The Malabar Coast

Our expert India

The Malabar Coast

The Malabar Coast © Wilfried Louvet

More than 340 miles long, Kerala's Malabar Coast, which is low, sandy and smooth, faces Oman's Sea and the Laccadives Islands. It is lined by 'backwater', a network of canals which links many lagoons together. Many of the coastal beaches attract crowds of tourists and a string of fishermen's villages, marked by straw huts, lines the coast. This is the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the different fishing communities and taste fresh fish on the beach. In the centre of the State, on the coastline, Kochi, scattered over islands and peninsulas, is the only natural port of Kerala. On Kovalam beach, less than 6 miles south of the capital city, you have the opportunity to go sailing and surfing. Even though the beach no longer corresponds to the small tropical paradise that it was only a few years earlier, it is still a very pleasant site.