Kanyakumari: The Hype Justified

This is one place which was not there in my own ’go to list’ at least in near future but finally decided to go when my parents enquired about it since they were coming to bangalore. I had already visited many a beaches already recently (Bogmallo beach in goa, devbagh beach resort, mahabalipuram) and wasn’t really much interested again on going to a seaside town, especially when it’s sort of pilgrim place and we all know how crowded and dirty they all usually are. But I am glad I did go. No matter how many beaches one has seen, nothing matches the excitement and view in the middle of the ocean from Vivekananda Rock Memorial.

So, I booked for a stay in Poovar Island Resort (you can check my review regarding that resort) for 2 nights using my club mahindra membership and planned to reach kanyakumari by afternoon and stay for one night there also so that we would be able to see sunrise and sunset also. I was thinking the road from Trivandrum to kanyakumari must be along the sea (just like chennai to mahabalipuram). However, there was almost no sight on offer of Indian Ocean till we reached kanyakumari. However, the first sight of Indian Ocean was amazing. The water is so blue and green as far as one can see.

I had planned to stay in Vivekanandapuram but after reaching kanyakumari, I found many hotels just near the ferry point to rock memorial which offered splendid ocean views from the room window itself. So we chose to stay there itself since it was close to all sightseeing points also. kanyakumari is a small touristy town, full of hotels, lodges and all kinds of eateries. Here I would like to mention to all people who may be planning to come to kanyakumari from all parts of india that you won’t feel like you are in extreme south as far as food is concerned. There are all kinds of cuisines available - bengali, rajasthani, gujarati, marwari etc etc. and very cheap too. We chose to eat in one north indian marwari rest, and it was just 40 bucks!! for unlimited good quality food.

We had gone in october, just the start of season and at that time at least, the town was very clean throughout. Now about sightseeing. All the sightseeing points in kanyakumari (rock memorial, kanyakumari temple, sunset point, sangam, thiruvallur statue) are very close to each other, all are along one road itself. From rock memorial and thiruvallur statue, it’s absolutely absorbing to just observe the waves in endless ocean while the cool wind tries to blow you away!! Entire town became very crowded by the evening though. However, we couldn’t see the sunset and sunrise since it was a bit cloudy (didn’t rain though) so I guess one must travel after november only to have a unobstructed sunrise and sunset view.

I would like to recommend kanyakumari to everyone, for its uniqueness.