he three crescent-shaped beaches of the famed beach resort here is yet to wake up from the off-season slumber though the peak tourist season is just weeks away.
The Light House, Eve’s and Samudra beaches have started setting in with the black sand slowly giving way to the golden sand. Lifeguards are keeping a close watch on those who proceed for a swim, as sea is still rough and many stretches are still out of bounds.
Local people have come back to the shoreline with colourful beach umbrellas, surf boards, and cots to corner vantage points. Hawkers selling clothes, mats and fruits have started making their presence felt in the resort.
Vacationers from Germany and the United Kingdom are trickling in. But, the hotels and resorts that dot the Light House and Eve’s beaches are yet to wake up from slumber.
“Russians deserted the destination during the off-season much to our disappointment,” a local tour operator said. The increase in rooms and failure to address the core issues is leading to the slip in tourists, he adds.
The hotels and resorts in the Light House beach are yet to get a fresh coat of paint. Searock Road that leads to Eve’s and Light House beaches, which was closed for correcting the gradient, remains closed.
The use of interlocking tiles on the narrow road — instead of bitumen resurfacing — has also come in for criticism from the locals and the tourists.
The menace of stray dogs in the State can also be felt on the beaches and the resort with dozens of them roaming around freely. The facelift programme launched in 2012 by Kerala Tourism to attract more foreign tourists has not yielded any tangible results.
Waste water flowing from the restaurants and hotels to the Eve’s and the Light House beaches continues and is an eyesore and threat to tourists’ health.
The walkway also in a bad shape at many places and the chances of tourists getting injured are high.
The 54 ornamental lights on the 600-metre walkway from Seaface to the Light House are yet to be repaired. The recent drowning of five persons near Edakkal rocks still haunts local people.
Waste water continues to flow from hotels to the Eve’s and
the Light House beaches.
