A refreshing experience begins as we drive on a country road past groves of banana, coconut, and palm to arrive in Poovar, a verdant island in the backwater estuary formed by the Neyyar river in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district. The narrow and exceedingly green Neyyar welcomes you, and a speedboat ride takes you to the resort through a beautiful stretch of backwater that lace the coconut isles on either side. One hardly sees any human habitation. But birds are in abundance—cormorants, kingfishers, vultures, and the ubiquitous crows. The backwaters feed into a calm, wide lagoon that opens out to sea. Within driving distance from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, Poovar is an idyllic paradise.
Susheela Nair / A palm-fringed island in Poovar
The name Poovar is derived from Poo-Aar, meaning a river brimming with flowers, and can be traced back to Raja Marthanda Varma, the 18th century king of Travancore who sought shelter in this coastal hamlet. The king was enamoured by the sight of red flowers (from the Kovala trees growing along the Neyyar river) floating on the river like a red carpet, that he christened the river Poo-Aar. The mosque on the island is believed to be one of Kerala’s earliest.
The spice-scented shores of Kerala have lured visitors from faraway countries. Poovar was once a busy trading outpost for ivory, timber, sandalwood, and spices, enticing enterprising voyagers and traders from around the world. Largely unexplored and therefore unspoilt, Poovar has developed from a trading post into a high-end tourist destination sans the milling crowds, mainly due to the resorts that have sprung up in the area. What is most attractive about Poovar is that all along the canals that line the place, you can see pastoral life at its best.
Susheela Nair / A Tsunami memorial
Poovar shot into prominence with the floating cottages at Poovar Island Resort, where one can rock to the rhythm of the waves with the dips and swells of the tide. Ideal for a beach-backwater holiday, these thatched cottages resembling houseboats are docked in a bay overlooking the placid backwaters, the sandy beach, and the vast sea. They are constructed on hollow lightweight concrete hulls using ferrocement technology. Everything is in harmony with its environs in this eco-friendly resort.
What makes this resort special is the serene ambience, tranquil backwaters, beautifully designed spaces, and genuine antiques. The cottages on land form a cluster, standing partly on stilts over an artificial pond and reachable by a network of wooden bridges and pathways. Those on the ground level open into a coconut grove and lawn through the verandah. The piece de resistance is the aqua-tiled asymmetrical swimming pool with a sunken bar and submerged stools.
Susheela Nair / Sunken bar in a swimmming pool
For two days, we hibernated in the gentle pace of this retreat and recharged our batteries. From the resort’s floating restaurant, we listened to the lapping of the sea as we dined alfresco under a starlit sky. We gorged on an assortment of fresh seafood preparations, with the chef rattling off the names of the different kinds of dishes churned out at the three restaurants. The Catamaran Catch at the Kappa restaurant, which comprises a wide range of marinated, grilled, and fried fish, is a big hit with guests. The pan-fried fish and the grilled prawn in cucumber basket are the other highlights.
Poovar Island Resort / Pan fried fish with roasted fementos dip
We concluded our Poovar sojourn by taking a cruise down the famed backwater channels in a country canoe where every turn yields different shades of green. We watched canoes laden with goods gliding past a cross, a memorial to those who lost their lives during the 2004 tsunami. At the fag end of our ride, we reached a lagoon with palm-fringed shores widening out to blue skies and golden sands. A short boat ride across the lagoon took us to the sandbar and the beach. Well, we got lots of sun, surf, and sand in different frames with each passing hour. We returned happy and content with the exhilarating experience of being at ‘land’s end’.
Poovar Island Resort / Grilled prawn in cucumber basket
Air: Nearest airport is Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (28 km)
Rail: The nearest station is Thiruvananthapuram (27 km)
Road: Poovar is 15 km from Kovalam by road.
Susheela Nair is an independent food, travel, and lifestyle writer and photographer contributing articles, content, and images to several national publications, besides organising seminars and photo exhibitions. Her writings span a wide spectrum which also includes travel portals and guide books, brochures and coffee table books.