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AdvertisingWhere you stay in Varkala decides what kind of trip you have. Stay on the North Cliff and you’re in the middle of the restaurants, the shops and, at the weekend, the party zone.
Stay in Odayam or on the South Cliff and you’re a short walk from all of it, with rice paddies or an empty beach outside your door and quiet nights. We stayed in Odayam for a week and wish we could do it all over again.
This guide covers the three main areas, the guesthouse where we stayed and others we’d recommend in the South Cliff and the Odayam areas.
Varkala at a Glance: Our Top Picks
North Cliff vs South Cliff vs Odayam: Which Area?
North Cliff is the Varkala you’ve seen in photos: the cliff path, Papanasam Beach below, a kilometre of cafés, juice bars and shops. On a weekday it’s a pleasant, touristy place to walk; on a Friday and Saturday night it’s loud, lit up and busy with weekenders. We don’t recommend staying on it, and none of the places in this guide are there.
South Cliff is a ten-minute walk on, past the temple end, and feels like a different town: a few homestays in the greenery, a near-empty stretch of beach, Café Sarwaa, and none of the noise. It’s the best compromise if you want to be close to the cliff cafés without sleeping above them.
Odayam is the next beach north of the cliff, about 25 minutes on foot from the main strip. It’s quiet, with a small beach, a handful of guesthouses, one brilliant café (Vedaa by Aum) and rice paddies behind. It’s where we stayed, and it’s for people who want peace and don’t mind a walk or a tuk-tuk to the action.
Browse all places to stay in Varkala: See current prices on Booking.com
Where We Stayed: Utopia Varkala, Odayam
Utopia is a small guesthouse at the back of Odayam, off a side road, where every bedroom faces the rice paddies on the other side of the building. It’s run by a Czech mother and daughter who have lived in India for years, and the feel is laid-back to the point that, after the very attentive service at Windermere in Munnar, it took us a day or two to adjust. By the end of the week we were completely sold.
We had a double room upstairs with a balcony, and upstairs is the one to ask for: the view over the paddies at breakfast is the whole point. Breakfast is homemade and leans Western and healthy (smoothie bowls, fruit, chia pudding), there’s rooftop yoga every other day, and Moon Waves Surf picked us up from the drive for lessons. We paid £525 for seven nights, which works out at £75 a night.
It’s located five to ten minutes’ walk to the beach rather than on it, 25 minutes to the cliff, and there’s no pool, which is a downside in humid weather. If you want peace, paddies and a place that feels like a home, it’s perfect. If you want a pool or to be steps from the sea, look at Magnolia or Villa Jacaranda below.
Book here: Utopia Varkala
Villa Akasa: The South Cliff Homestay
Villa Akasa is a five-room homestay tucked into greenery on the South Cliff, a minute’s walk from Aaliyirakkam Beach, the quiet, near-untouched stretch of sand south of the main cliff. Rooms have balconies or garden patios, breakfast is eaten out among the plants, and there are free bicycles for pedalling between the cliffs and Varkala Town.
Book here: Villa Akasa
Villa Jacaranda: South Cliff, With a Pool
A few steps from the same beach, Villa Jacaranda is a whitewashed four-bedroom villa with private terraces, a small pool in a landscaped garden and breakfast brought to your balcony. It’s the pick for anyone who wants the South Cliff quiet and a pool to come back to after the surf, and reviewers rave about the garden and the breakfast.
Book here: Villa Jacaranda
Magnolia Guesthouse: Odayam With a Sea-View Pool
If you like the sound of Odayam but want to be on the beach rather than in the paddies, Magnolia Guesthouse is the one. It’s a recently renovated guesthouse 300 metres from Odayam Beach with a pool that looks out to sea, a garden full of birds and butterflies and the most reviews of anywhere in this guide. It’s a step up in size from Utopia but a step down in trendiness.
Book here: Magnolia Guesthouse Varkala
Gateway Varkala: The Big Resort Option
Gateway Varkala, part of Taj’s IHCL SeleQtions collection, is the only proper resort near Varkala: a cliff-top hotel with an outdoor pool and sunken bar, sea views, and a seven-minute walk to Kappil Beach north of Odayam. It’s a different sort of trip from the guesthouses above, further from the cliff cafés and more self-contained. This is for the traveller who wants hotel facilities, a reliable pool and a quieter beach than the main cliff.
Book here: Gateway Varkala
How Long to Stay in Varkala
A week in Varkala felt perfect to us. Varkala rewards not doing much: surf one morning, yoga the next, a long breakfast, a walk along the cliff at sunset. Three or four nights is the minimum to find that rhythm, and whatever you book, try to arrive on a weekday rather than a Saturday.
Our things to do in Varkala post has the full week and our Kerala itinerary shows where it fits in a longer trip.
Getting to Your Varkala Stay
Varkala has its own railway station (Varkala Sivagiri), around four hours by train from Kochi and three from Kottayam, and all of the places above can arrange a tuk-tuk or taxi from it. Trivandrum airport is about an hour south, which is why we flew out of there rather than back up to Kochi.
If you’re arriving from Munnar as we did, don’t drive it in one go: it took us seven and a half hours. Two nights in Kumarakom on the way is the better way to break up the journey. If you’ve done the backwaters elsewhere, spend a night at Windermere River House en route.
Varkala Stays FAQ
Varkala Sivagiri station is about 3km from the North Cliff, which is a ten-minute tuk-tuk ride for around ₹150 to ₹200. Odayam and the South Cliff are a few minutes further, and most guesthouses will send a tuk-tuk to meet your train if you ask.
Most mid-range guesthouses in Varkala offer air conditioning as a paid upgrade, while the cheapest rooms are fan-only. Between November and February a fan room with a sea breeze is usually fine at night, but in March and April you’ll want the AC.
The beginner-friendly surf is on the beaches north of the cliff around Odayam and Edava, which is why the surf schools pick up from guesthouses there. Edava has the best waves when it’s open, so staying in Odayam puts you closest to the water you’ll actually learn on.
The cliff path is busy and well lit along the restaurant stretch until late, and we walked it after dark without any trouble. The unlit sections towards Black Beach and the South Cliff need a torch, as the path runs close to the cliff edge in places with no railing.
