Reflecting Sri Lanka’s position close to the equator, average temperatures remain fairly constant year round. The main factors shaping local weather are altitude and the two monsoons. There is more on the island’s climate in the Introduction.
For current information on the security situation in Sri Lanka, check the sites listed below.
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs 
dfat.gov.au.
British Foreign & Commonwealth Office gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.
Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs international.gc.ca.
Irish Department of Foreign Affairs dfa.ie.
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs mfat.govt.nz.
South African Department of Foreign Affairs www.dfa.gov.za.
US State Department state.gov.
Sri Lanka is a remarkably safe place to travel in, and violent crime against foreigners is virtually unheard of. Petty theft is less common than in many other parts of Asia (and rarer than in most European and American cities), though you should still take sensible care of your belongings. Pickpockets sometimes work in crowded areas, while thefts from hotel rooms are occasionally reported. Many hotels and guesthouses ask guests to deposit valuables in their safe, and it’s sensible to do so when you can. Muggings are rare, though single travellers (especially women) should avoid dark beaches late at night – Negombo and Hikkaduwa have particularly bad reputations. In addition, make sure you keep a separate record of all your bank card details (along with the phone numbers needed in case of their loss) and passport information; it’s worth taking a photocopy of the pages from your passport that contain your personal details.
If you do have anything stolen, you’ll need to report it to the police – there’s little chance that they will be able to recover it for you, but you’ll need a report for your insurance claim. Given the fact that you might not find any English-speaking policemen on duty (even at so-called “tourist police” stations), you might try to get someone from your guesthouse to come along as an interpreter. The process of reporting a crime is usually a laborious affair, with much checking of papers and filling in of forms.
Sri Lanka used to be awash with con artists and petty scams of all sorts – particularly common around the lake in Kandy, in Galle Fort and, especially, on Colombo’s Galle Face Green. Mercifully these lowlife have now largely disappeared – although it’s still worth being on your guard if a plausible stranger approaches offering to ship you a parcel of free tea or to take you to a special “elephant festival” which has suddenly materialized somewhere in the neighbourhood.
Entering Sri Lanka you are allowed to bring in 1.5 litres of spirits and two bottles of wine. You’re not allowed to bring cartons of duty-free cigarettes into the country, although it’s unlikely you’ll be stopped at customs and searched. If you are caught “smuggling”, your cartons will be confiscated and you’ll be fined Rs.6000. There are no duty-free cigarettes on sale at the airport on arrival, either.
Leaving Sri Lanka you are permitted to export up to 10kg of tea duty-free. In theory, you’re not allowed to take out more than Rs.250 in cash, though this is rarely checked. If you want to export antiques – defined as anything more than fifty years old – you will need authorization from the Archeological Department (Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Cinnamon Gardens; 
011 269 2840) depending on exactly what it is you want to export. The export of any coral, shells or other protected marine products is prohibited; taking out flora, fauna or animal parts is also forbidden.
No LTTE attacks have been reported since the end of the civil war in 2009. Landmines and UXO pose a slight risk in remote areas of the north and east but are being steadily cleared. Wildlife doesn’t normally pose a threat – although the death in 2017 of British journalist Paul McClean as a result of a crocodile attack in Arugam Bay was a tragic reminder of the potential risks posed by native fauna. An altogether more prosaic but much more serious source of danger in Sri Lanka is traffic. As a pedestrian you’re at the very bottom of the food chain in the dog-eat-dog world of Sri Lankan road use – some bus drivers are particularly psychotic.
After road accidents, drowning is the second most common cause of accidental death among tourists in Sri Lanka. Currents can be strong and beaches may shelve off into deep waters with unexpected steepness – and there are no lifeguards to come and pull you out if you get into trouble. Always ask local advice before venturing into the water anywhere that is not obviously a recognized swimming spot. The only warning signs of dangerous swimming conditions are the red flags posted on the beaches outside major resort hotels. Sensible precautions include always keeping within your depth and making sure that someone on the shore knows that you’re in the water. Never swim under the influence of alcohol – newspaper stories of locals washed out to sea after too many bottles of arrack are a regular occurrence.
Sri Lanka’s electricity runs at 230–240V, 50 cycles AC. Round three-pin sockets are the norm, though you’ll also sometimes find square three-pin sockets, especially in more upmarket hotels; adaptors are cheap and widely available. Power cuts, once frequent, are now much less common, while most top-end places have their own generators.
For police assistance, call 118 or 119; for an ambulance 110. Note, however, that reliable emergency services are largely restricted to the major cities. If you have a medical emergency out in the countryside it may be better to try to get yourself to the nearest hospital (or find the nearest doctor) rather than waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
It’s essential to take out insurance before travelling to cover against theft, loss and illness or injury. A typical travel insurance policy usually provides cover for loss of baggage, tickets and – up to a certain limit – cash or cheques, as well as cancellation or early curtailment of your journey. Most of them exclude so-called dangerous sports unless an extra premium is paid: in Sri Lanka this can mean scuba diving, whitewater rafting, kitesurfing and trekking. Many policies can be chopped and changed to exclude coverage you don’t need – for example, sickness and accident benefits can often be excluded or included at will. When securing baggage cover, make sure that the per-article limit – typically under £500 – will cover your most valuable possession. If you need to make a claim, you should keep receipts for medicines and medical treatment, and in the event that you have anything stolen obtain an official statement from the police.
Virtually every guesthouse and hotel in the country has wi-fi, as do many restaurants and cafés, although connections are sometimes erratic. In addition, all Sri Lanka’s telecom providers offer various mobile broadband packages covering almost the whole of the island. The rise of wi-fi and mobile services means that there are now very few internet cafés – details are given throughout the Guide, where they exist. Costs are usually between Rs.60 and Rs.120/hr.
Most guesthouses and hotels offer a laundry service. Washing usually takes 24 hours and costs around Rs.75–100 for a shirt or blouse and Rs.100 or more for a pair of trousers or a light dress. There are no public coin-operated launderettes anywhere on the island.
There is little understanding of LGBT+ issues in Sri Lanka – LGBT+ people are generally stigmatized and homosexuality is technically illegal (although no one has been arrested since 1950), so discretion is advised, and the whole scene remains rather secretive. The website equal-ground.org is a good first port of call for information, while utopia-asia.com/tipssri.htm has further links as well as listings of LGBT+-friendly accommodation and general travel information.
Rough Guides travel insurance
Rough Guides has teamed up with WorldNomads.com to offer great travel insurance deals. Policies are available to residents of over 150 countries, with cover for a wide range of adventure sports, 24hr emergency assistance, high levels of medical and evacuation cover and a stream of travel safety information. Roughguides.com users can take advantage of their policies online 24/7, from anywhere in the world – even if you’re already travelling. And since plans often change when you’re on the road, you can extend your policy and even claim online. Roughguides.com users who buy travel insurance with WorldNomads.com can also leave a positive footprint and donate to a community development project. For more information, go to roughguides.com/travel-insurance.
Postal services from Sri Lanka (slpost.gov.lk) are fairly reliable, at least if you stick to airmail, which takes three to four days to reach the UK and US. Surface mail is about half to one-third the cost of airmail but is horribly slow and offers lots of potential for things to get lost or damaged in transit. A postcard to the UK, Australasia or North America costs Rs.35, airmail letters from Rs.75–85. An airmail parcel to the UK costs around $17 for up to 0.5kg; rates to North America are similar and to Australia slightly cheaper. If you want to send a parcel home from Sri Lanka, you must take the contents unwrapped to the post office so that they can be inspected before wrapping (all larger post offices have counters selling glue, string and wrapping paper).
Another option is EMS Speed Post (slpost.gov.lk/services/ems), slightly faster (and more expensive) than airmail – a 0.5kg package to the UK costs around $20 (slightly more to North America, slightly less to Australia). Alternatively, a number of reputable international couriers have offices in Colombo.
There are several good maps of Sri Lanka. The best and most detailed is the Reise Know-How Sri Lanka Map (1:500,000); it’s also printed on indestructible waterproof paper so it won’t disintegrate in the tropics and can even be used as an emergency monsoon shelter, at a pinch. If you need real detail, note that the entire island is covered by a series of 92 1:50,000 maps – detailed, but somewhat dated – available (only) from the Survey Department on Kirulla Rd, Havelock Town (Mon–Fri 10am–3.30pm); you’ll need to show your passport to get in.
The Sri Lankan currency is the rupee (abbreviated variously as R., R/ or R/-, and, as in this book, as Rs.). Coins come in denominations of Rs.1, 2, 5 and 10; notes come in denominations of Rs.20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000. Try to avoid accepting particularly dirty, torn or disreputable-looking notes, and break big notes and stock up on change whenever you can – don’t expect to be able to pay for a Rs.50 cup of tea with a Rs.5000 note.
At the time of writing, the exchange rate was around Rs.155 to $1, Rs.190 to €1, and Rs.220 to £1; you can check current exchange rates at xe.com (they also have a handy smartphone app which is super-useful for converting prices on the spot). Top-end hotels always give their prices either in US dollars or (occasionally) in euros, though you’ll be expected to pay in rupees, with the bill converted at the current bank exchange rate. Many other tourist services are also often priced in dollars – anything from entrance tickets at archeological sites to tours, balloon trips or diving courses – though, again, payment will be expected in rupees.
Sri Lanka is well supplied with banks. The six main chains (most larger towns will have a branch of at least three or four of these) are the Bank of Ceylon, HNB (Hatton National Bank), Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank, People’s Bank and Seylan Bank. All are open Monday to Friday from 8 or 9am in the morning until 2 or 3pm in the afternoon, and all shut at weekends. Exchange rates for foreign currency or when making withdrawals by credit or debit card are fairly uniform across the various banks; you may get fractionally better rates if you shop around, but you won’t make any dramatic savings. If you need to change money outside banking hours, head to the nearest top-end hotel – most change cash, though at rates that are up to ten percent poorer than bank rates. Failing this, you could try at local guesthouses or shops – the more tourist-oriented the place you’re in the better your chances, though you’ll probably have to accept poor rates. All towns of any consequence have at least one bank ATM that accepts foreign debit and credit cards; ATMs at the Commercial, HNB, Sampath and Seylan banks accept both Visa and MasterCard; those at the People’s Bank accept Visa only; only a few Bank of Ceylon ATMs accept foreign cards. You’ll be charged a fee of around Rs.400 for ATM withdrawals on top of whatever charges your home bank may levy, although at the time of writing withdrawals from HNB ATMs were free.
You might also want to carry some cash with you for emergencies. US dollars, euros, pounds sterling and Australian dollars are all widely recognized and easily changed. New Zealand or Canadian dollars might occasionally cause problems, but are generally accepted in most banks. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find anywhere accepting or cashing travellers’ cheques.
Most businesses, including banks and government offices, work a standard five-day working week from Monday to Friday 9/9.30am to 5/5.30pm. Major post offices generally operate longer hours (typically 7am–9pm), and stay open on Saturdays as well. Some museums shut on Fridays, while Hindu temples stay shut for most of the day until around 4pm to 5pm, when they open for the evening puja. Buddhist temples, by contrast, generally stay open from dawn until dusk, or later.
Phoning home from Sri Lanka is straightforward and relatively inexpensive, although if you’re planning a long trip and are likely to be making a lot of calls, using your own mobile is easily the most cost-effective option. Ask your service provider whether your handset will work abroad and what the call costs are. Most UK, Australian and New Zealand mobiles use GSM, which works well in Sri Lanka, but US mobiles (apart from tri-band phones) won’t work.
Some mobile providers have reciprocal arrangements with Sri Lankan operators and offer reasonably affordable rates using your existing SIM card – check tariffs before you travel. It’s far cheaper, however, to replace the SIM card in your phone with a new SIM from a Sri Lankan company (assuming your phone isn’t locked). This will give you a Sri Lankan phone number and you will be charged domestic rates – as low as Rs.15 per minute for international calls, and Rs.2 for local calls. The most convenient place to get a Sri Lankan SIM is on arrival at the airport, which has sales outlets for all the island’s mobile operators. All sell tourist packages including a SIM and varying amounts of mobile data, plus texts and local and international calls for around $10 or less. SIM cards can also be picked up for just a few dollars (you’ll need to show your passport when buying) from any of the island’s myriad phone shops, which also sell chargers and adaptors for Sri Lankan sockets, and cards with which you can top up your airtime (or look for any shop displaying the relevant sticker). The main operators are Dialog (dialog.lk), Mobitel (mobitel.lk), Etisalat (etisalat.lk), Airtel (airtel.lk) and Hutch (hutch.lk); Dialog and Mobitel are generally reckoned to have the best coverage. You can get a mobile signal pretty much everywhere on the island apart from a few remote rural locations, including some areas around Sinharaja.
Without a mobile, the easiest way to make a call is to go to one of the island’s communications bureaux, little offices offering phone, fax and photocopying services (look out for signs advertising IDD calls), although these are becoming increasingly scarce now that pretty much everyone on the island has a mobile. You can often make calls from your hotel room in more upmarket places, although rates are usually sky-high. There are virtually no payphones anywhere.
To call home from Sri Lanka, dial the international access code (00), then the country code (UK 44; US and Canada 1; Ireland 353; Australia 61; New Zealand 64; South Africa 27), then the area code and subscriber number. Note that the initial zero is omitted from the area code when dialling the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand from abroad.
To call Sri Lanka from abroad, dial your international access code then the country code for Sri Lanka (94), then the area code, minus the initial zero, then the subscriber number.
Most Sri Lankans love having their photo taken – though it’s obviously polite to ask. A few of the island’s more photogenic inhabitants might expect to be paid to be photographed, particularly stilt fishermen (when you can find them) and (occasionally) tea pickers in the highlands. You’re not allowed to pose for photographs with Buddha images (standing with your back to the image), and photography is also generally not permitted inside the inner shrines of Hindu temples. In addition, note that flash photography can damage old murals; if you’re asked not to take flash photos, don’t. And do not under any circumstances photograph military or police installations or secure areas.
Sri Lanka is five hours and thirty minutes ahead of GMT; there is no daylight-saving time/summer time in place, so clocks stay the same year round.
Considering the importance of tourism to the national economy, there are surprisingly few sources of official tourist information in Sri Lanka itself and no overseas tourist offices. For detailed information about specific areas, the best sources are the independent tour operators and staff at hotels and guesthouses.
The free monthly Travel Lanka, available from the tourist office in Colombo, contains listings of accommodation, shops, services and transport in the capital and across the island. Time Out Sri Lanka (timeout.com/sri-lanka), widely available in Colombo, is also worth a look.
Online, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board’s site (srilanka.travel) is a reasonable source of information. Yamu (yamu.lk) has superb coverage of Colombo, plus patchy information on the rest of the country. You might also like to have a browse through Ari Withanage’s Sri Lanka pages at withanage.tripod.com and the eclectic Lanka Library (lankalibrary.com), which has loads of background on sites, culture, history and cuisine.
Awareness of the needs of disabled people remains extremely low in Sri Lanka, and there’s virtually no provision for disabled travellers. Few hotels, restaurants or tourist sites are wheelchair-accessible, although there are plenty of one-storey guesthouses that might be usable – though more by accident than design. Public transport is enough of a challenge for able-bodied passengers, and completely useless for wheelchair users, so you’ll need your own vehicle and a driver who is sympathetic to your needs – and even then the lack of specially adapted vehicles can make getting in and out difficult.
Pavements – where they exist – are generally uneven, full of potholes and protected by high kerbs, while the anarchic traffic presents obvious dangers to those with only limited mobility.
Sri Lanka is one of the world’s leading honeymoon destinations, and many couples go a step further and actually get married on the island – beach weddings are particularly popular. Arranging the ceremony independently and dealing with the attendant paperwork and bureaucracy can be difficult, however, and it’s much easier to leave the details to a specialist operator. Most large hotels and a number of tour operators can arrange the whole wedding for you, including (if you fancy) extras like Kandyan drummers and dancers, plus optional elephants and a chorus of local girls.
Sexual harassment and assault are unfortunate realities of daily life in Sri Lanka – in one 2017 survey, for example, a staggering ninety percent of Sri Lankan women reported having experienced sexual harassment on public transport. Serious assaults are infrequent, although it’s worth being aware of the potential for problems and the fact that unwanted and/or aggressive attention can happen not just on the street and in other public places, but even in situations where safety would normally be taken for granted, such as in hotels or when dealing with officials. It makes sense, obviously, to avoid walking alone at night in lonely places or wearing swimwear away from the beach. You should also be aware that there have been reports in recent years of foreign women having their drinks spiked in popular resort areas, as well as hotel staff trying to enter the rooms of female guests or calling them in the middle of the night.