This is rather a fraudulent post since I am already back in Canada. But surely blogging has some poetic licence.
There are things about Kovalam I will not miss. It has become too noisy of a place for one so elderly and sedate as me. The beach is not that clean and I count myself very lucky that in a 9-week stay that saw me jogging barefoot every couple of days on the sand I didn't cut myself on any of the glass or other sharps present. The list of other items seen on the sand is pretty gruesome - cat and dog corpses, intestines of some creature one day and on more than one occasion dirty diapers.
Live dogs are also a problem at Kovalam Beach. Certain dogs are known to be aggressive - biting without provocation - but no one does anything about it. As a British tourist that was bitten in the upper thigh said to me it's only a matter of time before a dog bites a child in the face and does some really serious damage. That will be very unfortunate and is bound to happen. Apparently the nearby capital city of Trivandrum has an even more serious problem - one newspaper article said there were 25,000 stray dogs in the city - and this Indian Express article suggests that relief is unlikely to come anytime soon.
All these negatives aside I would still encourage anyone looking for a bit of rest and relaxation to give Kovalam a try. You can get some very enjoyable 'body services' (reflexology, ayurvedic massage, esthetic services) at prices that are a fraction of the cost at home. You can swim, eat some tasty seafood and enjoy cold beer while gazing out at the azure ocean. Just choose your hotel room carefully if noise is a concern for you and be willing to settle for further back from the beach if you really crave quiet.
It is hard to know what Kovalam's future is. Some articles point to Kovalam's dismal performance late last year and early in 2011 in terms of foreign tourist numbers. This Reuters article suggests that the problem is nationwide and another article (which I can't find online anymore) suggested that some of the blame could be laid at the feet of the international travel press which no longer included Kovalam and Kerala on their lists of 'must visits'.
The artificial reef project remains controversial. The picture below shows a boat that was offshore for several days in early March 2011. It is my presumption only but it certainly makes one wonder if there is something wrong with the large fiber bags, filled with sand, that make up the reef. A Finnish friend who is knowledgeable about the ocean, waves and surfing conditions told me that in his opinion the reef has not improved surfing waves and has in fact made the currents more dangerous for swimmers (especially poor/non-swimmers which Kovalam has plenty of). It will be interesting to see if the artificial reef helps to prevent beach erosion during the monsoon and if it is still intact after the rough waters of the rainy season.
So, farewell for now Kovalam. I don't know if/when I will be back but for the future well-being of all that work there and whose livelihoods depend on reasonable tourist numbers I hope that this place has a renaissance and regains its previous allure.
There are things about Kovalam I will not miss. It has become too noisy of a place for one so elderly and sedate as me. The beach is not that clean and I count myself very lucky that in a 9-week stay that saw me jogging barefoot every couple of days on the sand I didn't cut myself on any of the glass or other sharps present. The list of other items seen on the sand is pretty gruesome - cat and dog corpses, intestines of some creature one day and on more than one occasion dirty diapers.
Live dogs are also a problem at Kovalam Beach. Certain dogs are known to be aggressive - biting without provocation - but no one does anything about it. As a British tourist that was bitten in the upper thigh said to me it's only a matter of time before a dog bites a child in the face and does some really serious damage. That will be very unfortunate and is bound to happen. Apparently the nearby capital city of Trivandrum has an even more serious problem - one newspaper article said there were 25,000 stray dogs in the city - and this Indian Express article suggests that relief is unlikely to come anytime soon.
All these negatives aside I would still encourage anyone looking for a bit of rest and relaxation to give Kovalam a try. You can get some very enjoyable 'body services' (reflexology, ayurvedic massage, esthetic services) at prices that are a fraction of the cost at home. You can swim, eat some tasty seafood and enjoy cold beer while gazing out at the azure ocean. Just choose your hotel room carefully if noise is a concern for you and be willing to settle for further back from the beach if you really crave quiet.
It is hard to know what Kovalam's future is. Some articles point to Kovalam's dismal performance late last year and early in 2011 in terms of foreign tourist numbers. This Reuters article suggests that the problem is nationwide and another article (which I can't find online anymore) suggested that some of the blame could be laid at the feet of the international travel press which no longer included Kovalam and Kerala on their lists of 'must visits'.
The artificial reef project remains controversial. The picture below shows a boat that was offshore for several days in early March 2011. It is my presumption only but it certainly makes one wonder if there is something wrong with the large fiber bags, filled with sand, that make up the reef. A Finnish friend who is knowledgeable about the ocean, waves and surfing conditions told me that in his opinion the reef has not improved surfing waves and has in fact made the currents more dangerous for swimmers (especially poor/non-swimmers which Kovalam has plenty of). It will be interesting to see if the artificial reef helps to prevent beach erosion during the monsoon and if it is still intact after the rough waters of the rainy season.
So, farewell for now Kovalam. I don't know if/when I will be back but for the future well-being of all that work there and whose livelihoods depend on reasonable tourist numbers I hope that this place has a renaissance and regains its previous allure.
