I know this is goa forum but anyone been to Kerala too?

Hello, had some great advice from this forum last year when visited Candolim, have been strong-armed into going to Kerala 6th March, so thought some of you may have been too? if so any advice on trips beachs/restaurants/jewellers and somewhere for a really special meal, as we will be celebrating our silver wedding whilst out there,many thanks

Valerie

I know this is goa forum but anyone been to Kerala too?

Hi Valerie

Sorry have not been but I have got the impression from somewhere that things are quite a bit dearer and alcohol is hard to find, so will be very interested in the replies

Congratulations on the Silver Wedding

I know this is goa forum but anyone been to Kerala too?

Could you be more specific about whereabouts you are going to? Kerala is a lot bigger than Goa.

Alcohol is freely available although served more discreetly in bars and hotels. You can%26#39;t buy alcohol in supermarkets like you can in Goa, only in government liquor stores, but it%26#39;s still available.

A trip to Kanyakumari is worth a visit, it%26#39;s a long drive from Kovalam though, a couple of hours each way but nice scenery.

Yes sorry bit airey fairy today, going to the Uday Samdura hotel kovalam, if that helps? am more than a bit apprehensive, as I would have preferred to go back to Goa, most of info have been able to get all saying ok%26#39;sh no one seems really taken with kerala, but obviously where ever you go in the end a holiday is always what you make it, and very lucky to be going anywhere at the moment.

Thanks

Hi

I went to Kerala in 2002 and loved it. The holiday cost roughly the same as the one I have just booked to Goa and the rupee/pound exchange rate was the same then. Unless they have significantly hiked the prices up it should be very good value still.

I stayed in the Linchu in the heart of Kovalam. We ate quite a lot at the big hotel on the beach front (can%26#39;t remember the name). We did a three day tour organised locally to spice plantations and hopped over to the Maldives cheaply for a few days. We also attended an elephant festival which was fantastic.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Helen

Hi,we was in Kerala last year for 3 months staying in Kovalam and rented a house.we loved it and found it to be much cheaper then Goa.if you are after the night life then you will be disapointed as there are no bars as such only restraunts and that is all on the beach front no problems with drinks.There is alot to see and visit we spent some time in Cochin(went by train)a overnight trip on a houseboat in the backwaters just lovely.We did a have a meal one night in the Leela hotel which was very expensive for local standards(he moaned at the price)but hey I enjoyed it!! All the main shops are in Trivandrum the capital ok but not that great for clothes some jewellers lots of them.talked to some who preffered Goa. Kerala is slightly behind Goa with fewer tourist. You wont know until you try it!! Have a great time.x

I%26#39;ve been to Goa 3 times now (7 or 8 beaches) and I still don%26#39;t get what all the fuss is about, overpriced, poor beaches, too much hassle, dificult to get good local food (same with most tourist beaches), I just don%26#39;t get it.

Kovalam in Kerala has been completely written off by the guidebooks, so I went back 5 weeks ago to see how it had changed (I%26#39;d visited 8 years earlier), and I completely fell in love with the place all over again, I got virtualy no hassle whatsoever (I did 8 years earlier) and i forgot just how fantastic the beaches were and how awesome the waves are (for Goa fans, waves are something that comes from the sea and can be a load of fun, you%26#39;ve probibly seen them on Baywatch).

Kovalam has a similar problem to Goa, a lack of good cheap local food, but there are places, they%26#39;re just difficult to find.

I%26#39;ve heard the Leela hotel does great food, but that%26#39;s high budget, for a low budget delight, get the bus into Trivandrum and walk towards the railway station, just before the railway station there is a circular %26#39;India Coffee House%26#39; on the left, the place is fabulious, try a Masala dosa and a %26#39;set coffee%26#39; (comes with seperate suger and milk), a true taste delight and dirt cheap.

From Kovalam you can head to Kanyakumari, or the backwaters, or the tea plantations in the hills.

If you really want a special meal, and money isn%26#39;t a problem, have a few days on the Maldives (a short flight from Trivandrum), there%26#39;s a restaurant (run by the Taj group I think) that is completely surrounded by the sea, you are sat under the water watching all the fish swim around you, it looks spectacular, but expensive.

I%26#39;ve no further details, so Google will have to be your friend on this one, and I%26#39;d guess you%26#39;d have to book early, but it%26#39;s a once in a lifetime option.

FOrgot to mention my 3 day tour took in Cochin and the backwaters as well as a trip to a wildlife reserve. Very good value.

Also, the State issue expensive licences for the sale of alcohol so the beach shacks buy it from the liquor shops and serve it surreptitiously in tea pots. The police appear to be aware but turn a blind eye.

We stayed at the Udi Samudra a couple of years ago and loved it. The food was great, too. There%26#39;s a fab tailor right opposit the main entrance to the hotel, can%26#39;t remember the name but he copied some things for me. Not a huge range of material, but you can pop into Trivandrum to buy some.

We used the small bay which is behind the Samudra Hotel (not Udi) - just walk through the hotel and you%26#39;ll come to it. There%26#39;s a great restaurant on the rocks above, the Lobster Pot. Every second Thursday they had the most fantastic night with a band (they were really great) and a set meal. Definitely not to be missed, if they%26#39;re still doing it.

Many many thanks for all the great info, Maldives/plantations etc sounds fab, does anyone have further advice on those, am feeling much more positive now,just that I found the info on the goa forums was always really forthcoming and enthusiastic,and the Kerala forum appeared to me anyway quite reticent, thanks again Valerie x

I booked the Maldives through the rep as I had only just learnt to dive and the island the rep was selling had a recompression chamber. If I went again I%26#39;d book local as we were only HB and many people got AI for much less than we paid. I met someone there who went cheaply to Kerala every year and hopped to the Maldives for a week during her stay. We went for three days IIRC.

The tour of the spice plantation, backwaters, tea plantation, wildlife park and Cochin we booked locally through our accommodation. It was a rickety old bus but the group were great and the hotels we stayed in were top class.

The people in our accommodation organised taking us to the elephant festival too. I think it was early March and part of the Shiva festival but I might have just made that last bit up! It was a wonderful experience though.