Kovalam beach and Shiva statue trip from Tiruvananthapuram

Kovalam beach is about 20 kms further south from Kerala’s capital, Tiruvananthapuram. Kovalam beach is a nice stretch of beach with a lighthouse on one side, a luxury hotel (Leela Kovalam) on the other and lots of restaurants and shops by the shore in between.

We hired an auto to take us to Kovalam beach and back. The 40-45 kms trip was negotiated for 600 INR. We arrived at Kovalam beach by around 10.30 AM- not the best time of the day to visit the beaches- all the shops were just opening, fully empty and many businessmen asked if we wanted a room or a massage or other things they had on sale.

First I walked up to what looked like an abandoned watch post on a rock. Then walked by the shore till the lighthouse- access to the lighthouse looked difficult due to closed gates. Then we walked back. There are many budget hotels next to the beach, so an overnight stay here would be nice. Also the area gets crowded on weekends and night time. I didn’t see any water sports happening in Kovalam, some restaurants had benches and umbrellas by the beach.

There were some buses with Kovalam written on them, but I guess they stopped a bit farther from the beach area. Access road to the beach is NOT suitable for larger vehicles.

Taj Kovalam is an extremely luxurious resort in the area, with waterfalls like bath showers. If you can afford them, try for a night (anywhere between 15- 20k a night)

Exploring below stretch of land between ocean and backwater would have been great- like the Varkala walking trail, but we were short of time, so had to return, but not before visiting Azhimala shiva temple.

Azhimala Shiva temple is a nice medium sized shiva statue next to Ocean. It is probably half the size of one available in Murudeshwara in Karnataka. There is a 20 rupee ticket to enter the temple complex, we can spend some time admiring the statue, get some photos clicked, look at the view of the ocean and return.

View of ocean near Shiva statue