Location: Kovalam
Top Things to do in Kovalam
Top 10 Things to do in Kovalam, India
A beach town on the Arabian Sea in southern India, Kovalam features three spectacular crescent beaches. The most popular and largest beach is Lighthouse Beach, aptly named for its 30-meter lighthouse, which features a stunning site - the Vizhinjam mosque. For a less crowded beach, visit Samudra Beach, with ample coconut trees and great views of the local fishermen at work.
Restaurants in Kovalam
1. Lighthouse Beach
2. Kovalam Beach
Overall Ratings
4 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By A TripAdvisor Member
I am the life time member of country club. They do not have any fixed policy. They giving better room to non members who book directly and poor qulity to members. Resort need lots of maintance. Very less variety in breakfast. Rooms are not as shown in pictures. Swimming pool is also poorly maintained.
3. Samudra Beach
Overall Ratings
4 based on 292 reviews
4. Hawa Beach
Overall Ratings
4 based on 330 reviews
Reviewed By Michael1052 - Armidale, Australia
To begin, this beach has many names: Sea Rock beach, Eve's beach, and some even call it Kovalam beach, which is wrong because that term applies to the whole area.
The good things: it has excellent swimming for domestic tourists, who generally not only can't swim, but often have never seen the ocean and waves before in their life. Being a smaller bay to Lighthouse beach around the corner, it is mostly a calmer sea (though not always). This means you can stand or sit on the edges, and enjoy the smaller waves that roll in.
There is excellent Life Guard monitoring, which is very critical if you can't swim - I have seen them in action, and they know their stuff. If they tell you to get out or move across, they are doing it for good reason. I see some think they are a bit racist, because they treat the foreigners differently to the Indians. This is true, but it's not racist. They simply know that most foreigners have more experience with the sea, and generally have swimming skills. Also, foreigners prefer the southern end, because it's calmer, where they can just stand shoulder deep in the water, while Indians prefer the excitement of waves crashing into them. But the southern end can also be dangerous, so the Guards will call the foreigners out of there on such days.
If you can demonstrate to the Life Guards, that you are a good swimmer, they will let you go wherever you want, because actually, the whole beach is quite safe in the Dec to Feb months - you can swim out a very long way. The main reason for them to move swimmers, is so they can keep an eye on everyone.
The bad things: firstly, Indian's still haven't got the idea of not dropping their garbage wherever they like. The beach is quite dirty, especially after the weekend. This is a big cultural battle in India, as the push to get Indians to "Don't Rubbish India" is growing in strength, but unfortunately, it still has a long way to go. I regularly came across plastic bags, items of clothing, and even bits of fishing net in the water while swimming. The beach itself becomes littered with rubbish every evening in season. The absence of rubbish bins does not help! And there is only one small toilet for the whole beach.
Secondly, this beach in years previous (we have been coming here since 1994) was a delightfully serene and pretty place, with very few people. Domestic tourism has hit the beach hard, and will only grow more. It now sports noisy speed boats that send diesel fumes wafting over the beach. Soon their will be jet-skies, banana boats, parachute rides and god knows what else - this place has actually past its best.
Indian's like excitement on their holidays, but in general, foreigners prefer a calmer, quieter experience. Just watch the difference between Indians and foreigners in the water - Indians love to hold hands in large groups, screaming and shouting and jumping with excited delight, while foreigners swim individually and prefer to just enjoy the sea for its own sake. With the enormous influx of domestic tourism to Kovalam, foreigners will be less inclined to come here. Which is a pity for the local economics, as Indians don't spend as much in restaurants as foreigners do, nor do they stay as long.
Hawa beach is no longer the peaceful place it once was, but that applies to all of India as well. India is changing, and for better or worse, that is the fact of the matter. Noisier, busier, crowded, yet wealthier and slowly growing in environmental awareness. Unfortunately, Hawa and Kovalam are very small places, and will suffer under the impact of this tourism pressure.
5. Neyyar Dam
Overall Ratings
4 based on 177 reviews
Reviewed By Niyanta2010 - London, United Kingdom
The expectations are high for this place but it disappoints. You can only get a glimpse of falling waters from the car but as it can't stop you can't appreciate what you are looking at. The view from the top walking area is only of the lake and not really much to see.
6. Vellayani Lake
Overall Ratings
4 based on 49 reviews
Reviewed By SD H
Went for a boat trip on this lake, arranged by a resort so not sure if the boatman is always there. Very quiet, peaceful area.
7. Kovalam Fish Market
Overall Ratings
4 based on 39 reviews
Reviewed By Foley2013 - Chester, United Kingdom
A wonderful experience watching the boats we had seen dancing on the sea for the past few nights and then seeing the actual fishermen as people, dragging their boats onto the sand and then their wives filling their baskets with fishes of all types imaginable: squid, King fish, prawns, lobster, mackerel, vast yellow fin tuna which all then are laid out for sale for the passing restaurateurs and locals.
Expect squabbles between elderly India ladies as they negotiate price; it's like a trading hall but without the filo fax and bad haircuts.
Well worth a bus ride or taxi to experience the rudiments of one of the oldest and the most noble of all trades.
We got to even buy our own King fish and had it cooked that night.
A wonderful trip.
8. Soji Yoga - Day Classes
Overall Ratings
5 based on 33 reviews
Reviewed By anbekle - Munich, Germany
We experienced daily morning classes with Soji at Anantara Kihavah Resort which were just great. The early morning exercises made sure we felt powerful throughout the day without feeling sore, eventhough exercises were quite demanding. Nevertheless, Soji adjusted his instructions to each member's physical abilities and supported everbody to get into the correct position. We really enjoyed it and recommend it to experienced Yoga affiliates as well as to new comers.
9. Bodhi Dharma Wellness Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 35 reviews
Bodhi Dharma Center is a Wellness Center on Kovalam Beach Road in Kovalam, Kerala that provides Rejuvenating and Detoxification Treatments in the excellent tradition of Ayurveda as well as Marma Therapy and Kalari therapy.
Reviewed By NotMyRealName108 - London
This was our second visit to Bodhi Dharma in 3 years - in our view it's the best service in the area: - Clean, hygienic rooms and service - Great staff - Vinay and Anupam are just wonderful people - Excellent knowledge of Ayurveda and...MoreThank you very much for your valuable feedback.
10. Karamana River
Overall Ratings
4 based on 32 reviews
Reviewed By sikhilviswam - Adoor, India
karamana river was just 2 km from my college , i used to visit here weekly ,beautiful place to hangout with friends . in night its really awesome but watch out for cops ..... truly a good place to hang out
