Gay Friendly Kerala Backwaters and Beach Tour

After passport control and baggage at Cochin International Airport, look for our driver holding a sign with your name; he will be just past the exit doors with the air conditioning already running. The drive to your hotel takes a little over an hour, through the commercial sprawl of Aluva and Ernakulam and across the bridges to the old port. If you have flown overnight, we suggest nothing more ambitious than a shower, a nap and a light lunch. Your local contact will call in the afternoon to go through the plan and answer questions about cash, SIM cards and beach safety.

For the first two nights you stay at a heritage hotel near the waterfront in Fort Kochi, one of several we have used for years with same-sex couples and friend groups. Rooms are booked with a double bed, and the front desk team are used to welcoming guests from all over the world. Kochi was a spice port long before it was a resort, and the hotel's position, a few minutes' walk from the harbor mouth, makes it easy to watch ships, ferries and fishing boats sliding in and out from the garden or the rooftop.

Toward sunset, stroll down to the beach path where families buy ice cream and fishermen sort the day's catch on plastic sheets. The view across the channel to Vypeen island and the cranes of the container terminal is a reminder that this is still a working harbor. Dinner tonight is your choice; Fort Kochi has a good mix of seafood kitchens and small cafés where groups of friends of all kinds sit until late. We will leave a short list of easygoing places at the reception desk for you. Overnight in Kochi.

The best way to understand Kochi is from the deck of a boat, because the city is really a cluster of islands and peninsulas held together by water. After breakfast your guide walks you to the public jetty for a short ride on one of the government ferries, where office workers, students and fish sellers squeeze onto wooden benches for a ticket that costs almost nothing. Crossing to Vypeen takes only minutes, and on the far side you walk through a lane of small houses, a fish auction shed and a lighthouse on the shore.

Back on the Fort Kochi side, the morning continues on foot through the old port lanes, where the Portuguese, Dutch and British each left buildings behind. Your guide focuses on the waterfront stories: the warehouses where pepper was weighed and shipped, the old customs houses, and the timber-framed homes of merchant families who once controlled trade along the coast. A coffee stop in an old godown café gives you a break before a short drive across to Mattancherry for its spice market, where sacks of dried ginger, turmeric root and peppercorns are filled and stitched by hand in dim wooden halls.

At about four o'clock a private motorboat collects you for a two-hour harbor cruise, the slow way to see the naval yard, Willingdon Island, the backwater islands of Bolgatty and Mulavukad and, if timing works, the sun dropping behind the fishing nets. Your guide stays aboard to point out landmarks and answer questions. Kochi is among the more open cities in Kerala, home to an active queer community, and it is fine to relax here, while still keeping in mind that most locals are conservative. Dinner is at leisure back in Fort Kochi. Overnight in Kochi.

A late breakfast is fine today, since houseboats in Alleppey take guests from around noon. The drive south follows the coastal highway past churches, fish markets and shops selling coir mats, and you reach the boat landing near Alleppey in time to go on board before lunch. Your private houseboat has one double cabin with an attached bathroom, an open lounge at the front and a crew who stay in their own quarters at the back. We work with operators who are already familiar with same-sex guests, so the welcome is warm and the routine is the same as for any couple.

As soon as you are settled, the captain steers out of the busy main canal and into the quieter western channels, where the boat traffic thins and the banks become a strip of homes, coconut palms and kitchen gardens. Today's angle is the water itself: watch for kingfishers diving from wires, cormorants drying their wings on posts, and the shiny black water snakes that sometimes swim alongside. Lunch is served on deck, usually rice with a coconut-based fish curry, a cabbage stir-fry, crisp papadam and pickles, with fresh pineapple to finish.

Later in the afternoon the crew can tie up near a toddy shop where palm wine is tapped from the trees, or stop at a tiny canal-side chapel so you can stretch your legs. Kerala rules say houseboats must stop moving and anchor for the night by early evening, which leaves a long, slow dusk on deck as the sky turns pink over the paddy fields. The cook prepares dinner while you watch, and on request will grill a whole fish or prawns bought from a fisherman paddling past. Overnight on the houseboat.

Mornings on the backwaters are cool and almost silent, broken only by the splash of a paddle or a call from the bank. Tea arrives on deck around sunrise, followed by a breakfast of appam, the lacy rice pancake, with vegetable stew. The boat docks around 9 am, and the crew help carry your bags to the car. Since Marari Beach is only about half an hour north, there is no rush. If you like, your driver can first show you Alleppey town, with its old canals, the lighthouse and the small coir museum.

Marari is the quiet end of the Kerala coast. There are no beach shacks, no loud music and no rows of sunbeds, just a wide golden beach, a line of fishing boats hauled up on the sand and palm groves that come right down to the dunes. Your next two nights are at a beach resort or a small boutique property set among coconut trees, and as always it has been checked to make sure same-sex couples and friends are welcomed without awkwardness. Many places here have a pool, since the sea can be rough in some months.

Spend the afternoon however you like. A swim is usually possible in the calmer months between December and March, but always follow the advice of the resort staff about currents. Later, walk south along the shore toward the fishing village, where crews push their long wooden boats out through the surf and families sort sardines and mackerel on the beach. Fishing communities here are close-knit and religious, so a friendly greeting and modest swimwear when walking through the village go a long way. Dinner is served at the resort. Overnight in Marari.

An early bicycle ride before breakfast is the nicest way to see the countryside behind Marari, when the air is still cool and the lanes are full of schoolchildren and milkmen. A local guide from the resort leads the ride on flat paths through coconut groves, past small temples, churches and canal-side homes with fishing nets drying on fences. Bikes and helmets are provided, and the route can be shortened or slowed if you prefer an easy pace. You return in time for a long, unhurried breakfast in the garden.

Mid-morning brings an optional short visit to a nearby family unit that still makes coir rope by hand. Mararikulam has been a center of coir work for more than a century, and you can see how the husks of coconuts are soaked, beaten and spun into rope on simple wooden wheels, usually by women working together and chatting as they go. It is a small, honest look at village work, and buying a doormat or a few coasters directly from the makers is a nice way to support them. The visit lasts about an hour.

Nothing else is planned, and Marari is a good place to try Ayurveda, Kerala's traditional system of wellness. Many resorts offer a simple oil massage or a couple's treatment in a garden pavilion, which you can book directly; therapists in Kerala normally treat clients of the same gender, so let the spa know your preferences. Toward sunset, carry a chilled beer or fresh lime soda to the dunes as the sky over the Arabian Sea goes from orange to grey, then return for a candlelit dinner if you want to make a little occasion of it. Overnight in Marari.

Leaving the palms of Marari after breakfast, you head down the coast through Kayamkulam and Kollam, a route that passes canals, cashew factories and the long lagoon of Ashtamudi. A pause in Kollam is easy to arrange, whether for cashew nuts still warm from roasting or at a backwater viewpoint for photos. Traffic is steady but the land is flat, so the run usually takes three and a half hours, a little more at school times. By lunchtime you see the first red cliffs rising out of the sea, and you know you are almost at Varkala.

Varkala is unlike anywhere else on the Kerala coast: a long cliff of red laterite rock drops straight to the beach, and along its top runs a narrow path lined with cafés, guesthouses, yoga studios and shops selling cotton clothes and silver jewelry. The town has welcomed backpackers and long-stay foreigners for decades, and the cliff area is relaxed and international, which makes it comfortable for LGBTQ+ visitors. Your hotel for two nights sits on or near the cliff and has, as always, been checked to confirm a warm welcome for couples like you.

Once you have checked in, take the steps down to Papanasam Beach at the foot of the cliff for a first swim, keeping inside the flagged area where lifeguards are on duty. Late afternoon is the time to walk the cliff path itself, stopping at one of the many cafés that put tables right on the edge so you can watch the sun sink into the sea with fresh juice or a plate of grilled fish. Note that the beach below the Janardanaswamy Temple is a sacred bathing spot for Hindu families, so swimwear should be modest there. Overnight in Varkala.

Set an alarm if you can, because the hour after sunrise is a lovely time on the beach at Varkala. Pilgrims arrive at Papanasam to make offerings for their ancestors, priests sit under umbrellas reciting prayers, and the water is calm and glassy. Watch respectfully from a distance; this is a family ritual, not a show, so photos should be discreet and never close up. By the time you climb back up the stairs, the cliff cafés are setting out breakfast menus of banana pancakes, fruit bowls and South Indian dosas.

Later, follow the cliff path north past the end of the main strip, where the cafés thin out and the land drops to Black Beach, named for the dark mineral sand that mixes with the gold. It is smaller and usually quieter than the main beach and a good place for an hour with a book. Further north still, small coves and fishing hamlets can be reached on foot, while an auto-rickshaw heading south drops you at the ancient Janardanaswamy Temple, which non-Hindus can view from the outer area only.

Beyond that, nothing on today's list is compulsory. Join a drop-in yoga class at one of the cliff-top studios, book a surf lesson if the waves are right, or simply move from one café to another for juice, coffee and slices of cake. Varkala is also a good spot to shop for handloom clothes, local spices and Kerala art prints. In the evening, many cafés serve the day's catch on ice by the entrance; you choose a fish and they grill it with garlic and lime or cook it in tamarind curry. Overnight in Varkala.

A short drive south today means you can enjoy a slow breakfast at the cliff before checking out. The road to Kovalam passes the outskirts of Trivandrum, Kerala's capital, with an optional stop at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple area, though entry is for Hindus only and clothing rules are enforced at the gates, so most guests prefer to see the fort quarter around it from the street. Arrival in Kovalam is around lunchtime, at a hillside hotel looking over the bays, booked as before with a double bed and a confirmed welcome.

Kovalam was Kerala's first beach resort, made famous by hippie travelers in the 1970s, and today it has three curved bays divided by rocky headlands. The southern one, Lighthouse Beach, is the liveliest, with a promenade of cafés and souvenir shops, with the striped lighthouse, painted in red and white bands, standing on the headland. Hawa Beach next door is where fishermen bring in their boats in the early morning. Swimming is possible in the flagged zones with lifeguards, and the waves are usually gentle in winter, though it is always wise to check conditions first.

For a final view of the whole coastline, go up the spiral staircase inside the lighthouse before it closes for the day, and look back north toward Trivandrum and south toward Vizhinjam harbor. Kovalam is used to foreign guests and generally relaxed, but like all of Kerala it is a mostly traditional place, so a quiet farewell dinner on your hotel terrace is often more enjoyable than a crowded beach café. Raise a glass to eight nights of salt water and sand, houseboat dawns and long cliff walks. Overnight in Kovalam.

If your flight allows, have one last swim or a walk along the sand before breakfast. Your driver will meet you at the hotel at the agreed time for the short ride to Trivandrum International Airport, about half an hour away, with plenty of time for international check-in. For late-night flights, we can extend your room until the evening at extra cost, where the hotel allows, giving you a place to rest and freshen up before the airport. Our support line is available until you are inside the terminal.

Over nine days you have traveled the length of the Kerala coast by ferry, houseboat and car, from Kochi's harbor to the Kovalam lighthouse. We hope this gay friendly Kerala backwaters and beach tour was relaxed, easy and exactly the kind of holiday you hoped for, and our team is happy to start on your next one, perhaps to the hills of Munnar or the temples of Tamil Nadu.