So you love Goa too ? I bet you get asked this all the time but do you prefer Kerala or Goa? Where do you normally stay in Goa and where will you stay next time you visit Kerala?
Hope you don't mind me asking but it's interesting to speak to someone who has visited both so can make conparisons, thanks shirleyv

We have been to Goa 8 times and will be going again on 30 March. We stay in Calangute at Carys Hotel, we book by email as he doesnt take tour operators. We like both places but will always go to Goa as we know so many people there. The only thing I didn't like about Kerala was the fact that if you wanted a beer on the beach you have to go to the shacks you cant have it on the beach. Next time though we said we would take our own down to the beach in a cool bag as we like to lay on the sunbed and read with a beer. We dont mind going up to the shack for our lunch. Unfortunately most places dont have licences to serve drink and that is why they wont bring it down to the beach for you, they can hide it in the shacks. We stay at Jasmine Palace in Kerala which we thought was a very good hotel in a good position. We booked through Manos.

Thanks brenliz , hope you enjoy Goa again , love shirleyv

Hi, Have just returned from Kerala and had a fantastic time, we went to many of the places you visited and your report was a great help. Some of the shacks you went to were knocked down on our second day in Kovalam. Sea Rock Hotels outside cafe was knocked down we eat there first night 7am next morning the bulldozers and police were knocking it down also the Uday Samudra Hotel outside wall and outside restaurant were knocked flat and many others for encroachment. They knocked quite a lot down and made a mess along lighthouse beach as they were encroaching the beach it said in the local paper. The locals were working hard to clear up the mess. It was very hot and humid, but after being very worried about going we loved it and hope to return one day.Thanks again for your help.

I am so sorry to hear about this. I understand the same thing is happening in Goa, we will probably see a difference when we get there at the end of the month.

Hi,we have just returned from Kerala had a great time went on a few trips and what a lovely green state to visit the back water trip is a must also the trip to KANYAKUMARI[lands end] where we stayed in a super hotel The Sea View overnight and saw the sunrise from our bedroom on the 5th
floor,on the way we visited the Wooden Palace and the 2 temples. We stayed in Kovolam at the Golden Sands Resort on Lighthouse Beach a nice small and friendly hotel lovely pool and great staff Its back to Goa n ext year we love walking along the beaches,its quite rugged around Kovolam and not so easy to get about,both have the good and not so good points but i think Goa would come out on top for us.
ann&john

hi brenliz
i have just read your report this morning- it was brilliant!thanks for putting the prices in,its good to compare with goa.we've been there three times and would like to try kerala.we have friends who have been to goa several times and kerala once and said it wasn't as good.it was a few years back and they sometimes had problems getting alcohol because of the lack of licences.did you have to pay for the sunbeds on the beach or do the shacks work the same as goa? it sounds to be the same sort of value as goa but that bit different -definately worth a try.thanks again for an informative report
sue

brenliz
i forgot to ask. we love our beer and g&t's too but like wine in the evening.did you try any of the local wine and do you know what sort of price it is? we always drink the vin ballet or madera in goa and its about 450r in the restaurants
thanks
sue

Hi Bushbaby, yes we did have to pay for beds. I think it was 200 rps per day although it did go up to 250 at Xmas but he let us still have them for 200 as we had been there for a week before Xmas. We did try the wine but it was very expensive compared to Goa so we stuck to the beer. We had no problem at all getting drinks. I am sure you will enjoy Kerala, it is different from Goa though, everything seems to be on a smaller scale. We will go back for Xmas 2008 although we have just returned from another visit to Goa. We have to have our Goa fix every Easter.