By road
~16 km from Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
South India · Kerala
Kovalam, Kerala
Lighthouse views and gentle crescent bays · ~16 km from Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
Getting there
By rail
Thiruvananthapuram Central, ~15 km
By air
Trivandrum International Airport, ~15 km
Best time to visit
October to February — post-monsoon calm
Don't miss
Kovalam Lighthouse
Hawa Beach
Padmanabhaswamy Temple in nearby Trivandrum
Things to do
Ayurvedic massage
Catamaran rides
Surfing at the lighthouse break
Where to eat
Sources: wikimedia, Photo: mehul.antani · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Swimwear, sun hat, light evening layer
A quieter corner
Vizhinjam fishing harbour at dawn, boats returning with the catch
About Kovalam
- Coastal
Where it is
Kovalam is a beach town on Kerala's Arabian Sea coast, on the southern edge of Thiruvananthapuram, where rocky headlands divide the shore into three crescent beaches.
History
Long a fishing village near the old port of Vizhinjam, Kovalam first drew attention when Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, regent of Travancore, built her beach retreat, Halcyon Castle, here in the late 1920s. Travellers on the hippie trail arrived in the early 1970s, and the village grew into a well-known beach resort.
People
Kovalam's people speak Malayalam. Fishing families still launch boats from the beaches and from the harbour at Vizhinjam, while many others work in the Ayurvedic centres, guesthouses and seafood restaurants along the shore.
Known for
- Lighthouse, Hawa and Samudra beaches
- The striped lighthouse on Kurumkal hill
- Ayurvedic treatments and massage
- Seafood from the Vizhinjam fishing harbour
Did you know?
Lighthouse Beach takes its name from the Vizhinjam Lighthouse, about 36 m tall, which stands on Kurumkal hill above the southern end of Kovalam's shore.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.