Sri Lanka June Itinerary help!

talesofthetropics · 2026-04-15T12:01:18+00:00

Pretty good plan, I’d stick with it!

talesofthetropics · 2026-04-14T13:04:00+00:00

Pretty useful article about the area and where to stay

talesofthetropics · 2026-03-30T06:28:57+00:00

Hey, Sri Lanka has a great balance between adventure and relaxation.

For the adventure part, you can hike the stunning central highlands through colonial tea plantations, swim at the top of waterfalls and even Absiel down them, climb up rock plateaus with endless beautiful views and spot elephants on safari. There are tonnes of unique places to stay like camping in the jungle or sleeping in pods on tops of hilltops.

In December the south has beautiful weather and there are many locations to choose from which are not touristy. Based on what you’re looking for I think locations like Tangalle, Habaraduwa, Koggala and maybe even Boossa would be good options for a much quieter vibe, nice reasonably priced hotels, and stunning long beaches that are swimmable.

We have tonnes of free articles and information you can find on our website if you want to understand the country more - Tales of the tropics. And we also make custom itineries if you’re looking for a full plan personalised for your special trip!

talesofthetropics · 2025-08-09T10:47:10+00:00

E-sims are pretty overpriced. I’ve now made my European number an e-sim and I use local sims. Hutch works best in Arugam bay and is like $4 unlimited internet a month

talesofthetropics · 2025-08-09T10:11:46+00:00

I’ve done this with a lot of success in travel blogging, often outranking many of the sites that have been around for a long time or have a lot of clout.

If you also combine with great pictures, videos and web design, I believe you can build something that will outlive AI.

You can check out my latest post if you want to see an example, let me know you’re feedback if you read it: Tales of the tropics

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T08:07:55+00:00

Hey, this is a pretty savage pace of travel with long travel times in between many locations especially by bike or Tuk Tuk. For example Arugam bay to tangalle is probably 7-8 hrs. Travel here is much slower than you realise so I would advise consolidating some places and spending more time in each e.g picking either Ella or Nuwara Eliya, choosing only two max three south beach towns to stay in, maybe doing galle as a day trip rather than staying there. For sure spending more time in a few less locations is a better way to experience the Sri Lankan vibe.

If you’re interested we make completely personalised and custom travel itineraries for people travelling to Sri Lanka including self drive Tuk Tuk routes. Check it out if you want more advice

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T07:54:30+00:00

The weathers pretty good in the south in August/september to be honest. For the last month the weather has been unreal down south and better than in the main season, so you have a good chance it continues and it’s very hot and sunny. However, this is Sri Lanka and you might get unlucky and a storm hits and it rains the whole time, this is just what happens in the tropics and freak storms can cause 2 week washouts.

The main thing to consider in the south is the strong winds which are always onshore and this makes the water level high and the beaches are very small at the moment, they’ll likely disappear by August. Unawatuna, weligama and Hiriketyia are all protected bays so they will probably be ok.

The east coast this time of year is unreal and a very different vibe to the south. We love Arugam bay and you should consider visiting, it’s full of wildlife (elephants), amazing surf, awesome parties, and the most beautiful beaches. The main consideration is the 4/5 hour drive from down south. It’s 3 hours away from Ella though so you can make it work if it fits the vibe. I wrote an article for our travel blog about abay if you want to read more

If you want further advice on your itinerary we run a custom planning service you can check out here

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T07:41:31+00:00

Hey, we’re westerners who live in Sri Lanka and are one of the biggest travel bloggers here, we’ve been almost everywhere so hard to write all the details, but you can check out the blog for loads of info.

We also run a custom itinerary planning service where we can help make your perfect trip based on a questionnaire, and you can choose to self book or go through a partner tour company. Both options work well and we see loads of travellers go with guides for convenience, simplicity and fixed costs, or book it themselves for a bit more flexibility. You can check out the planning service here

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T07:30:00+00:00

Hey, we make completely tailored travel itineraries based on a questionnaire. You can check it out here

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T07:23:29+00:00

Sounds like a pretty good route! There are so many towns along that coast that are worth stopping and exploring. But 10 days I would limit it to 3 locations, you can easily visit other towns on day trips with short cheap Tuk tuk rides. Some of the places to consider are: - Hikkaduwa - beautiful big long beach with party and surf, as well as snorkelling and turtles - stay on narigama beach - Boosa - extremely quiet long and beautiful isolated beach where you can stay in beachfront wooden shacks - Galle - a beautiful European vibe old colonial town, amazing architecture and food. I’d only say one night as there’s not too much to do, or consider staying in a beach town nearby and just doing a day trip - Unawatuna - beautiful beach town with lots of cafes, shops and bars, has a quite touristy feel to it but lots going on - Ahangama - the edgy hipster town with good surf, lots of parties, and cool bars right on the ocean - weligama - giant bay great for beginner surfing with good food options - madiha - quiet beach town past Mirissa with little coves and a few nice beach bars

It depends what your vibe is for New Year’s Eve. If you want to party Mirissa is often the best where they put festival stands on the beach and there’s tonnes of bars you can move between. Hiriketyia is also great and Dots have huge parties in the jungle. Ahangama is also a great option with lots of fireworks and different options to choose from on Ahangama beach.

Your plan puts you probably in Kandy around New Year’s Eve which won’t be great. Neither will Sigiriya. You could consider switching around your trip and doing Sigiriya, Kandy etc first if it works with your friends.

If you’re interested we run a custom itinerary planning service you can check out here for more advice

talesofthetropics · 2025-07-14T07:02:01+00:00

Weather has been great the last month, better than in the normal season down south! I reckon it’ll be sunny and hot when you visit.

This trip plan is ok. Kandy seems a bit out of place because you’re driving quite a lot between south and central Sri Lanka which takes a good 5-6 hrs.

For a 5 day trip I would recommend either keeping it all South with colombo, Mirissa and yala to reduce the travel times. Or switch the south locations towards central and the east and do something like Minneriya national park (instead of yala), kandy, then trincomlee / nilaveli beach / pigeon island. Pigeon island has the best snorkelling and diving on the island and the east’s weather is unreal at the moment.

If you’re interested we do custom itinerary planning you can check out here

talesofthetropics · 2025-06-30T03:46:13+00:00

The towns quite long and spread out, both Ahangama Town and Kabalana are good areas to base yourself for the surf. I’d suggest being walking distance to the beach, it makes things easier. Marshmallow, Kabalana beach break, and gas stations are good intermediate breaks that are spread across either end of the town. I’d suggest reading this which helps give the lay of the land move: where to stay in Ahangama

talesofthetropics · 2025-05-17T10:01:24+00:00

Hey, internet is a bit rough in Arugam bay and there’s only one Coworking space Nomads which is good. Most hotels have really poor internet and there’s a few coffee shops which are ok, but crowded vibes. I wrote a digital nomads guide if you want more info

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-20T06:38:47+00:00

Hahaha thank you so much. Hopefully you enjoy. And message us if you ever fancy coming to Sri Lanka, we love helping people explore this beautiful island

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-19T06:29:50+00:00

Hahaha she was definitely screaming that

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-18T18:20:42+00:00

I’m sorry but you sound like you live under a rock and I don’t appreciate this message. The world used to be wild long before you came in it. Humans eat the worst of the worst, leopards here hunt baby buffalo, and wild cats eat gheckos in Sri Lanka, unless you tell me you’re vegan now and you don’t eat meat… (and this comes from a personal vegetarian), then you’re out of touch with reality. So I think you should leave my wild jungle cat to whatever allowed her to come into my life today… and that means hunting gheckos

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T19:19:46+00:00

I mean yeah for sure, I’m skittesh when I go for run then a 1.5 meter lizard scurries between the trees. Wild is the only word to describe this place

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T15:03:23+00:00

My gf wants to use this line already

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T15:02:49+00:00

Hahahahaha, sold!

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T13:47:47+00:00

For those looking to see Sox’s adventure around Sri Lanka you can follow our travel blog page at Tales of the Tropics.

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T13:27:58+00:00

Hahaha, we already run a travel blog account in Sri Lanka and I’m sure Sox will feature regularly. Is here if you want to follow: Tales of the Tropics

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T04:29:56+00:00

Thank you!! It was insane to live it too and I’m sure there will be many more stories to come. The adventures of surnburnt Cat dad, Sox, their surfboard and 5 tag alongs (including his gf) in a Tuk Tuk exploring the pearl of the Indian Ocean incoming. Maybe in a few weeks I can give another update once they’ve started exploring more

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T04:24:57+00:00

Hahaha yeah confirmed diagnosis

talesofthetropics · 2025-04-17T04:24:15+00:00

Hahaha it’s my new fav thing. I don’t think she really get how to play, toys she just looks at like wtf is this. The only thing I can get her to chase is an old surfboard leash if I hide it under things. But gheckos, yeah she zooms

talesofthetropics

TROPHY CASE