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Come, ride the surf in Kovalam soon

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

IT'S FUN TIME: Plans are afoot to make Kovalam a premier surfing destination. - Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

Kovalam: Kerala Tourism has come up with a Rs.4.05-crore project to set up a pilot multi-purpose submerged artificial surf reef with the capacity to change the nature of waves on the Eve's Beach and to make the beach resort the country's premier surfing destination.

Tan-seekers arriving from all over the world, who have now to be content with swimming, can look forward to water sports such as surfing, wave riding, scuba diving, snorkelling, boating and water skiing once the surf reef is set up. Tourism officials feel that they can tap the huge potential for recreational tourism with surfing and wave riding that are now a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.

Protecting beach

The project has been envisaged with a view to developing tourism and attracting tourists to Kovalam throughout the year. The beach is in existence only for six months of the year and for the remaining six-month monsoon period the beach undergoes severe erosion. Once the multipurpose artificial surf reef is commissioned, Kovalam will be the first centre for surfing and other wave-riding sports in the country.

Besides, the reef will enable stabilisation of the beach and generation of a wider beach. The wave activity at the beach resort can be controlled for the benefit and safety of the swimmers during the monsoon.

Fishing activities, particularly those using the traditional methods, can be extended for the benefit of fishermen and tourists. Seawalls constructed for coastal protection do not achieve the objectives. Normal breakwaters though can fulfil some of the objectives, but they are unsafe and un-aesthetic, especially in tourist destinations such as Kovalam.

The reef

The 500-metre-long reef, to be made out of giant non-woven geotextile bags filled with sand, will remain submerged with its crest remaining just below the low-tide level. To be placed 200 metres away from the Eve's beach on the seabed at a depth of 3-7 metres, it will block all waves having a height of more than one metre leaving only small waves to wash ashore.

When the reef is constructed, a fairly tranquil basin will be created for the fishing boats. It will function as a small harbour area and the fishermen can take their boats out through the surf zone. The reef will provide excellent foundation for ecosystem with a diversity of flora and fauna and thereby attract more fishes to the locality. Further, multi-purpose reefs bring 10 to 80 times their full construction cost back to the community.

The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment will fund the model studies and design estimated to cost Rs.20 lakhs. Kerala Tourism, the Centre for Earth Science Studies and the Department of Harbour Engineering will be the implementing agencies for the project.

It has been pointed out that such reefs can be constructed in other tourist locations such as South Eve's beach, Kovalam bay, Panathura, Varkala and Cherai. The reef can also protect the other severely eroding coasts and can help in the formation of the beaches.

The offshore technology has been found successful in Australia, Indonesia, the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand. The technology is best suited in sandy beaches where the tidal range is less than three metres. The Kerala coast has a tidal range of around one metre.

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