Surfers have been heading to India’s since the 60s, but despite its exquisite Arabian coastline and pristine waves, the surf scene in Kerala didn’t exist as such until about 15 years ago. And it only began to really explode in the last five.
The hotspots are the neighboring fishing towns of Kovalam and Varkala where a local community of young surfers, who started off with broken surf boards and no surfing role models, are now the owners of thriving surf houses and schools.
Many of these pioneers, like Shivaraj Babu and Ramesh Budihal, are pursuing the sport professionally and ranking in global competitions; others are using the waves to empower a younger generation of Keralans to break out of cycles of generational poverty.
Enter: The Kovalam Surf Club.