Sri Lanka / Southern Province
Unawatuna Beach
Unawatuna Beach is a 1.0 km-long beach facing south-south-west, 1.5 km south of Unawatuna (Southern Province, Sri Lanka). The sea averages 29.5 °C in April, its warmest month, and 27.5 °C in July; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Unawatuna Beach
Beach-day index 7.3/10 · Sri Lanka median 7.3
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 27.8 °C | 28.2 °C | 29.0 °C | 29.5 °C | 29.0 °C | 28.2 °C | 27.5 °C | 27.6 °C | 27.8 °C | 28.1 °C | 28.5 °C | 28.2 °C |
| High °C | 29° | 30° | 31° | 30° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° | 28° |
| Low °C | 19° | 20° | 21° | 22° | 23° | 23° | 22° | 22° | 22° | 22° | 21° | 20° |
| Rain mm | 96 | 81 | 106 | 180 | 178 | 106 | 87 | 106 | 149 | 232 | 273 | 190 |
| Cloud % | 68 | 64 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 83 | 85 | 84 | 81 | 80 | 82 | 76 |
| Wind m/s | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| Daylight h | 11.8 | 11.9 | 12.1 | 12.3 | 12.4 | 12.5 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 12.2 | 12.0 | 11.9 | 11.8 |
| Record high/low | 35°/14° | 35°/15° | 37°/17° | 37°/19° | 33°/20° | 33°/21° | 33°/20° | 32°/21° | 33°/20° | 34°/19° | 32°/18° | 33°/15° |
| Beach index | 8.6 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 7.9 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7.7 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in June–August and January–March; February scores 8.7/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 28.2 °C and 81 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Sri Lanka in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 28.3 °C, warmer than 92% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (273 mm) and February the driest (81 mm); the yearly total is about 1,780 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.8 hours in December to 12.5 hours in June; in mid-February the sun rises at 06:25 and sets at 18:21 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-west (195°). Open water fills about 44% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in September–March; in mid-December it goes down at 17:57 local time on a bearing of 247°.
Straight out to the south-south-west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 66,723 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 8 m deep and 43 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 27 m above sea level 500 m inland and 14 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 82% tree cover and 13% built-up land (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 46% of that circle.
- Tree 82%
- Built 13%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 70Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- –Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 122Hotels & guesthouses
- 3Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Cash machines
- 2Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 48 restaurants, 13 cafés and 9 bars. Accommodation: 122 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Blowhole 270 m SW
Attractions & museums
- Galle Fort, Sri Lanka museum 270 m NE
Nature
- Cave dive site reef 1.1 km SW
- Gala pita gala dive site reef 1.2 km SW
- Unuwatuna Coral Reef reef 1.4 km NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koggala Airport Galle | KCT | 8.2 km | east |
| Colombo Ratmalana International Airport Colombo | RML | 98.9 km | north-west |
| Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala | HRI | 102 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 3 bus stops within 1.5 km and rail station Unawatuna (1.6 km).
4 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 101.1K residents); within 30 km there are 7 (about 129.3K).
Map
Loading map…
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 18.8 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w303723769; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_44NMM_20230306_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 49.5K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.