Thanks for the comments marconess. The driver told us that the new road has made a great difference BUT once the road ends, all of the roads merge into one for the city. He said that on the day we arrived, there was at least an hours delay in getting off the express-way into the City.
For the sake of the search engines and others who have a similar layover! As of January 2014:
- Immigration took about 15 minutes. It seems there are two main areas to clear immigration from, one in front of the large Buddha statue and one round the corner to the left - the queue on the left seemed to be quicker!
- We converted USD as soon as we left baggage claim, there were several places to change money and they all seemed to have the same rate (128 on my visit)
- We found a driver right outside the front on the airport who quoted 4000 Rupees for a trip to Negombo, a 3 hours stopover and a ride back to the airport. His number is 0775796342 alas i cannot remember his name but his business card company is KK Tours and Travels. I asked the windowed counter outside arrivals for the same fare and was quoted 5000 one way so this seemed like a great deal. Our driver was friendly and polite, showed us around the fish market and the beach area; we even stopped at a shop on the way back to buy some Arrack!
- It took about 15 minutes to get to Negomobo and maybe 20 minutes to get back
- Once we arrived at the airport, it took around 15 minutes to reach immigration and then another 10 minutes to clear it (my story of being asked for a 'gift' is probably best kept for another day!)
- Being from the UK i was worried about the 100ml rule on hand luggage going through customs - alas i needed had worried! There was no problem.
Finally - be aware that the Emirates lounge here is NOT 24 hours. If we had decided not stay in the airport, we would have been very disappointed!
Hope this helps someone!