Kovalam, a beach town on the Arabian Sea also known as “the paradise of the south” is 16 km away from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerela. Kovalam features three spectacular crescent shaped sandy beaches separated from each other by rocky shores. With an endless sight of coconut trees the sands on these beaches are partially black in color due to the presence of minerals like ilmenite and monazite.

The most popular and the largest beach is the southern located Lighthouse beach. The second is the Hawah beach also known as the “Eve’s beach” for the topless European women who used to come and stay there. It lies opposite to lighthouse Beach and is full of palm groves. “In the early day, Hawah Beach is a beehive of activities with fisherman setting out for sea”. The northern part of the beach is known as the Samudra beach. Not so crowded, the local fisherman carries their work mostly on this part of the Kovalam Beach.

With the rise in tourism, there has been great development in the infrastructure and hospitality industry at Kovalam. The beaches have a string of budget cottages, yoga and ayurvedic massage centre, and small shopping zones.