Kovalam

Kovalam is an internationally renowned beach with three adjacent crescent beaches. It has been a favourite destination of tourists, especially Europeans, since the 1930s. A massive rocky peninsula on the beach has created a beautiful bay of calm waters ideal for sea bathing.

Backed by precipitously mounting headlands and covered by green coconut palms, the beaches, especially the southern most part of lighthouse beach. It is also lined with a host of shops and shacks offering all kinds of services; creating a wonderful resort atmosphere. Curio shops, hawkers of Kashmiri and Tibetan products, moneychangers and beachwear shops, between the surplus of restaurants and hotels, do brisk business during peak tourist season.

The leisure options at this beach are plenty and diverse. Sunbathing, swimming, herbal body toning massages, special cultural programmes and catamaran cruising are some of them. The tropical sun acts so fast that one can see the faint blush of coppery tan on the skin in a matter of minutes. Life on the beach begins late in the day and carries on well into the night. The beach complex includes a string of budget cottages, Ayurvedic health resorts, convention facilities, shopping zones, swimming pools, Yoga and Ayurvedic massage centres.

Best time to visit: September to March, though it is an all-year-round destination.

Location: 16 km from Thiruvananthapuram city, South Kerala.

Getting there:

Nearest railway station: Thiruvananthapuram Central, about 16 km.
Nearest airport: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, about 10 km.