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Hotel accommodation Varkala Beach South West India
we stayed at was clean comfortable and about a 3 star to 4 star
rating. Preeth hotel accommodation near Varkala Beach was one of
the few good hotels with a swimming pool. This Varkala beach
resort hotel had free breakfast included with accommodation.
Photo of Preeth Beach Resort Varkala
All hotel accommodation near Varkala Beach is on the plateau
near and east of the Varkala cliff.
Our hotel villa was about 8 minutes walk from the Varkala
cliffs. It takes another minute to step down the steps on
the cliff face to the best beach in south west India. Pity
there are no public rubbish bins. Some rubbish is tipped over
the cliff. Tropical vegetation over growing the rubbish
prevents too much of an eyesore. The light brown sand of
Varkala beach is clean as too is the water of the Arabian sea
section of the Indian Ocean.
A walk along Varkala beach at night goes past fresh water
pouring out of the Varkala cliff where fishermen have their
nightly wash.
Varkala Beach and Kovalum Beach near to the south of Trivandrum
are the only beaches in Kerala state of India patrolled by life
guards. (See interview of Varkala Beach surf lifeguard in video
below). A walk north from the helipad on the path along the
top
edge of the Varkala cliff face takes you past beautiful peopleless
beaches such as "Black Beach". At Black Beach I had a
swim, coconut drink and refreshing bucketing from the well.
A tuktuk (three wheeled transport) took us north to nearby Kapill
in search of backwater ferries. There were none so we
caught a taxi further north to nearby Kollam city. Nearly every tour, operator in India, big or
small, is on commission. We were particularly interested
in the PUBLIC ferry to experience travel in India with local
Indians. Our unregistered taxi driver took us into a tour
booking agent who offered a big expensive tourist boat saying
the last ferry for the day had gone. He sold us a
backwaters village tour because the big boat was too expensive. While waiting for a taxi I saw
ferries coming and going from a dock at the end of the street.
When I queried the tour rep who just lied to get a sale, he said
"these ferries are only transport". Just the thing we
wanted. As it turned out the Rp500 back water
village tour including 10km east of Kollam taxi, was quite
worthwhile.
We had been told train was the best way to
travel in India so we embarked at
Quilon
train station... (Many Anglicised proper nouns are spelt
differently than they are in India. Quilon is in big
signage at the Quilon Train station.
Trivandrum
is the common easy English way of spelling Thiruvananthapuram)
... for the 30km train journey to Varkala train station and
caught a tuktuk back to cliff top restaurants above Varkala
Beach near our hotel accommodation.
Surfing at Varkala Beach
was out of the question with small waves when I was there 4th -
8th February however friends have told me surf at Varkala Beach
can be good. I did not see any surfboard hire. There were
a few old, dinged boards at Kovalam Beach for hire.
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Beach Near Varkala Cliffs
Varkala beach is all you can imagine of tropical south west
India. LOTs of coconut palm trees. Lots of culture, 3
religions: Hindu, Muslim and Christian, good seafood
restaurants, shopping, European tourists, a few beggars, etc.
From Varkala cliff top balcony restaurants we
could see hundreds of fishing boat lights at night out to sea,
so we figured simply cooked, freshly selected seafood would be
safe. I even dared eat salad and by squeezing lemon juice on
fresh fish and salad, I think it helped us not once getting
"Delhi belly" Ask for curd (yoghurt) and bananas
- delicious.
Restaurant near Varkala Beach
near Helipad
Varkala Beach is a tourist destination, therefore prices are
higher. If you want to bother you can catch a tuktuk east about
10 minutes away to Varkala town where things like AC 240 volt
power adaptors, massage, hair cuts, restaurant food, transport,
etc are cheaper. Don't go looking for beauty treatment
before 10:30am because the beauticians at Varkala Beach don't
work too hard.
Weather at Varkala Beach was perfect with blue skies every day
for good video and photos of Varkala Beach.
Climate charts Varkala Beach South India.
Temperature at Varkala was mid 30 degrees Celsius perfect for
beaching where you can hire 2 beach deck chairs with umbrella
for Rp300 per day.
Travel up and down the west coast of India is easy and VERY
cheap by train. Near Varkala Beach to the north are
Kollam
and Kochi, Kerala's big historic city with the first Jewish
synagogue build in Asia. The back waterways north and south from
Kochi stretch for hundreds of kilometres. South and near Varkala
is the Kerala city of Trivandrum and near that is the popular
tourist beach destination in South India of
Kovalum beach.
We caught a taxi from Kovalum beach to Varkala for Rp1,200.
The roads are full of dangerous drivers. Honking horns are
incessant. Big buses have the right of way because they're
big and fearless. The train while not the cleanest is far cheaper
and relaxing than road transport. Indian passengers were friendly.
YouTube
Video of
Back Water Canal Tour
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