I have been on several holidays to Sri Lanka and many moons ago spent a couple of years on the island. On each of the holidays we stayed at the Mt Lavinia Hotel, Mt Lavinia ... not far from Colombo and Negombo. This hotel is the old Governor's residence and was also used in the film Bridge Over The River Kwai, doubling as a convalescent hospital. As JK2 states, it is very hot and humid all year round and you certainly will not need to take any woollens!!! The hotel mentioned, although very old, has had a modern annexe built on with air conditioned rooms but if you prefer the ceiling fans these are available in the old section. From there you can visit Ratnapura, the gemstone area, the tea plantations, up-country, or the game reserves and elephant nurseries. The "troubles", which have been ongoing for many years take the edge off it a little, particularly when travelling up north to Jaffna or China Bay (the Tamil areas) but generally speaking the people are very, very friendly (known as the smiling nation) and if anything too subservient, in my view. Have a king coconut , which used to be their national emblem, and the milk from it is very refreshing. Fantastic assortment of tropical fruits available. Anyway, enjoy.