Kappad Beach - Prestine!! but Untouched by crowds

Kerala is blessed since it has a long coastline, resulting in a wide variety of beaches. Somehow only Kovalam has got into the world map. But there are other prestine beaches as well which can give Kovalam a serious challenge. One such beach is the Kappad beach near Kozhikkode in the northen part of Kerala.
Kappad has a historical significance that Vasco Da Gama landed here. For more details about the historical theory visit here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappad_beach

The Indian domination by the European countries was a resultant of this find by Vasco Da Gama.

Well it was supposed to be an afternoon outing from our home @ kozhikkode on a saturday. Someone proposed Kappad, to which we got mixed responses like there is nothing to see there. Anyhow decided to make a visit at least for the sake of visiting a historically important place which we had many a times studied and helped us getting marks in history subjects..

The route was from calicut is this
Calicut --> thiruvangoor (NH 17 in calicut kannur route) -> turn left -> reach kappad

The moment we turned left from thiruvangoor in the road leading to kappad, we smelt something different.
Just see this scenary by the road side.
Soon we were passing through a series of pine trees doing business on a beach side which seemed to be a never ending beach. We had still not reached kappad, but stopped to enjoy this beach. See it to believe it.

We parked out vehicle near the pine tree set

Off we go to the beach
A view of our car from the beach
Unfortunately we didn't carry our swim dress coz someone had told that there is no beach to have a jump at. But what was on display was crystal clear shallow water which really was inviting us for a bath.

The beach was surprisingly deserted. A truly lonely beach with such scenary around is a charm for our eyes. I still remember the sight. Just see it to believe it.

After 1 hour or so, we started our journey to Kappad. A monument in memorial of Vasco da gama's expedition, signals the arrival of Kappad. The prominent building there is the Kappad Beach Resort which is located facing the beautiful beach.

A view of the lawns of Kappad beach resort. You can see the beach in the background.

The beach at Kappad has some rocky areas a la kovalamishque. Neverthless it is one of the must visit places if you are in and around Kozhikkode.

There is along walkway through one side of the resort. A walk through this walkway is sure to rejuvenate your mind and body with the cool breeze of sea, sound of waves, the color contrast of the nature and some of the most picturesque scenes.

Even the fallen tree seemed beautiful

The Kappad beach resort is an ideal place to stay to relax.

The beach is surprisingly not crowdy at all, one of the reason for it to be so clean. Make it a point to visit this place before it gets overly crowded.

Beaches in and around Kovalam

Destination is an excuse, Ride is the reason.

Many a times true for all passionate riders. For me it is no different either. I always love to be in places which is greener, natural and not crowded. Always believe that there are lots and lots of such places very near to me. Got an invitation for a marriage at Marthandom, a place near Kerala Tamil Nadu border in the southern side of India. My colleagues arranged for a vehicle to attend this.

But for me it is an occasion to ride. Since I am not taking my family I can try the best mode of transport which I love. Bulletting .

Well the distance to destination was a mere 50km.

The normal route - a very busy highway. Googled and got a new route. Travel through the roads pretty close to the beaches and explore the exotic locations too. One of my friends agreed to be the pillion.

My steed is ready for the journey ahead.

Started my trip early in the morning. Picked my pillion and headed straight to Kovalam.

The morning breeze when travelling through the bypass road to Kovalam is simply an energizer. Sets up body to take a toll of sun later on. I did not go to the Kovalam beach. Turned left from Kovalam toward Vizhinjam. The roads were narrow. Crowded by people. Traffic was less. As usual lots of eyes were falling on my chrome machine and this kind of admiration no one can ignore. I was cruising slowly. My pillion was looking around for some small roads towards the right which will lead to beaches.

This journey was done in May 2007, it was a very short journey, still I thought I will post this, since it might be useful travellers who will be visiting Kovalam.

The Azhimala Temple and Adjacent Beach

After about 10kms from Kovalam in the Kovalam - Poovar route we saw a board which points to the Azhimala Temple. On enquiring, the local people said that the temple is on a beach side. Decided to explore this temple. There were sign boards pointing to this temple throughout the road.

In a short while we reached the temple. This is the azhimala temple

From here itself we could see the sea. We went inside the temple. It was really a calm and quiet place, the temple had no modernization to its credit. So it had that original look.The temple was on top of some rocks.

You can see myself standing on top of the rocks outside the temple.

We had to descent the rock to reach the beach. When we reached bottom we could see the magnificient beach. There was simply no crowd at all. I wonder why all people jam into Kovalam beach for all the fun. Why can't some of them be here so that they can enjoy more. The tree shades near the rock gives a perfect place to rest with the cool sea breeze. The view of the rocks which we descended from the beach was amazing (The first picture of this post shows this view)
The never ending beach.

This water body was found on one side of the beach. Even this water is quite clear without any garbage.

After relaxing on this beach side for sometime we decided to proceed with our journey.

The Chowara Cliff

Varkala cliff near the varkala beach is well known for the beautiful view it offers from the top. We had heard of a similar cliff in this part also.
Enquired with the local people and found out that one such cliff exists near to an ayyappa temple. The roads were really narrow, with lot of greenery surrounding it. Bulletting through such roads is pure fun, where we enjoy losing our way and returning which will ensure that we are on roads with nature's company for a prolonged time.
At last after so many successfull route queries we were near the cliff. There were lots of trees there. We could see one scotter parked in between the trees. So decided to take my bull between the trees to the edge of the cliff. VOILA!! what a majestic view. Just see this. My bull seemed to shine more seeing this sight.

I love greenery. Its sooo soothing to eyes.

The color mix of this painting was awesome. The green followed by the yellow of sand, followed by the blue sea and then the blue sky in another tone. When it comes to explaining the beauty of nature words are hard to come by. Hope the pictures will speak for itself.

This cliff is as beautiful as varkala cliff, if not more. The ride on top of the cliff amidst the trees gives a different feel altogether.

I did take some rounds through this area to just have that feel.

We left this place with immense satisfaction. Again the narrow and winding roads and again the rider in me was motivated. Love the way the bull handles the curves. The steep roads adds to the fun.

The steps which you see towards my right side in the pic, is the way leading to the ayyappa temple which can be reached by trekking. A common belief is that women can trek through this path during the sabairmala season equivalent to men trekking the sabarimala hills to worship lord ayyappa

Soon I understood that we have to reach in time for my friends marriage. Decided not to explore further on beaches near kovalam. Soon we hit NH 47 in the trivandrum Nagercoil stretch. I simply breezed through these roads and reached the destination.