Kovalam - A Beach Town

At Kovalam Beach

Kovalam is a beach town on the Arabian Sea, 16 km outside Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) city in Kerala. Kovalam means a grove of coconut trees.

Kovalam was brought to the public eye by the Maharaja of Travancore. The European guests of the then Travancore kingdom discovered the potential of Kovalam beach as a tourist destination in the 1930s. However, Kovalam shot into limelight in the early seventies with arrival of the  of hippies. This started the transformation of a casual fishing village of Kerala into one of the most important tourist destinations in  India- the Kovalam beach.

Tourist attractions

1. Light House Beach

This beach has been the favorite haunt of most Europeans since the 1930s. The Kovalam beach has wonderful Sapphire blue waters and palm trees swaying to the salty breeze.  It is known as the paradise of the South. Innumerable numbers of tourists both national and international flock to this sun filled sandy beach at all times of the year. The beach is rather shallow and offers tourists an opportunity to wade further in to the water. There are a significant number of star hotels, resorts and ayurveda treatments offering the tourists several accommodation options.

2.Hawah Beach 

The second largest one is Hawah Beach named thus for the topless European women who used to throng there. Hawah Beach is actually an extension of Lighthouse Beach .It was the first topless beach in India. Top free bathing and parading is banned now except in private coves owned by resorts.

3.Vizhinjam Village 

Vizhinjam Village

The coastal village life of Kovalam is vibrant and rich with a variety of activities like coir manufacturing, coconut leaf weaving, fish markets and the like. There is a marine aquarium with a variety of fishes such as clownfish, squirrelfish, moon wrasse, sharks, lionfish, butterfly fish, giant turtles, triggerfish, surgeonfish, piranhas, etc.  There are rock cut sculptures of the 18th century in the cave temple at Vizhinjam. The granite cave here encloses a one-celled shrine with a loose sculpture of Vinandhara Dakshinamurthi. The outer wall of the cave depicts half complete reliefs of the Hindu God Shiva with Goddess Parvathi.

4.Vizhinjam Fishing Harbour

A small fishing village just 2 km from Kovalam is known for the Vizhinjam Fishing Harbour which is the busiest fishing harbor in Thiruvananthapuram. The innumerable fishing boats coming and going to the harbor with the setting sun are a delightful sight.

5.Jama Masjid 

A small mosque by the name of Kovalam Jama Masjid stands on the Ashok beach and right across, on the other side of the road, is a Ganapati Temple. It is a very famous mosque and lot of people visits every day.

At Travancore Heritage

 Must Things to do

•   Sunbathing

•   Swimming

•   Herbal body toning massages

•   Catamaran cruising

•   Taste Sea food

Location/Best time to go

Location:

Kovalam is located around 16 km from Trivandrum city, south of Kerala. Nearest railway station is Thiruvananthapuram central about 16 km and the nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport, about 10 km to the North.

Best time to go

January - March and September - December.