Holiday seasons in Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Sri Lanka travel planner (NOT for East Coast)

	Ideal weather for visiting Sri Lanka
	Good weather for visiting Sri Lanka
	Weather more variable but travel still possible, and you can take advantage of the lowest holiday prices of the year!

The best times to visit Sri Lanka are between the main rainy seasons. Because the island lies just north of the equator, temperatures remain almost constant throughout the year. However, rainfall varies widely.

Sri Lanka experiences two monsoons every year, although different regions of the island are affected. The southwest monsoon (or Yala) brings rain to the southwest coast and Hill Country from May to July and again in September/October, and the northeast monsoon (or Maha) can affect the whole country, but particularly the north and east, from November to February. Even during the monsoon season the weather rarely manifests itself as long, dreary days of endless rain. Rather, the rain comes in short, heavy bursts, followed by sunshine and the temperature is consistently warm. The overcast sky tempers the heat of the sun, but not the strength of its rays, so it is still possible to get a good tan. However, during this period the sea is often too rough for swimming on the side of the island affected by the monsoon wind.

In the southwest and Hill Country, the best period is from November to April after the southwest monsoon has finished. (Most foreign tourists come between December and March, the majority of them escaping the European winter.) However, the north and east are affected by the northeast monsoon during this period and are dry but hot from April to September. The Hill Country is much cooler throughout the year.

In mid-April, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations are colourful and feature old traditional games, especially in the countryside. However, Sri Lanka generally comes to a standstill over this period, with shops and some sites closed for the duration. In May and June the Wesak and Poson Poya (full moon) days are marked with religious pageants. The Esala Perahera (around the July-August full moon) is the most striking of all. The most famous perahera (elephant parade) is held in Kandy, with others at Colombo, Kataragama and other major temples, when drummers, dancers, caparisoned elephants, torch-bearers and whip-crackers all add colour and drama to the 10 days of celebrations.

For more details of the major festivals held in Sri Lanka, click on
Holidays and Festivals

Maldives travel planner

	Ideal weather for visiting the Maldives
	Good weather for visiting the Maldives
	Weather more variable but travel still possible, and you can take advantage of the lowest holiday prices of the year!

In a nation with less than 1% land and over 99% ocean, the weather obviously plays a significant role in day-to-day life. For a long time Maldivians have organised their lives based on a system of nakaiy. Each nakaiy is 13 or 14 days long and is divided into two seasons; iruvai, northeast monsoon, and hulhangu, southwest monsoon. The nakaiy calendar is still used to determine such things as the best time for fishing, travel or planting crops.

The Maldives has a tropical climate with warm temperatures all year round and a great deal of sunshine. The warm tropical climate results in relatively minor variations in daily temperature throughout the year. The hottest month, on average, is April and the coolest is December. The weather is determined largely by the monsoons.

There is a significant variation in the monthly rainfall levels. February is the driest month, with January to April relatively dry, and May and October record the highest average monthly rainfall. The southwest monsoon (hulhangu), from May to September, is the wet season. Rough seas and strong winds are common during this period. The northeast monsoon (iruvai) falls between December and April. This is a period of clear skies, lower humidity and very little rain. The Maldives is in the equatorial belt and therefore severe storms and cyclones are extremely rare events. However, the country is affected whenever cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. The spiralling clouds of the weather systems appear over the Maldives causing spells of rain.