Sri Lanka in December is a good choice for the south and west coasts and a poor one for the east coast. The hill country sits in between: fine if you can live with some rain. The Department of Meteorology puts the north-east monsoon in December, January and February, the months when it reaches the island’s north-east (Department of Meteorology). Averaged over 1991 to 2020, Galle, on the south coast, gets 176 mm of rain in December, while Trincomalee on the east coast gets 339 mm (WMO climate normals). Our own base is Weligama, a south-coast town, and we plan private trips from it.
Key takeaways
- December is drier than November everywhere in our table. Even so, it ranks among the three wettest months in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura, with about 12 to 15 rain days.
- The east coast is at or near its wettest, and most of Arugam Bay closes from November to March.
- Unduvap Poya, the usual start of the Adam’s Peak pilgrimage season, falls on Wednesday 23 December 2026; Christmas Day is a public holiday.
- When we checked on 19 October 2026, Kandy and Ella had no through train between them. Don’t plan on one in December: in May the railway’s chief engineer said he hoped to restore the full line by mid-2027.
- December 2025 brought more visitors to Sri Lanka than any other month that year. If your dates are fixed, we’d book rooms early.
Sri Lanka weather in December, station by station
The table gives the World Meteorological Organization’s 1991 to 2020 averages. A rain day means at least 1 mm fell that day (WMO climate normals).
| Station | December rain | Rain days | High / low (°C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galle (south coast) | 176 mm | 11.2 | 29.9 / 23.7 |
| Katugastota (Kandy) | 204 mm | 12.7 | 28.0 / 19.8 |
| Nuwara Eliya (hill country) | 183 mm | 14.9 | 19.4 / 11.5 |
| Anuradhapura (Cultural Triangle) | 225 mm | 12.2 | 29.8 / 22.6 |
| Trincomalee (east coast) | 339 mm | 15.0 | 28.8 / 23.8 |
What the numbers mean
December is a step between a wet November and a drier January. At Galle the average falls from 283 mm in November to 176 mm in December, then 87 mm in January. Rain days go from about 15 to 11 to 7 (WMO climate normals). Every station in the table gets less rain in December than in November. Inland the drop is smaller. When we ranked each station’s months by rainfall, we found December still the third-wettest at Katugastota, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura, and the second-wettest at Trincomalee (WMO climate normals).
Sri Lanka Tourism’s weather page labels the December to February monsoon months as peak tourist season for the south-west coast (Sri Lanka Tourism). Averages also hide bad years. Cyclone Ditwah hit the island with heavy rain at the end of November and in early December 2025 (Wikipedia), and it damaged 70% of the country’s railway network (Wikivoyage). In its 21 September 2026 update, GOV.UK warned that inter-monsoon downpours had made floods and landslides more likely. It tells travellers to check with whoever arranged their travel and to do what local authorities say (GOV.UK).
The sea in December
GOV.UK’s Sri Lanka page carries 21 September 2026 as its last update, and it was still marked current on 19 October 2026, when we read it. Its “Swimming safety” section, as GOV.UK wrote it: “Many beaches in Sri Lanka have dangerous surf or rip tides at certain times of the year. Get advice from your hotel or tour operator before going in the sea.” Under that, GOV.UK links the Royal Life Saving Society’s guidance on water safety on holiday (GOV.UK).
Where to go in Sri Lanka in December, and where to skip
The south coast and Galle: go
Galle and Colombo average 176 mm and 171 mm of rain in December, with rain on 9 to 11 days (WMO climate normals). Galle Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its 18-metre lighthouse was built on the Point Utrecht Bastion in 1938 (Wikipedia). Unawatuna is a suburb of Galle known for its beach, about 5 km south-east of the city centre (Wikipedia); the bay, swimming and getting there are in our Unawatuna beach guide.
Further east, Love Sri Lanka’s surf map gives Weligama beach a season running from the start of September until the end of May. Its breaks are small and predictable, aimed at beginners, with many surf schools on the sand (Love Sri Lanka). From Galle Fort the drive to Weligama takes 45 minutes to an hour on a normal day (OpenStreetMap).
Kandy and the hill country: go, with a rain jacket
Expect showers. Nuwara Eliya averages rain on about 15 days in December, with highs near 19°C and nights near 11.5°C (WMO climate normals). Kandy is warmer, at 28°C by day, but still averages about 13 wet days (WMO climate normals). We’d plan walks for the morning and keep a spare afternoon.
Diyaluma Falls, 6 km from Koslanda in Badulla District, drops 220 m, which makes it the second-highest waterfall in Sri Lanka (Wikipedia).
Trains to Ella in December 2026
Plan this part of the trip by road. When we checked on 19 October 2026, you couldn’t ride one train from Kandy to Ella, and we found no report that the gaps had closed. Trains from Colombo came back to Peradeniya and Gampola in early October 2026, but stopped short of Kandy station because the bridge over the Mahaweli beyond Peradeniya wasn’t finished (Sunday Times). On 2 October, repairs were still going on between Hatton and Nanu Oya and between Gampola and Nawalapitiya (Colombo Times). Trains have run on the Nanu Oya to Badulla stretch, which passes through Ella, since 20 June 2026 (Sunday Times).
The dates on offer don’t favour December, and they have slipped before. In April 2026 The Morning reported that earlier targets had been missed, and an unnamed ministry official gave 31 December as the new date for the full line (The Morning). In May the railway’s chief engineer said he hoped to restore the full line to Badulla by mid-2027 (Newsfirst). On 1 October, News 1st reported that Sri Lanka Railways planned to bring back Colombo to Kandy trains in January, which covers only the Kandy end (Newsfirst). So don’t build a December trip around the train. Our Kandy to Ella train guide covers the open section from Nanu Oya, and Sri Lanka Railways has the latest.
The Cultural Triangle: start early
Anuradhapura averages 225 mm over about 12 rain days in December, with highs near 30°C (WMO climate normals). That is more than Galle or Colombo get, and January brings it down to 86 mm. Sigiriya and the ancient cities still work in December; we’d go at opening time and keep a rain jacket in the bag.
Don’t plan around the elephant gathering. Love Sri Lanka places it in the July to October dry season, with August and September best (Love Sri Lanka). Wikipedia notes that the herds move from Minneriya to the Kaudulla tank around September (Wikipedia). Neither source names December.
The east coast: skip it this month
Trincomalee averages 339 mm in December and Pottuvil 307 mm. Further down the coast, Batticaloa gets 469 mm, more than in any other month of its year (WMO climate normals). Most guesthouses in Arugam Bay are roughly 4 km south of Pottuvil, and Wikivoyage says the November to March wet season keeps surfable waves from forming, so most hotels and restaurants close (Wikivoyage).
What’s on in December 2026
Unduvap Poya and the Adam’s Peak season
Unduvap Poya, the December full moon, falls on Wednesday 23 December 2026. The Government Printing Department’s 2026 calendar lists it as a public holiday, and the Central Bank as a bank holiday too (Ada Derana; Central Bank of Sri Lanka). In 2027 it falls on Monday 13 December (Central Bank of Sri Lanka). In February 2026 the Excise Department listed 23 December 2026 as a dry day, when the sale of alcohol is banned islandwide (Daily Mirror).
Ada Derana reported the 2025 opening on 4 December 2025. It said the Sri Pada pilgrimage season runs from Unduvap Poya to Vesak in May, peaking at Medin Poya (Ada Derana). For that 2025 to 2026 season, the President’s Office announced a ban on PET bottles under a litre, single-use polythene and plastic items and sachets on the mountain (President’s Office). Check whether the rule is repeated for 2026 to 2027. The night climb itself is in our Sri Lanka hiking trails guide.
Christmas and New Year
Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, is a public, bank and mercantile holiday (Central Bank of Sri Lanka). It’s also on the 2026 dry-day list, with one exemption. Some hotels may serve alcohol to their in-house guests: boutique hotels and villas, and licensed hotels of three stars or more (Daily Mirror). If Christmas dinner matters, ask your hotel what it will serve. New Year’s Day, 1 January 2027, is not on the Central Bank’s 2027 holiday list (Central Bank of Sri Lanka).
Whales off Mirissa
Love Sri Lanka gives the whale-watching season as November to April and the best months at Mirissa as December to April. It warns that nothing is guaranteed and that an early start, a little before sunrise, improves the odds (Love Sri Lanka). For operators, boats and the distance rules, see our Mirissa whale-watching guide.
Safaris: Yala and Udawalawe
Severe dry weather closed Yala’s Blocks 1 and 2 from 14 September 2026. The Department of Wildlife Conservation then announced that both would reopen on 16 October 2026 (Newswire), with lodge and campsite bookings from 1 November (Ada Derana). When we searched on 19 October, we found no report confirming the reopening, so check before you book. Yala usually draws most of its visitors between August and March (Ada Derana). Wikipedia says about 250 elephants are thought to stay in Udawalawe year-round (Wikipedia). Our Sri Lanka safari guide sets the parks side by side and explains how a jeep safari works.
How busy is Sri Lanka in December?
Busy, going by national numbers. The tourism authority, SLTDA, recorded 258,928 visitor arrivals in December 2025, more than in any other month that year. January 2025 came next with 252,761, and November had 212,906 (SLTDA). Those are national figures, so they say nothing about a single town. If your dates are fixed, we’d book rooms and transport as soon as you’ve settled the route.
A 10-day Sri Lanka itinerary for December
This route uses only places on this page and keeps the east coast out. We ran each leg through OpenStreetMap’s route planner. It assumes empty roads, so the times below are rounded up.
| Nights | Where you sleep | Drive to get there | Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Sigiriya | From the airport, about 3.5 to 4 hours (route) | Sigiriya and the ancient sites, early |
| 3 | Kandy | 2.5 to 3 hours from Sigiriya (route) | Temple of the Tooth |
| 4 | Nuwara Eliya | From Kandy, about 2.5 to 3 hours (route) | Tea country |
| 5 and 6 | Ella | 2 to 3 hours from Nuwara Eliya (route) | Morning walks, Diyaluma Falls |
| 7 | Udawalawe | 2.5 to 3 hours from Ella (route) | Jeep safari next morning |
| 8 and 9 | Weligama | 2 to 2.5 hours from Udawalawe (route) | Galle Fort, beach, whales |
| Day 10 | The airport | 2.5 to 3 hours from Weligama (route) | Flight home |
For a stretch by rail, swap the drive to Ella for the train from Nanu Oya, a station in Nuwara Eliya District (Wikipedia). On 2 October 2026 the Nanu Oya to Badulla trains ran as normal (Colombo Times), so check the railway before you count on it. With a week rather than ten days, our 7-day Sri Lanka itinerary drops Nuwara Eliya and goes straight from Kandy to Ella. Staying into the new year? Sri Lanka in January covers the following month.
Packing, temple dress and entry
Pack for two climates: light clothes for the coast, and a fleece and a rain jacket for the hills, where Nuwara Eliya’s December nights average 11.5°C (WMO climate normals). For a Buddhist temple, GOV.UK says to cover legs and shoulders and to remove shoes and hats. It also warns against posing for a photo standing in front of a Buddha statue (GOV.UK).
Whatever your nationality, you must get an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) ahead of arrival. For nationals of 40 countries, including Britain, the United States and Australia, the ETA has cost nothing for 30 days, with a double entry, since 25 May 2026 (official ETA site). Money, transport and etiquette are covered in our guide to visiting Sri Lanka.
Questions about Sri Lanka in December
Is December a good time to visit Sri Lanka?
On the south and west coasts, yes: December rainfall there is well below November’s. Galle averages 176 mm against 283 mm (WMO climate normals). The hills and the Cultural Triangle are workable with some rain, and the east coast is in its monsoon.
Does it rain a lot in Sri Lanka in December?
It depends where you are. Galle averages about 11 days with some rain, but only about 5 with 10 mm or more, while Trincomalee gets 339 mm over 15 days (WMO climate normals).
What is Christmas like in Sri Lanka?
Christmas Day is a public holiday and, in 2026, a dry day. Hotels holding the right licence can still serve alcohol to their own guests (Daily Mirror). December was also the busiest month for arrivals in 2025 (SLTDA), so book early.
How many days do you need in December?
In our view, ten days covers the Cultural Triangle, the hills, a safari and the south coast without long drives every day, as in the route above. With a week, drop Nuwara Eliya or the Cultural Triangle.
Plan your December trip
Our private car with driver trips are planned in Weligama. You get one car and one driver from the arrivals hall to your flight home. We plan the itinerary before you fly, and the driver gets around ten hours off between driving days. Send us your December dates from that page and we’ll plan the route around the weather and whatever is open that week.
Everything above was read at its source on 19 October 2026. Weather averages are not forecasts, and rail, park and holiday notices change, so check each one in the week before you travel.
