna. Another reef sheltered beach. The reef is a little further out from the beach here and the sea can still build up some decent waves inside the reef. Not so much local atmosphere as Hikkadua but plenty of guest houses , restarants etc, along the fringe of the beach.

Mirissa.... Great beach which isn't sheltered. Plenty of excellent guest houses, no local centre as such just lots of sall local houses tucked away between the beach and the coast road. Go right to the eastern end of the beach and there's a small beach , partially reef sheltered where it's usually safe to swim.

If you travel around the country, you'll probably find the cultural triangle weather hot and sunny and the Hill country still a bit changeable.. Great time for the hill country though as everything is so fresh and green.
Rod.

I guess one more to add to the list of southern beaches by Rod would be Bentota... which is about 75-80 minutes from Colombo and has a nice, wide and less crowded beach.

Rgds
Hish.