Kannur has one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited till date. It’s also known as ‘Crown of Kerala’ due to various reason and its geographic location.
After we bought our first car it was my husbands wish to drive the car on a beach and splash the sea water while driving through the waves (just like what we use to see in movies). So, while planning our holiday he came across Kannur and immediately it was his first preference to visit this place.
After doing some research for route & stay, we finalized one home stay through Airbnb. Our home stay was located right on the beach, well not exactly right on the beach but stone throw distance.
It was around 310 Km from our home, we started early but not that early around 5.30 AM. With kid it’s hard to leave very early, you keep thinking if you have kept all the required things for your kid or not till you sit in the car and leave.
What we have started doing is we pack all the luggage a night before and arrange it in the car, only thing we leave for the morning is the food item and ourselves ?.
This leads to less hassle in the morning to arrange the stuff, less sweating which leads to fresh mind and body to start the long drive. We took 2 stops one for B/F and another a loo/tea break, also it helps in relaxing the legs which is required if only one person is there to drive.
The route was quite straight forward till we reach Kerala, then some ghat section comes through the beautiful jungle. Our second stop was just before the ghat/jungle section at Coorg gate, that’s the only restaurant on the right side. It has ample of parking, nice clean toilets (w/o health faucet).
The route we took was –
Mysore highway till Krishnarajasagara road, then from there Bilikere – Hunsur – Gonikoppal – Vayathur – Iritty – Mattanur – Kannur
Most of the road is in good shape till we reach kannur but just before kannur there is road and new airport construction going on so there are some diversions, mud road etc. otherwise no issue at all.
With all the stops and road condition it took us 7-7.30 hours to reach our home stay, by lunch we were at our home stay.
We booked Ivorycoast’e home stay through Airbnb and believe me it was simply awesome experience with our host. Our host is simple, humble, polite and friendly guy who will help you in every manner.
They serve fresh, homemade Kerala style food at very reasonable rates. We didn’t go anywhere else for any of our meal. If we are out somewhere then we finish that site and came back to have the lunch and then after some rest head back to another place.
Another benefit of our home stay is distances from the places to visit, it was like in the middle of Muzhappilangad Beach and Kannur Light house & St. Angelo’s fort. Ivorycoast’e has 6 rooms, 3 on ground and 3 on first with porch, balcony, garden area with table chairs kept.
(For more detailed review of the property visit my TripAdvisor)
Here you have your B/F, Lunch/Dinner served which you can enjoy with cold breeze coming from the sea and magical sound of sea waves.
Thottada Beach is just 50 mtr away from the Ivorycoast’e, it’s beautiful, clean, calm beach. It’s located behind the residential area so not many people come here. In the morning we saw only 4-5 people doing there morning walk or exercise. You can easily enjoy your time with family and loved one’s w/o worrying about any kind of disturbance.
Ivorycoast’e is mostly popular with foreigners which come here to relax for 10-15 days and explore the local culture. When we were there Theyyam festival was being celebrated in a near by temple. Our host was kind enough to take us to witness the festival.
Believe me it was amazing experience.
Other than relaxing at our home stay we have visited Kannur light house, and St. Angelo’s fort and the most important place for which my husband had planned the holiday i.e. Muzhappilangad Drive in beach.
Muzhappilangad Drive in beach is one of the largest in Asia. There is entry fee of I think Rs 30, it’s around 5 Km in length so you have enough space to drive your car or find some place away from crowd. The beach is very clean, its awesome experience driving your car on the beach (as per my husband ?).
We have visited in the evening to witness sun set and it was amazing experience. It was special as it was my daughters first beach holiday. She was initially afraid of water as it was too much of water coming and going also it was her first time on beach. After some time, she was enjoying her time playing with sand.
There is one thing one must be cautious about i.e. washing the under body after driving the car in sea water.
Second day of our visit we went to see Kannur light house and St. Angelo’s fort. There is also a museum below the light house which has a collection of different types of lights used in different types of light house etc. there is ticket to enter the light house and museum which is reasonably priced.
The view from the top is quite magnificent you can see sea at one end and greenery at other. Even in sunny day it was very pleasant on the top due to cold breeze. There is separate ticket to go to the front of the compound sort of walking space with garden at one end, it’s good for morning/evening walk beside the sea. Parking is available on the premises which is free.
Timings are – 10 to 6
There is documentary played inside the museum, in local language and English which gives more information about the history of light house and types of light houses.
For St. Angelo’s we have to first pay the entry fee as it is located in cantonment area, then there is parking that one has to pay. Entry is free. It’s a Portuguese fort built in 1505.
There is ample space inside the fort and has a cliff like end of the fort. There are watch towers on the walls and a chapel in the premises.
From one the walls of the fort we can see the port where the fisherman park their boats. Fort has some beautiful trees inside it’s an ideal place to relax, watch sunset and enjoy the breeze. School children comes here for picnic or visit to learn more about history.
We have really enjoyed out stay here, it was amazing experience in the home stay with amazing homemade Kerala style food and in the town with amazing long drive from Bangalore.
Visit Month – January
Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.
Looks like an amazing vacation actually i am also planning to go to Kerala this December with my family will surely visit Kannur beach thanks for this article which came on right time for me.
What a beautiful roadtrip this seems to be. The Airbnb homestay looked quite amazing and so did the beautiful beach and the sunset.
I have always loved and wanted to visit Kerala… Kannur beach looks so beautiful and what a majestic sunset view it provides… Loved the post and your whole beach drive in experience!
I loved the way you have expressed. Simple and Beautiful. It seems to be a memorable vacation. I am actually planning for New Year eve in Kerala with my family. So i will put Kannur Beach in my visit list. Thank you for this amazing post.
Kerala is my favourite travel destination and I gave covered everything except Kannur. Will surely visit it soon.
I’m a beach person and I can’t get enough of these pictures. Thanks for sharing such amazing post.
Kerala is really God’s own country…been to the hilly side of Kerala and after reading your post about the beaches of Kerala, next vacation will be Kannur…thanks for such a informative and detailed post…
This place looks lovely, and your pictures make it all the more inviting. Thanks for sharing this detailed and informative post.
Kannur is an enchanting destination. This place has been eluding us for some time. After reading your post and looking at the gorgeous pictures, the resolve to head there is stronger now. The homestay you stayed looks really idyllic. I can see you had a wonderful trip and the toddler enjoyed too.
Kannur is on my list buddy and your post has further accentuated my wish to be there ??
Wow, what a great experience you guys had. Loved reading your post and the pics made it even more special. We had no idea that there are beaches where one can drive, we would love to try that out. Adding Kannur to my travel bucket list.
I so love the idea of Drive in beach, must be a great experience. wish they have something like this in and around Mumbai as well.
I just loved the pics of yours …beaches are always my fav and when you can travel with kids to your fav destination it’s fun … thanks for sharing this
Looks like a wonderful vacation. I have heard a lot about kannur but haven’t been able to explore it. Your pics have added it back to my travel list.
I have never been to Kannur but it’s been on my list for a while since I’ve heard so much about it. Just loved your travel experience there and took down some notes too. I hope I get to visit soon! PS: The photos are lovely! 🙂
your pictures have done full justice to the place. N thanks for writing such detailed post of the place, might plan a trip there soon; not very difficult to travel from Bangalore.
You wonderfully articulated your travel experience.