About Varkala Beach
Varkala Beach, often called a hidden gem of Kerala, is where natural beauty, adventure, and culture come together. Located in the southern part of Kerala on the northern edge of Trivandrum district, this serene beach is famous for its unique cliff formations, pristine waters, and spiritual charm. Once a quiet village, Varkala has now grown into one of the most sought-after travel destinations in God’s Own Country, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Whether you’re looking for relaxation, adventure, or cultural exploration, Varkala has something unforgettable to offer.
Things to do at Varkala Beach:
1. Sightseeing – A beach with nearby sightseeing places always been a top priority to a tourist. Varkala beach is a destination where you can enjoy various sightseeing along with beaches. Ranging from natural blended beauty to the man-made wonders it has all.
2. Sunbathing - Sunbathing is one of the most sought after thing to do in its beach. Varkala beach provides a unique experience of sunbathing with its beautiful landscape and favourable weather. Feeling of relaxation and peace is always accompanied with just a 5 minutes sunbath on its beach.
3. Windsurfing - for those of you who are an avid lover of Windsurfing, here is the place for you. With the long tides of 2 to 5 feet, you can enjoy amazing windsurfing at this place. The long stretches of cliff formation help to maintain the steady flow of winds over the sea.
4. Parasailing - Cutting through the winds and sailing over the sea is what makes this sport a beautiful one. With the continuous flow of wind, parasailing in its beach is a popular tourist attraction. Every year thousands of tourists over the world visit this place just to get a perfect parasailing experience.
Sunset - Laying on the beach, watching the departed sun with the perfect blended colours is the experience you never want to forget for the whole life.
5. Ayurvedic - Varkala is known for its ayurvedic medicine treatment. Ayurveda is a system of healing against your diseases in the form of self-discovery. It teaches you to maintain a state in which your mind, body and soul interact with each other to seamlessly work together, and help you experience the feeling of self-aware, wellness and bliss.
6. Yoga Treatment - Yoga has started its journey from its origin country India. Now it has spread around the globe for well being of individuals. It doesn’t only help cure certain diseases, but regular yoga helps to maintain the body in a perfect condition. So the line "Prevention is better than cure" can be achieved maintaining a perfect schedule of Yoga every day. Varkala provides a huge variety of yoga training centre, some of them are maintained by well-known people in the yoga field. You can definitely learn a lot more new things through these yoga treatment centres.
7. Meditation - as yoga helps to purify and maintain good health, meditation helps to improve your mental strength. Meditation helps you to heal your mental pain, reduce Stress, improve a bad mood, increase Concentration and reveal creativity to its best. Learning a meditation method through these centres will help you live a happy peaceful life. You should definitely try meditation while spending time there.
8. Art / Creative Workshop - Art and creative workshop are one of the best ways to spend some leisure time with learning value of life. Go to some of the art workshops after you spend your perfect beach time. Go through these workshops with an aim to learn, who knows you may end up discovering a new phase of life.
9. Traditional dance performance held in Local theatre everyday - Varkala rank a top spot in its contribution to Kerala tradition. Traditional dance is performed by some of the talented local people in Varkala Culture Centre. You can learn a lot more about Kerala's tradition with these glimpses of traditional dance performance including Kathakali dance. .
Places to Visit in & Around Varkala Beach:
1. Janardhana Swami Temple - Nothing can provide a fruitful feeling of worship to a true believer than an old heritage temple. Janardhana Swami temple is one such heritage temple in Varkala. This 2000 years old temple is devoted to Lord Vishnu. All the heritage and traditional beliefs of Varkala people and Lord Vishnu worshiper are kept alive with this traditional Janardhana Swami Temple. Though it’s old, you can find a lot more valuable insight into Kerala's tradition back in time
Temple timing varies according to the season. There is a must visit of the temple in the time of aarti, where you refresh your soul to its purest form. An old tree in the temple campus adds additional beauty to the overall aura of the temple’s environment.
2. The Sivagiri Mutt - It is an Ashram, spreading across the 200 acres of land on the top of Sivagiri Hill. This Ashram is dedicated to the name of Shree Narayana Guru. He was a social reformer who stood for equality and firmly believed the importance of one religion, one caste and one god for humanity to achieve integrity and prosperity to humankind.
3. Varkala Lighthouse - It is slightly far from the Varkala city with a distance of nearly 13.8 km. Travelling on the way to the lighthouse will let you accumulate peaceful experience of seeing A Line palm trees and Kerala backwater. As Varkala is a village, you can nearly experience every possible life experience offered by a village. Climb up the lighthouse to have a look at the beautiful landscape of Varkala and nearby places comprises of sea, Lakes and Trees to freshen up your soul.
Keep it in mind, Varkala lighthouse opens between 3 to 5 pm, so plan according to that schedule only.
4. Anchengo Fort - It’s a British colonial fort built by East India Company. Although, there is no any Sought after thing to see in the fort but it’s worth a visit. If you’re history enthusiast, never miss that opportunity to see the fort as Varkala has some long back history. As it is near the lighthouse, you don’t have to plan it separately.
5. Sivagiri Tunnel - Spreading across the length of more than 1 km, Sivagiri tunnel was used as a Transport mode back in the pre-independence era. It’s also known as Varkala Tunnel. Visiting this Tunnel will help you to acquire days back knowledge of Kerala’s architectural advancement.
6. Varkala Cliff Viewpoint - Hill cliff is one of its kind in the Varkala. What could give you a more clear and concise view of nature than a cliff view Point? Varkala cliff viewpoint provides a beautiful picturesque view of beaches and its nearby landscape to have a soothing experience of nature.
Varkala Beach Highlights
• Varkala is the only beach in South India with dramatic cliffs bordering the Arabian Sea, offering stunning views.
• The coastline connects to other scenic beaches such as Papanasam Beach, Black Beach, Odayam Beach, and Kappil Beach.
• Adventurers can enjoy parasailing, windsurfing, and thrilling water sports thanks to steady winds and strong tides.
• The cliff-top viewpoints are ideal to witness magical sunsets and panoramic views of the ocean.
• Varkala is home to the revered Janardhana Swami Temple, adding spiritual significance to the beach.
• Stroll through palm-fringed villages, experience local theatre, and explore Kerala’s cultural heritage.
• A calm nightlife atmosphere with no alcohol allowed, keeping the holy and peaceful essence intact.
How To Reach Varkala Beach
Railways: Situated at the southern part of Kerala, Varkala is easy to reach via every mode of transport. Varkala beach and Hill Cliff is 3.4 km away from Varkala railway station. It takes around 10 minutes to drive with minimum road traffic.
Airways: Trivandrum International Airport is the nearest airport to the Varkala Beach with a distance of 49 km. As this airport handle flights around India and some parts of world, people can easily take flight to this marvelous beautiful place.
Road ways: A road trip is the sought after experience for many travellers. Varkala is well connected to nearby places. Many KSRTC buses are will take you to Varkala from Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and nearby connected place.
Best Time To Visit Varkala Beach
Your experience in beaches will vary according to the season, so before you visit Varkala, you should have a better understanding of their climate. The climate of Varkala is tropical and full of humidity nearly all the time of year. Monsoon brings a heavy amount of rainfall to this place, and you’ll not get the experience you’re expecting if you visit in rainy season. Monsoon starts from June to August and from late October to December, these periods experience a heavy amount of rainfall.Summers are accompanied by a high temperature around 35-degree Celsius and a feeling of stickiness with high humidity. Summers starts around in April and last until May.
Between the heavy rainfall of Monsoon and burning sunshine of summer, there is a time period between late December and March. This time period has the best experience of Varkala beach, with a temperature range around 30-degree Celsius. You can enjoy the Dry and sunny weather every day between late December and March.
Varkala Beach Other Essential Information
Places to stay near Varkala Beach:
As the world of tourism increases, Varkala found its place to be a sought after tourism destination in Kerala. As the popularity of this beach increases day by day, many business owners found it’s opportunity to attract new visitors with preferable accommodation facilities. This place offers a wide range of accommodation for visitors across the world. According to your budget, you will find your preferred style of accommodation for your stay.
Prices range between INR 800 to INR 10000 per night for a comfortable stay.Most people prefer a stay with basic amenities for 1 to 5 days of stay. If you’re a kind of budget-friendly person, here are some available options for you.
Rooms with basic Amenities:
- Shanthi Homestay -Per Night INR 515.
- Jickys Nest - Per Night INR 700.
- Paradise Beach Resort - Per Night INR 770.
- Varkala Palace - Per Night INR 1344.
- Mad about Coco - Per night INR 1567.
- Deauvill Resort Varkala - Per night INR 1696.
- Oceanic Beach Residency - Per night INR 1200.
Rooms with Quality Stay:
- Inda Hotel - INR 2349 per night.
- Deshadan Cliff and Beach Resort - INR 2694 per night.
- SS Beach Resort - INR 2599 Per Night.
And there are some persons who definitely want to enjoy their stays in a Hotel like travelling itself. If you fall into this category, here are some options for you. You will be provided with a Comfortable Stay with luxury at the Top.
Rooms with Comfortable stay:
- Lilypad Resort - INR 5900 per night.
- Palan Beach Resort - INR 6180 per night.
Note: All the above-mentioned price is for 2 People
Places to stay within the 3 km radius of its beach:
- Karthika Plaza Resort - Distance 0.54 km.
- Dale Rosa - Distance 0.8 km.
- Pulari Gardens Tourist Resorts - Distance 0.9 Km.
- Omsiva Homestay - Distance 1.1 km.
- The Gateway Hotel Janadhanapuram Varkala (A Taj Hotel) - Distance 1.25 Km.
- The Lost Hostels - Distance 1.3 Km.
- Sajjoys - Distance 1.33 Km.
- The Sanctum Spring Beach Resort - Distance 1.38 km.
- Nikhil Ayurvedic Heritage - Distance 1.71 Km.
- Holy Beach Resorts Pvt. Ltd - Distance 1.96 km.
Note: The above mentioned distance is an approximate distance from its Beach.
You should choose your way of accommodation before you travel to this place. Different stay provides a different life experience. A “homestay” accommodation will not help you to make new friends, while a hostel doesn’t provide a luxury comfortable stay. A Star luxury hotel may end up emptying your pocket while a resort will provide you with a full experience of travelling, and provides opportunities to make new friends. Some resorts provide most delicious food dishes you'll ever come across, so make sure your opportunity never get lost.
Choose a Resort or Hotel with a medium budget. If you're travelling as a couple, make sure your partner does agree upon a common style of accommodation.If you’re an explorer, you should better stay in a Hostel. A hostel provides you the insight into its nearby lifestyle. At the same time, you can also increase your connectivity to the people across the different nations and make new friends in the hostel.
Varkala Beach is a Complete package to satisfactorily fill the voids of excitement and exploration in your next vacation. Travelling with your loved one to this place will definitely help you strengthen your relationship with an everlasting experience.
