Having been to Goa 11 times we gave Kerala a try last year, had a great time but its the sort of place you do once. There are some great trips to do by taxi. If you go you must do the rice boats. We organised a taxi tour for 4 days at a cost of £250 for 2 people and this included hotels and one night on the rice boat, saw some brilliant sights. The beach scene is OK but not as good as Goa. Alcohol is in short supply due to the high cost of the licence but you often get it served in tea pots so passing police dont spot that they are selling it.

Thats our thought on Kerala also,once is enough where as for Goa we just keep on
returning year after year,the Rice Boat was the highlight of the holiday[fantastic]
ann

We did a four night trip from Goa in January. We really enjoyed it especially the night on the houseboat, but would have liked longer. I agree about the alcohol, it is hard to find and is expensive by Goan standards. The first hotel we stayed in only had one large can of tonic, and two measures of gin left. I can honestly say I drank the bar dry! The hotel in the Ghats was selling a bottle of wine which sells for 425 rupees in Newtons in candolim for 1625 rupees. I think beer was about twice the price of Goa. Nice place to see though, very green compared to Goa.

We went to Kerala for a 4 night break (3 nights houseboat, 1 night Ernakulam) one thing no one has mentioned is the Katakali dancers. Fantastic and not to be missed!

Been to goa 7 times, going again in jan. went to kerala feb/march 08. didn't really rate it. found just about everything dearer there, probably about 1/2 as much again on most things. you also pay for sunbeds on the beach.
food was good, hotel (uday sumadra) was also good.
on the whole, we wouldn't go back again. goa has it for us.

BOB

If you are looking for the cheapest sun, sea and sand option with a Eurpoean flavour Goa wins ( and I'm not knocking that). If you are looking for a wider variety of scenery and a more "ethnic" holiday try Kerala. If you like a drink ( as I do) take a bottle of gin on tour "just in case". Most places finding a bar is not a problem as most hotels have a licence, but if you can't it's even more difficult trying to find Indian tonic water to mix with the gin. We tried all sorts of weird concoctions !
We return to Goa this winter because it's easier to get to from the North of Britain and you can book 3 week package tours easier too , however given a preference I'd prefer to tour Kerala any day.

We are Goa addicts, but decided to visit Kerala for a change in March 2007. We stayed at the Uday Samudra. I would say that the hotels are definitely a better class in Kerala, (not so basic) and more facilities. We were there for only a week and I would say that a week was long enough. If we had stayed 2 weeks I think it would have become repetitive and whilst the restaurants were excellent, they all had the same menu. Glad we have seen Kerala, but Goa wins hands down for us!

hello wimthetim - girlfriend and i spent the best part of 3-4 weeks in kerala a couple of years ago as part of a 5 month trip...summary on our assessment of kerala vs goa below (check out my trip report in the section on this site).

misterc.

Kerala vs Goa ?
Kerala is great for a two week break. Not sure it holds the same draw for us to return back to say its' main beach resort, Kovalum. Probably be happy to return to a hotel resort, however you could be anywhere in the world - it just depends what sort of holiday you want. There is of course Varkala futher north up the coast, however we suspect it's the equivalent to Palolem in Goa and the attraction of more your world traveller than package tourist. Alcohol can be bought, it's just more cloak and dagger and the choice is restricted.

So we think if push comes to shove, we'd put Goa above Kerala. More choice for food and drink, the great locals you meet and there's just more of a buzz about the place. That said there are still the little niggles, such as the over supply of taxi drivers, beach sellers and for us an element of Europe's beach resorts hitting the country with rows of sunbeds after sunbeds in some resorts - a shame really, however this is progress and it's not for us to judge what the locals are doing to their own country and whether it's right or wrong (they are purely maximising their potential income). As long as Goa is a more affordable winter holiday than other destinations, this won't change.