Kappad Beach-Kozhikode

Kappad Beach-Kozhikode

Kappad Beach, located about 16 km from Kozhikode town, is a clean beach which provides safe waters for enjoying the swim. A plaque set on a pillar, on this beach, says that on his first visit to Kerala, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama landed on this beach on May 27, 1498.He landed with 170 men in 3 vessels after undergoing many weeks of travelling. A solitary pillar commemorates the event with the inscription, “Vasco da Gama landed here, Kappakadavu, in the year 1498”. This opened up the famous sea route for trade between Europe and India and Malabar soon became the gateway of east.

This amusing stretch of rock-studded beach is one of the most fascinating beaches of Kerala. The beach holds a place in history and geography texts as the doorway to the Malabar Coast. As mentioned earlier, here, Vasco da Gama had landed along with 170 men, around 501 years ago to create a new chapter in history, which initiated the socio-political relationship between India and Europe.

The spices and wealth of Malabar was the chief reason that first brought in the Arabs, the Phoenicans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Portuguese and later the Dutch and the English to Kerala. Throughout the history of Kappad, it has witnessed several such landings. At that period, Kozhikode was considered as the most significant trade centre of the Malabar. Even when the Portuguese were welcomed in Kozhikode they were not much supported by the Zamorins, who were ruling the land then. That might have led the Portuguese to shift their base to Kochi and Kollam towards south.

The pleasant and calm beach of Kappad in Kerala, locally known as Kappakadavu, is studded with rocks and is an ideal adventure destination. An intriguing feature of this beach is a sprawling rock that protrudes into the sea and has a temple on it. The temple is believed to be 800 years old. Kappad beach is a small walk on the Korapuzha river, and even after 500 years, it remains untouched and unruffled, making it one of the most serene and peaceful beaches in Kerala, south India.