This blog is about my second visit to Varkala. I blogged about my first visit in 2019 here. I didn’t know until recently that I went to Varkala North Cliff in 2019. The beach is open to everyone and features cafes, hotels, and a narrow cliff path. When we visited South Cliff this time, we stayed at a resort which had private access to the beach. Many resorts on the south cliff are on the cliff’s edge, providing direct access to the beach. So most people who visit this beach are resort’s guests.

If you’re looking for specific details, skim through the blog. Otherwise, read about my overall experience. No editing or filters, just raw pics and videos from my iPhone in this blog.

Travelled by train from Bangalore to Varkala Sivagiri station. The ride lasted 15 hours in a coupe. Upon waking up on the train, I found green everywhere. Small towns in Kerala during the monsoon are beautiful, with lush greenery and tall coconut trees.

We had a scenic 15-minute cab ride from the railway station. It poured just before reaching the resort.

Upon entering the room and standing on the balcony, I felt a wave of relief as I looked out at the sea continuously for sometime. I have been feeling worn out lately. My emotions were beyond words at that moment. The loud voice of ocean waves, with its rhythmic variations between low, high, and mixed, washed away all my thoughts, leaving me refreshed and rejuvenated.

After freshening up, we headed to the beach in the evening. When waves mix, they start big and then get smaller, eventually calming down and cleaning everything up. The wet surface has black sand, bubbles, seashells, and small holes. Seeing this repeatedly made my mind go blank.

I understand why it’s called rough beach now. The waves are both high and low, coming from various directions. Standing on the sand, the waves wash away the sand under your feet, tickling them and giving you a pleasant sensation.

Blue sea is just mesmerising to see. Beautiful part of this beach is that the cliff covered the sun, so you don’t feel a harsh sun. The sun hits the beach, but you’ll mostly be in the cliff’s shadow, which makes it one-of-a-kind. The weather was less sticky, and the water was cold. On the seaside, the sun only sets.

Guards here are very strict because it’s a rough beach. This stretch has two guards.

I saw a guard doing yoga occasionally with only bottoms on and a stick next to him. When a heavy wave crashed towards him, he gracefully performed a Halasan, leaving me thinking he intended to get wet differently 😜. Along the way, we caught glimpses of small moments of joy. The image shows the guard’s office from 7am - 7pm.

Sitting on my sea view balcony at night, I could hear the crashing of waves against the shore breaking the silence of the night. Besides the rustling waves, there were intermittent sounds of chirping birds and trees in the background. In the darkness, only distant blinking ship lights are visible. We both enjoyed reading my blog of 2019 and laughed together. The image below shows the evening view from the resort.

We visited the beach every morning and evening. It’s almost empty, especially in early mornings, and I loved that. Seaside lacks sunrise; west-facing sea. The waves were heavy, and the water was cold. We walked a long, long distance and then sat down along collecting sea shells. I collected many sea shells and I will create some artwork using them.

As the last morning at the beach unfolded, I sat alone, my heart pounding with unease, trying to imprint every detail of the breathtaking beauty around me before departing. Sitting at a distance from where the waves often reach, my bags and slippers were well above the water’s reach. I saw a couple standing ahead of me at a distance. Lost in thought, I didn’t see the approaching waves. Suddenly, a powerful wave crashed into me from the left, drenching me in water and covering me in a layer of gritty sand. I tilted to the right in shock because of the heavy and sudden wave. My bags and slippers flew away because of the force of the wave, making everything wet and sandy. Luckily, my waterproof body bag protected my husband’s phone, which was in the bag. But it damaged my phone’s charging port which was in my hand. The couple also felt shocked and confused when they saw me. Later they sat at a distance from the waves seeing what happened with me 😂.

Place we lived

Booked Elixir Cliff Beach Resort and Spa by talking to them using their email id. Paid a small amount as advance and rest at check-in. The entire experience, from booking to checkout, was super easy. The resort staff was super kind and helpful, too. We got a deluxe room facing sea view. I loved seeing kids splashing in the pool and the outstanding view of the sea from the balcony.

Food

All the meals we ate were at the resort. Non-veg pan fried noodles and chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream was superb. The other stuff was average, nothing exceptional includes sea food fried rice, chicken biryani, Chef’s special Nezami sabji, butter naan and Kerala Parotha.

The breakfast had too many choices, lacking anything exceptional. They serve the usual South Indian items, plus fruits and cakes.

Way to the beach

You’ll find a different path to the beach at every resort on the south cliff. The path isn’t straight or easy, it’s really steep ‘cause it’s on a cliff. Some resort created cemented stairs or steel stairs. We tried using the cemented stairs at Cafe Sarwaa to climb up for experience, but our knees hurt and we were breathless. Our resort has minimal cemented stairs and instead embraces natural curves, making navigation effortless. The downside is that during rainy times, they get covered in wet leaves and there’s a tiny stream flowing through, which is annoying. Here’s the video I made while going to the beach at our resort. I created this on 14th June 2024. There was rain a day before.

This trip we went for not exploring one point to another. We just wanted to stay in premium property with access to the beach where we can go wherever we want. Strictly no use of gadgets and social media. So I did not bring any gadgets accept phone. Thanks to poor network, this became even easy. And I choose not to used hotel Wi-Fi.

Ayurveda massage with free facial

Simple and beautiful, nothing fancy. The rooms weren’t the prettiest, but they got the job done. The experienced masseuse started with a head massage and performed a pretty good full body massage. Unlike others, she applied the perfect amount of oil during the head massage. The massage I took was Abhyangam. It helps in improving body’s blood circulation and to relieve stiffness in muscles (60 min). That night I slept like a baby.

Traveling allows you to immerse yourself in new experiences and sensations, and this time, I had an absolute blast. I’ll prioritize frequent experiences of choosing a place to relax and be fully present. Experience it all, not just hopping from place to place - consider weekdays too. We came here on weekdays, very less crowd. Nowadays, places have become very crowded. If possible, visit on weekdays and reach home on weekends so that travel tiredness goes away and you can prepare for kick ass next work week. It also helps people who are managing properties and the locals.

My heart was constantly saying, don’t go, just don’t go stay here. Different time, different season, same location, different cliffs. It feels like my heart is here. I can come here anytime. Good and simple people, small town peace.

We traveled by train from Varkala to Aluwa, visited parents, and flew back to Bangalore.

What I’d like to do next time.

1. Consider booking room 4002 for a larger size and superior view. I envisioned it would be good.
2. Consider booking a different hotel like Nebo, which has rooms at the cliff’s edge. For a unique experience.
3. Also, try eating at Cafe Sarwaa.
4. There are many properties by elixir only the villa and something named cliff stories.

Mind and body relaxed. Heart is happy, soul is joyful….