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The Ultimate Guide to Kerala Surf

by Joseph Richard Francis January 22, 2023
written by Joseph Richard Francis January 22, 2023

Kerala surf is the best in India. This town hosts the two upcoming surf hubs of the whole subcontinent in Varkala and Kovalam. It’s blessed with mellow beginner waves but also sleeping spots that can come alive when there’s a strong SW in the forecast.

An introduction to Kerala surf

Kerala surf

Palm-threaded Kerala is famous for its winding backwaters (a web of rivers and wetlands that weaves inland from the coast) and the jungled hills of the Western Ghats (mountains where you can go to taste fresh tea straight off the plantations and meet elephants in the wild). What people don’t tell you is that this also happens to be the engine room of a growing Indian surf scene…

That’s all really down to two main towns: Kovalam and Varkala. Both sit plum on the side of the Indian Ocean, fronted by long stretches of golden sand interspersed now and then by rugged, rocky headlands. Okay, so there’s no swell-shaping reef shelf to harness all the dominant SW sets between November and March like you get in Sri Lanka. But there are lots of sandbank waves and the odd point break of true quality.

This guide will run through all you need to know about Kerala surf, with info on the best surf destinations in the region and the best seasons for catching waves in southern India. Let’s begin…

We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!

This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in India

Kerala surf at a glance

The good…

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Not busy
  • Cheap

The bad…

  • Lacks consistency
  • It doesn’t work well in the wet season
  • Polluted water

What’s in this guide to Kerala surf?

  • An introduction to Kerala surf
  • Where is Kerala?
  • Kerala surf spots
  • Where to stay when surfing in Kerala?
  • When to surf in Kerala?

Where is Kerala?

Kerala makes up a huge chunk of southern India. It actually runs for something like 350 miles from tip to toe, making up a whopping 10% of the country’s total shoreline. You’ll probably want to fly into Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Trivandrum for short, thankfully!). That puts you within striking distance of the two major surf destinations in the state (Varkala to the north and Kovalam to the south). There are flights and trains to there from all over the country. We’d say come by train if you can – it’s super fun in India.

Kerala surf spots

Despite clocking up nearly 560km of coastline along the Indian Ocean, there’s aren’t actually all that many surf spots in Kerala. There are two reasons for that. One: The geography of southwestern India isn’t all that suited to making great breaks. There’s plenty of power in the ocean, but often a steep drop off and no reef shelf, which turns lots of oncoming sets to dumpy closeouts. Second: India still hasn’t made it as a mainstream surf destination, and that means there are still oodles of potential and secret places up and down the shores of this southern state.

We’ll leave those to you to discover on your own. Here’s a look at the major spots in the region that are now on the map, and what they can offer wave seekers in the home of bubbling curries and mystical Hindu shrines.

Cheray Beach/Cherai Beach

Pretty Cheray Beach (also sometimes spelled Cherai) flanks the coast north of Kochi. Windswell systems passing the coast during the monsoon months can bring mushburgers the whole way along for learners and bodyboarders. There’s a wave at the south end that gets glassy on occasion. It’s probably the best place to go if you’re based in Kochi city but want to surf.

Varkala

For us, Varkala is the single best surf spot in the whole of Kerala. It’s north of Trivandrum and occupies a long stretch of coastline on the Indian Ocean that’s basically all golden runs of sand. Each of the beaches has a different character, and will change a lot depending on where the sandbanks lie each season .There are two that stand out from the crowd: Kappil and Edava. Both have glassy head-high sets when it’s 5 foot and early morning during the dry season, and lots of mush for learners in the wet season. This is also the home of the stand-out surf camp of the region: Soul & Surf of Sri Lanka fame.

Read our complete guide to surfing in Varkala

Kovalam

Kovalam should be your surf stop of choice if you’re heading south of Trivandrum. It mixes things up with a series of points and beach breaks but lacks a touch of the consistency of Varkala, so getting skunked here and relegated to the shoreline curry houses is a very real possibility. The best waves around break at Hawa Beach, a peeling left on its best days, and Kovalam Beach, which has a point break off the rocks and under the lighthouse at its south end.

Read our complete guide to surfing in Kovalam right now

Where to stay when surfing in Kerala?

Kerala surf schools usually operate privately along the beaches. The region hasn’t yet become the major surf vacation hotspot that nearby Sri Lanka has. That means your best bet is to book somewhere that’s within walking distance of the beaches and waves…

MINT INSIDE beach hotel

There’s a touch of the boho-boutique resort to the MINT INSIDE beach hotel, which is plonked nicely between the surf beaches of Varkala. We especially love the homecooked breakfasts, the balconies with views of the Indian Ocean, and the pleasant garden that’s out front.

Check availability

Samsara Harmony Beach Resort

You can’t really go wrong with this highly-rated beach resort just off of Edava. It’s got simple but comfy rooms and a swimming pool. Most of all, it’s within easy walking distance of the beaches and the breaks – we’re talking like 2 minutes!

Check availability

Step-by-step guide to planning your Kerala surf trip right now

Step one: Book flights to the Kerala surf…We use Skyscanner and only Skyscanner for this. The reason? We’ve always found it the best site for comparing deals from basically ALL airlines and somehow seems to offer deals that beat going direct.

Step two: Book your surf lodge. There’s Booking.com. That has consistently unbeatable rates for hotels and a nifty map feature that lets you check how close EXACTLY that hotel is to particular breaks. Or Book Surf Camps, which is the numero uno online booking platform for fully-fledged surf-stay packages.

Step three: Book surf lessons and other activities For advance booking, you can use GetYourGuide or Viator. To be fair, though, we usually just leave this until we’re there – it’s easy to book in person in most surf destinations.

When to surf in Kerala?

Kerala surf lesson

There’s always a chance of a wave in Kerala, but there’s also always a chance of getting totally skunked for weeks on end. The odds of nothing pushing through do decrease in the wet season when powerful windswells offer okayish sets for the learners. Ask the locals and they’ll tell you that the best of the best conditions for the long left points of Varkala and Kovalam tend to be on longer period groundswells in the dry season, which lasts from October to March.


We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!

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Joseph Richard Francis

Joe “Rich” Francis has been surfing for the best part of 15 years. He’s nowhere near as good as he should be at the end of all that, but hey ho. Born and bred in Swansea, South Wales (the current base of The Surf Atlas), Joe is a seasoned adventure travel writer with completed publications in the surf-travel and adventure-travel sphere for major publications like Lonely Planet and The Culture Trip.

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The Surf Atlas is written by surfers, for surfers. We're a team of ocean-loving people that includes writers in Australia, Wales, and Europe, each passionate about spending as much time in the saltwater as they can.

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