Monsoon holiday in Kerala

We are planning to spend a week in northern and central Kerala from the 15th of June. We will be driving down into Kerala from Madikeri and will have a car at our disposal during the trip. Considering that the monsoon will be in full swing, is it advisable to avoid the ghats and forest sanctuaries and confine our travel to the coastal belt? Any advise on places we can visit in this season will be appreciated.

If you could specify more on the places you are intending to Visit,Ypur interests and from where you are getting to Madikeri will help us to provide Suggestions.

Till today monsoon is not so Vigorous over Kerala.During Monsoon,it will have most effect in the coastal regions rather than inland.

Velu

Our drive starts and ends at Bangalore. We can leave Madikeri on 15th morning and need to reach Bangalore on the 21st evening leaving us 6 days in Kerala. Among the things we definitely want to do/see in Kerala is spend a day or two in Cochin, spend some time on a beach, see performances of Kalaripayatu and Kathakali, take a ride in the backwaters and sample Kerala cuisine. We have not made any reservations at home stays/hotels with the assumption that these will be available as it is off season. Given this wishlist, will be best to drive straight through to Cochin from Madikeri? Will a beach resort somewhere near Cochin be habitable in the monsoon? What will be the beat staging ground for a backwaters boat ride? Many thanks in advance for the answers.

My suggestion is :-

From Madikeri , get to Kasaragod [ Hardly 2 1/2 hours] and work down south until Cochin.

Kasaragod has Bekal fort + Interesting temples

Kannur District has fantastic beaches .You may browse thru this link where I shared few info[Post:NO:5 Onwards]

Houseboats in Northern Kerala?

From Kannur, you can work your way down to Cochin Via Guruvayur / Athirapally Waterfalls.

Yes, finding lodges will not be an issue as it's off-season and if monsoon is Vigorous, Houseboats may not be in operation. You may take a call on your Travel Date.

In my opinion North kerala / Malabar region is less touristy & prices are less when compared to south Kerala and have most beautiful beaches.

Hope this is of some help.

Off-Topic:-

We did Mega trip last week to coastal karnataka and at 10 am in NH-17 with heavy rains and with Wiper in Full Speed, this is what it looked like from My car.

Velu

Velu,

Thanks a lot. Your advice will be very useful ... we will try the north kerala coastline.

Nice to know you found it useful.

Have a Fantastic trip ahead.

Velu

How was the trip writersblock? Back in Delhi now?

btw...recognise me?

Hello Khak,

Of course I recognize you. And yes, I am back in Delhi and it is time to start planning the next trip.

The road trip to Kerala was specially for my wife - she really enjoyed it and that leaves me happy too .

We drove from Madikeri to Kannur and then down south along the Kerala coast to Kochi. The return drive to Bangalore was through Thrisur and Ottapalam. The drive down the ghats from Virajpet on the newly carpeted road (till the Karnataka border)to Kannur was pleasant in spite of the fog and rain. The beaches of Kannur, it turned out, could be enjoyed even in monsoon weather. We moved around with umbrellas and stayed in a delightful room overlooking the sea. The drive south on narrow roads was interesting with scenes of Kerala in the throes of football fever and every village eager to make known its team loyalty through huge hoardings. And then Fort Kochi was fun - a lovely home stay overlooking the parade ground, walking in the rain, discovering restaurants and a cheap (Rs 550) whole day backwaters cruise in and around Vembanad lake to boot. On the drive back we decided to take a diversion to visit the Athirapally falls - and this turned out to be a great move. The falls were majestic! Nothing like the monsoon to bring rivers and falls to life.

PS. We also spent 2 days in Madikeri and those were really dreary with the rain coming down continuously. A conscientious hotelier warned us not to stopover in Kalpeta (Wynad). The ghats, it seems, are better avoided in the monsoon.

what was the vehicle you drove for this trip?

Drove in a Hyundai Santro dating to the year 2000. Somewhere near Madikeri, we realized that there was a fuel leak and the fumes made it difficult to sit in the car with the windows up. Luckily, we found a Hyundai service station at Kannur who fixed the problem - a leaking fuel pipe - in a hour.

An account of this monsoon trip with more pictures appears in my blog - http://kkasturi1.blogspot.in/2011/06...n-monsoon.html - and in the Deccan Herald Sunday Travel Section - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...l-sojourn.html