Kerala is a beautiful state, located on the Southern tip of the Indian Sub-continent. The state is so beautiful and serene with a lot of visitors coming in every year. Unlike most Indian states, Kerala is very green in terrain and has a long coastline; a stretch of the Western Ghats that gave rise to popular hill stations, tea and spice gardens. There is a great network of canals, lagoons, and backwaters located at different parts of the state.
What people generally get stuck while planning a holiday to Kerala is the question “When is the best time to visit Kerala? The popular tourist season in Kerala is from September till March, but in my opinion the best time would be the month of March because of a very simple reason, you get a good weather at the same time a cheaper holiday as the accommodation prices are still part of the Monsoon season. Technically this is a very good advantage, but making yourself able to travel for September is something you need to decide.
The below are the weather seasons in Kerala
June to August - Monsoon
September to February - Spring / Winter
March to May - Summer
The above is just a guideline, every year we have had different climatic conditions here, probably part of the global warming which is of great concern for all of us.
If you can travel any time of the year and you are on a budget, I suggest traveling during August / September. You get hotel bookings at slashed rates and have a glance of popular festivals like Onam and Snake Boat Races. Green Earth Trails in a Tour Operator in Kerala who can organize interesting tours, including festival tours to Kerala - Here is a list of things you could do while traveling in Kerala during Onam
Monsoon (June, July, and partially August)
Monsoon in Kerala is very much torrential. The South West monsoon is what we consider as the real monsoon. The rains are real powerful and impressive. It’s the perfect time to be under the blankets. If you are coming down to relax, the monsoon is the best time you can be here. Ayurveda physicians say, Monsoons is the best time for Ayurveda rejuvenation programs as the pore on the body open up and the medicated oils respond more during the monsoon. Many tourists from the Middle East countries come in to enjoy the rains in Kerala. This is when the green becomes greener, the hill stations would be mistier and cold, the backwaters would be chilling and the beaches would be harsh. The best place to be during monsoons is the backwaters. Hotel rates are slashed during the monsoon as there are relatively less people visiting Kerala and probably the slashed prices (20% to 50% discounts) attract a lot of people to visit during the monsoon.
Spring and Winter (September to March)
This is what we generally call the tourist season, since September falls during the transition from monsoon to winter, September technically falls on the lean season for hotels, which means the prices would be still slashed at the same time you have a wonderful weather. From October till March is winter, the temperature ranges from 18 to 30 degree Celsius. Generally, this is considered to be the best time to visit Kerala, still you can expect rains during October and November as part of the North East Monsoon. The accommodation prices would be generally high during this period. From the mid of December till the first week of January, the prices would be soaring high being part of the holiday season. In general from October till Feb you can expect to be a dry winter and nights are really cold. By mid to end of March the humid summer begins.
The Summer (March, April, and May)
April and May are the summer months for us, it is very much humid, and you sweat a lot during the day. It becomes so sticky you can’t sleep without a shower. Schools are offered holidays for two months, and the temperature can go up to 35 degree Celsius in general. At some places in Kerala like Palakkad, the temperature may rise to 40 – 42 degree Celsius. Palakkad is the heat point where the temperatures rise to the maximum. You can expect slight summer showers. Most hotels start slashing prices during the summer. However, the resorts in the hill station like Munnar will still have the winter tariff, and rooms are quite full as domestic tourists come to Munnar to escape the heat in the plains.
The Lakshadweep Islands also has the same kind of Weather. The South Western Monsoon arrives form the South West of the Indian Sub continent and Lakshadweep would receive the first showers. If you are looking for holidays to the Lakshadweep Islands, you should keep in mind that Laksahdweep would be open only from the 1st of October to the mid of May every year, the destination itself would be closed during the monsoon. To know more about Lakshadweep Islands.