Sri Lanka : Profile

Facts

Sri Lanka is a popular stop for yachts en route to the Red Sea and a good point of departure for cruising the Maldives, Chagos and Seychelles.
The northern and eastern parts of the country should be avoided as fighting continues between the government and Tamil Tigers. A state of emergency is in operation in Colombo. The rest of the island, however, remains relatively unaffected.
Colombo's large commercial harbour has no attractions as there are no provisions for yachts and formalities are complex.
Following years of uncertainty, facilities are steadily improving in the country’s southern tip where most yachts call at the old port of Galle. However in general facilities for yachts are poor as there are very few local yachts.

Weather

Tropical climate with distinct dry and wet seasons. The seasons are slightly complicated by having two distinct monsoon seasons.

From May to August the Yala monsoon brings rain to the island’s southwestern half, while the dry season lasts from October to March. The southwest has the highest rainfall – up to 4000mm a year.

The Maha monsoon blows from October to January, bringing rain to the North and East, while the dry season is from May to September. The North and East are comparatively dry, with around 1000mm of rain annually.

There is also an inter-monsoonal period in October and November when rain can occur in many parts of the island.

Colombo and the low-lying coastal regions have an average temperature of 27°C. At Kandy (altitude 500m), the average temperature is 20°C, while Nuwara Eliya (at 1889m) has a temperate 16°C average. The sea stays at around 27°C all year.