Kovalam Beach

Kovalam, a small town located 16km from Thiruvanathapuram is famous for its beautiful beaches. Its sandy beaches are lined with palm-fringed lagoons and rocky coves. Kovalam with its unique and wonderful beaches is a sheltered bay and is endowed with unusual natural beauty. The Arabian sea coast at many places is lined with beautiful patches of coral reefs. An hours drive from the capital, it is the most famous south Indian beach, popular for sunbathing.

It was during the 1930's, that the potentiality of Kovalam beach as a tourist destination was discovered by the European guests of the then 'Travancore' kingdom. But the real fame as an ideal beach resort was won later for the Kovalam beach in the early seventies with the arrival of masses of 'Hippys'.

In the seventies Kovalam became a hippy idyll, a fishing village providing fresh fish, fruit and toddy (coconut bear) nestling a picture perfect tropical beach. Later it developed into a laid back tourist hangout with a few basic but comfortable lodges and makeshift restaurants. But today this tiny beach is ferrying thousands of tourists from all around the world and has a wide range of accommodation for the budget as well as luxury tourists. 

Kovalam consists of three adjacent coconut palm fringed crescent beaches separated by rocky promontories. The southern most beach, marked by a prominent red and white striped Light House, known as the Light house beach, is the most popular of the three. It is lined with cafes/restaurants serving delicious seafood especially prawns and lobsters, bars and vendors selling clothes, crafts, carpets, fruits etc. Further south beyond the light house, is the small village of Vizhinjam. Vizhinjam, scarcely visited by tourists is a major centre for fishing. It has a beach of its own. The northernmost beach is the Samudra, dotted with traditional fishing boats and is least affected by the changing times. In between lies the Hawah or the Eve's beach. North of the Eve's beach on a rocky promontory lies the award winning resort, the Ashoka beach resort which divide the beaches into north and south sections. The resort has its own small section of private beach and provides windsurfing and sailing boat facilities. Its a 15min. walk between the Ashoka and the Light house.