Goa vs Kerala: which coastal Indian state ought to vacationers choose?

Planning a subcontinental winter vacation? Learn on as two writers make the case for his or her most well-liked South Indian state.

As you head towards India’s southern tip, temperatures rise, seashores unfold, meals will get ever spicier – and a call about simply the place you must settle in and decelerate beckons.

You might do worse than an prolonged spell in two of South India’s most beguiling states, Goa and Kerala. However what when you needed to choose one over the opposite? Since we couldn’t presumably resolve, we requested two writers to make the case for his or her most well-liked vacation spot. A subcontinental winter getaway awaits.

Go to Goa

A proud Goenkar (Goan) who has spent most of her life within the state, Joanna Lobo is on a mission to unfold the great phrase about her dwelling, and showcase its magnificence past the Instagram Reels and stereotypes.

The 12 months was 2020. Indians, besieged by the rampaging coronavirus and caught at dwelling, sought an escape – a greater life – in a spot that was lovely, quiet, reasonably priced and handy. The place did they select to go? Goa, after all. Welcome to India’s favourite post-pandemic vacation spot.

Individuals go to Kerala on trip. They arrive to Goa to discover a dwelling.

This tiny state is a one-stop vacation spot with all the things to supply – which made it a well-liked spot for vacationers nicely earlier than 2020. {Couples} would flock right here for honeymoons; households for high quality time; children for a fast vacation away from the prying eyes of adults; single people for bachelor and bachelorette events. Throughout India, “Goa chalte hain” (“let’s go to Goa”) is a generally repeated phrase for anybody planning a getaway.

Good issues all the time are available small packages. So regardless of being a fraction of the dimensions of Kerala, Goa presents a lot extra. It’s a place that embraces custom and but retains area for modernity. The colonial presence of the Portuguese for 451 years has given it a distinctly European really feel by way of meals, structure, clothes and music.

Goa’s spotlight reel is so lengthy, it may very well be a film. (Think about this the trailer.) There’s historical past, structure and possibly even a miracle to be discovered on the heritage web site of Basilica of Bom Jesus in Previous Goa, which hosts the stays of St Francis Xavier. Goa’s temples are architecturally gorgeous, as are its forts, together with Fort Aguada. At Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Dr Salim Ali Chook Sanctuary, you’ll get a glimpse of the state’s wealthy tropical biodiversity. The museums are enjoyable, too, together with the boat-shaped Homes of Goa. Gasp in awe on the milky-white Dudhsagar Falls, the second-highest in India. And spend time on the miles of internationally well-known seashores, which provide mushy sands, clear waters and waves light sufficient for newbie surfers.   

North Goa has flea markets, get together spots and casinos. South Goa is extra conventional, with quieter seashores and largely untouched forest cowl.

Goa’s delicacies makes the state a real powerhouse. The flavors right here stand other than different Indian meals: Goa took the most effective of what the Portuguese needed to supply, and made it its personal. The curries are complicated and flavorful, bread is a severe enterprise, and desserts are wealthy however not overly candy. Fish-curry-rice is the staple meal, greatest eaten at small thali joints. Lately, the meals scene has boomed, complemented by an thrilling cocktail tradition. Whereas Keralites develop cashews only for the nuts, Goans distill cashew juice into artisanal spirits like feni and urrak.

Goa’s highlights encourage all method of content material creators. Why else would influencers flock right here to make #OffbeatGoa content material? You’ll be able to write tales (or movie Reels) on Goa’s pilots (motorbike taxis). Or the translucent oyster-shell home windows in outdated houses. Or festivals the place folks get buried underground. Or the village that will get swamped underwater every year and resurfaces throughout summer season.

The Danish have hygge, however Goa has susegaad. It’s a state of quiet and contentment that’s solely present in Goa. 

Why hassle with some other place?  

Maintain to Kerala

Luke Waterson spent a month touring by way of the state of Kerala, sampling its serenity from Ayurveda retreats on the coast to tea-tasting on Munnar’s hilly plantations.

The backstory to this bedrock of backwater boating adventures, axis of Ayurvedic therapeutic and titan of the South Indian tea-growing scene is an enthralling one. For in comparison with Goa’s fetching however one way or the other acquainted seashore resorts, Kerala captivates you with almighty doses of what you’ll by no means have seen earlier than.

Kerala is a vividly ritualistic place – and that’s what I really like about it most. The entrancing dance type of kathakali, throughout which performers enact Hindu people tales in breathtakingly lavish costumes, comes from right here. That is additionally the place that gave us Ayurveda, one of many world’s oldest and best-known holistic therapeutic methodologies. The south of Kerala is replete with Ayurveda retreats the place you possibly can cleanse your self by way of specialised remedies, a plant-based weight-reduction plan and the straightforward act of kicking again for some time in peaceable environment. The Ayurvedic affect has additionally helped make the state most likely probably the most vegetarian-friendly vacation spot on the globe. And Kerala is the scene of some festivals of just about theatrical lavishness, like Onam, with its parades of adorned elephants and floats, kathakali performances and carpets of many-colored flower petals organized in kaleidoscopic designs.

Go to Goa to get together; come to Kerala to open your eyes and see all of the tradition.

Topographically, Kerala just about owns the phrase “backwater.” The maze of channels, lakes and inlets constituting the Kerala backwaters followers out from Alappuzha to cowl round 1000km (621 miles). This extraordinary wetland ecosystem is made up of recent and brackish water, guaranteeing unimaginable species variety. A journey by houseboat by way of these waterways – watching out for the likes of turtles, rice paddies and idyllic backdoor village life – is a spotlight of any journey to India.

Equally magnificent (in a way more mountainous means) is the Munnar area, the place hills of shimmering inexperienced are latticed by a few of South India’s most vital tea plantations. Excessive above Munnar, the nationwide parks of Eravikulam, Anamudi Shola and Pampadum Shola (for the file, Goa has however one nationwide park in whole) defend expanses of high-altitude, grassland-surrounded tropical shola forests that harbor many endangered species, together with Nilgiri tahr (wild goats), Nilgiri martens, leopards and tigers. 

Different sights – lesser-known internationally – showcase extra of Kerala’s one-of-a-kind character: the petroglyph-inscribed cavern system of Edakkal Caves, or mountain-flanked Thirunelly Temple, one of many subcontinent’s oldest temples. And when you do demand divine sandy seashores as a prerequisite for a go to, the state has a surfeit of them: see for your self at Varkala, close to Thiruvananthapuram (identified for its close by Ayurvedic wellness facilities), or serene Marari Seaside. Maybe most vital for the possible traveler, Kerala is a lush, verdant enclave the place you possibly can decelerate, search tranquility and recharge in a means not attainable elsewhere in India.   

Kerala has a size and breadth each of terrain and of character that get together place Goa can by no means match. So I’ll share one reminiscence that sums up why the state ought to have the sting to your subsequent large journey.

Simply again from the coast north of Alappuzha, I recall arriving towards the final glowing mild of day at a homestay, eyeing a rickety outdated boat moored on the waterside and spontaneously deciding to row off for some time by way of the shady lagoon, which was already plunged into night shadow. Immediately, round a bend, an excellent stretch of palm-hemmed, sandy seashore revealed itself. In contrast to Goa’s manicured strands, it was not at all pristine – but it surely was populated by a small group of native people practising yoga, all bathed within the fiery pink of the setting solar.

This epitomized the proper Kerala journey.