Soul & Surf Kerala - Hotel in Varkala - Thiruvananthapuram, India

I loved my time at Soul and Surf and was very sad to leave. The place is beautiful with stunning views and lovely rooms. The surf instructors are brilliant, it was my first time surfing and I was hooked after day 1 so extended my stay for a week. The rooftop for yoga is amazing and I learnt so much from the wonderful teacher. The volunteers and staff are all lovely and the food is delicious. The vibe is perfect - there's always someone interesting to chat to or a nice group thing going on, or you can keep yourself to yourself, whatever you feel like. I also had the best massage ever, tailored to me. This a dreamy place to stay, it's so relaxing and fun and I can't wait to go back.

We didn't come to India for the surfing but Soul & Surfs lessons have been the highlight so far. The teachers are all incredible and clearly passionate about what they do. The retreat is perched on a cliff top with incredible views and a lovely outdoor area to relax in. Staff are all super friendly. The soul cafe food is a bit hit and miss but a welcome alternative to local food (curry three meals a day is a lot). I'd definitely come back!

We stayed at this property during the quiet season, during August 2023. The property has an amazing location and view of the beach, with a private access to the beach underneath the property. The private access meant that the beach was way less crowded, and very much enjoyable. The rooms are decent, without any beach view, and quite standard. The reception staff and cleaning staff were very polite and warm. We were but disappointed with the fact that there was a lot of maintenance and furniture work going on in the premises (probably owing to the quiet season, but nevertheless, there was no indication that this should have been expected). The entrance, reception area and even the lounge area near the beach view were in various stages of disarray. The lounge had a lot of sun beds and other miscellaneous stuff just heaped in a mess, with no regard to clean it up or at least put them in an orderly manner. The cafe food was very average (we did not have the lunch or dinner and stuck to the breakfast). The cafe staff also looked like they were on their vacation, and generally lacked decorum and leadership. All in all, stay at this property for the great views and beach access, but in the quiet season, there is a definitely a risk of maintenance and repair works being undertaken in the property.

Really enjoyed my stay here. The room was clean and despite it being the low season they were still taking groups surfing. The food is great and the cliff garden overlooking the ocean is a great spot to relax. All the staff wee friendly and attentive. They also do a fantastic laundry service. Town is a short walk away and there are a few good places to eat and do some yoga. 4 stars only because I was a disappointed that there was maintenance work going on that hadn't been mentioned when I made the booking.

Really great 6 nights with Soul and Surf Varkala! Highly recommended. Thank you. I was a beginner surfer, and chose here for the warm water, sandy beach, fairly easy waves, all true. Even better was the whole SnS experience, incl - instructors helping in the water ( Vishnu, Surjit, AJ to name only 3 ) - daily, manageable yoga at dusk with Pooja, in big beautiful space on covered roof - smooth, efficient organisation and daily schedule ( Judith and team ) - comfortable room with private covered balcony ( great to sit and read in the cool ). The SnS crew, including some volunteers from all over the globe, really did go out of their way to be friendly and helpful. Enjoyed also the food, surf theory, Tuk Tuk local tour and Ed's entertaining writing in all the info. It was a top, top week, one I will long remember, all without breaking the bank. And I even got some flattering photos from Isla of me standing on the board for the short time I managed to do so! :))

I had a very lovely stayed in Soul and Surf. I needed a quiet place, and this was the perfect place for it. The view is just stunning, the garden very beautiful and cozy. The staff is friendly and speak much better english than most of other places in Varkala. The decoration is the room is very nice. The food is tasty, in a normal price range for a "fancy" place in Varkala. One thing I would change : add a mosquitoes net at the doors, in order to be able to keep the doors opened at night. Specially right for non AC room.

Well, the place is true to its name. It's got soul and you get to do a lot of surfing. I am 46 and was really skeptical about surfing. The moment I stepped into this place, I felt at home. The place - It's a quaint 10-15 room place on the southern cliff of Varkala. This is not a 5 star property, but it's got character. And a great view from the cliff. The rooms are spacious with balconies. I stayed in a budget non AC room during off season. The place was not at all crowded and I really enjoyed it. If you want to be in the middle of touristy action, stroll down the cliff and you can smell armpits of tourists brushing against you. The people - Everyone I met at the property was extremely caring and soft spoken. Ram and Anu at the reception, the instructors, the photographer and the chef, everyone knew what they were supposed to do and did their job awesomely well. I felt most of them took pride in working here and was passionate about their roles. The food - This is no Michelin restaurant, but the food was good. While I had breakfast on all three days, I skipped lunch and dinner. The egg hopper for breakfast was outstanding. So was the fruit platter. The menu was minimal as it was off season and most of it was skewed towards western tastebuds as most of their guests are foreigners. If you want mutton biriyani and butter chicken with naan, this is not your place. The surf - Even though I was a newbie, I think I managed pretty well. The instructors were outstanding and I am definitely coming back for more. Overall it was a great short memorable trip for me.

I tried to surf with this group while I was in Kerala. They told me it was intermediate but where we went was only whitewater. Noone was out on the actual waves and there were many fishing boats. I tried again to book a guide and request a different beach I have seen surfers at regularly. They said they wouldnt take me out bc on the first day I wouldnt try to paddle in the whitewater. This was not the case. I've surfed around the pacific and atlantic ocean with no issues on heavier waves, but they weren't willing to book a private guide as advertised on their site. I am very dissapointed with the surf experience. It may be great for brand new beginners but they are too protective of the equipment and are not willing to provide a good experience for more advanced surfers. I got the impression that if I were a man they would have provided the guide and board...