India / Kerala
Varkala Beach
Varkala Beach is a 367 m-long beach facing south-west, 1.2 km west of Varkala (Kerala, India). The sea averages 29.8 °C in April, its warmest month, and 26.3 °C in July; it stays at 21 °C or above all year. Recorded status on Wikidata: Tentative World Heritage Site.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Varkala Beach is situated in the town of Varkala in Varkala Municipality, Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India. The beach skirts the Arabian Sea, part of the Indian Ocean.
Wikidata item Q7915960.
Month by month
October at Varkala Beach
Beach-day index 7.2/10 · India median 7.8
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 28.3 °C | 28.6 °C | 29.3 °C | 29.8 °C | 29.2 °C | 27.7 °C | 26.3 °C | 26.3 °C | 27.1 °C | 28.1 °C | 28.7 °C | 28.5 °C |
| High °C | 30° | 33° | 34° | 32° | 30° | 28° | 27° | 27° | 27° | 28° | 28° | 28° |
| Low °C | 20° | 21° | 23° | 24° | 24° | 24° | 23° | 23° | 23° | 23° | 22° | 21° |
| Rain mm | 15 | 25 | 60 | 130 | 233 | 302 | 244 | 210 | 233 | 327 | 218 | 55 |
| Cloud % | 39 | 37 | 44 | 60 | 74 | 82 | 84 | 80 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 57 |
| Wind m/s | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.2 |
| Daylight h | 11.7 | 11.9 | 12.1 | 12.3 | 12.5 | 12.6 | 12.6 | 12.4 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.6 |
| Record high/low | 34°/16° | 37°/17° | 39°/19° | 39°/22° | 37°/23° | 32°/22° | 30°/21° | 30°/21° | 31°/21° | 31°/21° | 31°/18° | 34°/16° |
| Beach index | 9.5 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 9.0 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in December–January; January scores 9.5/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 28.3 °C and 15 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in India in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 0.4 °C warmer than the India median for April (29.4 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 28.2 °C, warmer than 91% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (327 mm) and January the driest (15 mm); the yearly total is about 2,050 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.6 hours in December to 12.6 hours in June; in mid-January the sun rises at 06:41 and sets at 18:21 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-west (230°). Open water fills about 47% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:42 local time on a bearing of 294°.
Straight out to the south-west there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 7 m deep and 8 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 31 m above sea level 500 m inland and 48 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 77% tree cover, 18% built-up land and 3% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 48% of that circle.
- Tree 77%
- Built 18%
- Bare 3%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Rainfall reaches 327 mm in October and stays above 250 mm in June and October.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 26Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 5Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 98Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 10Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 5Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 2Viewpoints
- 1Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 17 restaurants and 9 cafés. Accommodation: 98 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Varkala Beach And Cliff 300 m NW
Historic sites
- Anjengo Light House monument 130 m E
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Thiruvananthapuram | TRV | 36.6 km | south-east |
| Cochin International Airport Kochi | COK | 161 km | north |
| Madurai Airport Madurai | IXM | 195 km | north-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 10 bus stops within 1.5 km, rail station Varkala Sivagiri (2.1 km) and 5 mapped car parks within 1 km.
7 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 219.5K residents); within 30 km there are 29 (about 1.2M).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 25,339 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in October (3,260 views), 4.0× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varkala Beach | – | 29.8 °C | 367 m | – |
| Kollam Beach | 20.2 km NW | 29.8 °C | 1.8 km | – |
| Kovalam Beach | 47.7 km SE | 29.7 °C | – | – |
- Kollam Beach20.2 km NWCompare
- Kovalam Beach47.7 km SECompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 14.9 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r5641401; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_43PFK_20230103_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 1.9K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.