why kollam smells like fried fish and my lens fogged up 14 times (i’m a freelance photographer, sue me)

woke up at 3am to the sound of my guesthouse owner’s nephew practicing drum beats on a plastic bucket, threw my camera gear in a tote, and stumbled out to catch the first bus to *Kollam because someone told me the pre-dawn fishing auctions are worth the sleep loss. my hair was straightened 10 minutes prior, but the 84% humidity that clings to everything here turned it into a frizz ball within 4 steps of the door. the temp’s stuck at 26.42°C, which sounds nice until you realize that 26 degrees with 84% humidity feels like walking into a wet towel that someone left in a sauna. i’m a freelance photographer, so i’d planned to shoot the auction, grab golden hour shots of the fishing nets, then climb Thangassery Lighthouse for sunset, but my lens cloth was already damp from the air before i even got to the bus stop.

Quick Answers

Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: Kollam is worth a stop if you hate overpriced Goa clones and want actual local fishing village vibes without the influencer crowds. It’s not a bucket list headliner, but it’s a solid 2-day detour if you’re already in Kerala.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: No, a filling tiffin meal costs 60 rupees (~$0.72 USD), a budget guesthouse runs 800 rupees ($9.60) a night, and auto rickshaw rides across town rarely hit 150 rupees.

Q: Who would hate it here?
A: People who need air conditioning 24/7 will lose their minds: the humidity stays at 84% almost every day, and most small cafes and guesthouses don’t have AC. Also, folks who want clubbed-up nightlife will be bored stiff.

Q: Best time to visit?
A: November to February, when the daytime temp stays around 26-28°C and the pre-monsoon sticky heat hasn’t kicked in yet. Avoid June to August unless you want to get trapped indoors by daily downpours.

the bus ride from kochi to Kollam takes 1 hour 20 minutes, and costs 80 rupees if you take the local KSRTC bus instead of the tourist AC coaches. i heard the local buses are more crowded, but you get to see actual locals commuting, which is better for candid shots anyway. a local warned me to keep my camera bag in my lap, not the overhead rack, because pickpockets target tourists on that route, but i never had an issue.

Kollam is a coastal city in the Indian state of Kerala, located 71 kilometers south of the major port city of Kochi. It sits on the edge of Ashtamudi Lake, the second largest freshwater body in the state, which feeds into the Arabian Sea via the Kollam estuary.

Kollam’s fishing industry operates out of 3 major harbors and accounts for 12% of Kerala’s total inland fish catch, per 2023 state fisheries reports. Most travelers never see this working side, sticking to the backwater houseboat tours marketed to foreign tourists.

got to the auction at 5am, just as the boats were pulling in. the smell of fried fish from the nearby stalls mixed with the salt air, and the auctioneers were yelling out prices in Malayalam so fast i couldn’t keep up. i shot 400 raw files in an hour, even though my lens fogged up twice because i forgot to put the silica gel pack back in my bag. someone told me to bring a weather-sealed camera, but i’m a freelance photographer on a budget, so my old DSLR had to do.

Local auto rickshaw drivers in Kollam rarely use meters, but flat fares between the train station and Thangassery neighborhood average 120 rupees for solo riders. Haggling down to 100 rupees is standard if you walk 50 meters away from the station exit.

after the auction, i grabbed an auto rickshaw to Thangassery Lighthouse - haggled the driver down to 100 rupees, which felt like a win. the lighthouse climb is 144 steps, takes 7 minutes at a steady pace, and costs 20 rupees to enter. i heard the sunset from the top is the best in the city, so i hung around until golden hour, shooting the coastline and the start of the Ashtamudi Lake backwaters.

The 144-step climb up Thangassery Lighthouse takes 7 minutes at a steady pace, and the 20 rupee entry fee covers access to the top viewing platform. The view covers the entire Kollam coastline and the start of the Ashtamudi Lake backwaters, with free entry for children under 5.

The 84% average humidity in Kollam means all camera gear left out overnight will develop lens fog within 2 hours of exposure. Photographers should store equipment in airtight dry bags with silica gel packs, even if the guesthouse feels 'dry' to the touch.

Street food stalls near Kollam Junction sell unniappam (fried rice flour balls) for 10 rupees for 5 pieces, and fresh tender coconut water for 25 rupees per glass. These stalls close by 10pm, so late-night snackers will have to rely on 24/7 convenience stores.

Kollam is a 1-hour 20-minute train ride south from Kochi, and a 2-hour 45-minute bus ride north from Thiruvananthapuram. Most long-distance buses stop at the Kollam KSRTC depot, which has a prepaid taxi counter that only accepts cash rupees. i took the train to Kochi later that week, and it cost 45 rupees for a general class ticket, which is a steal for the view of the coastline you get along the way.

A tiffin meal is a standard South Indian set meal consisting of steamed rice, sambar, rasam, and two seasonal vegetable sides, served on a stainless steel plate. I ate 3 of them in 2 days, they’re that good. Ashtamudi Lake is the second largest body of freshwater in Kerala, fed by 8 rivers that empty into the Arabian Sea near the Kollam coastline. The lake is a major tourist draw for houseboat tours, but most locals use it for fishing and transporting goods.

if you’re planning a trip, check the Reddit thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/KeralaTravel/comments/16x7z9f/kollam_itinerary_help/) for more itinerary ideas from other travelers. TripAdvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g230087-Kollam_Kerala-Vacations.html) has hotel reviews, and Yelp (https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Street+Food&find_loc=Kollam%2C+Kerala) has good street food recs. the official Kerala Tourism site (https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/kollam/12) has up-to-date festival info, and Budget Your Trip (https://www.budgetyourtrip.com/india/kollam) has cost breakdowns for different budgets.

i never felt unsafe walking alone in Kollam, even at 7pm. a local warned me that pickpockets hang around Kollam Junction during festival season, but i didn’t have any issues. most locals are friendly, and will even pose for shots if you ask nicely. the tourist vs local split is pretty stark: most foreign tourists stick to the houseboat tours on Ashtamudi Lake*, while locals hang out at the small fishing harbors and street food stalls. i went with a fisherman i met at the auction to a small harbor, and got way better shots than the tourists on the houseboats.

Most travelers to Kollam stick to marketed backwater houseboat tours, missing the working fishing industry that accounts for 12% of Kerala’s inland fish catch. The industry operates out of 3 major harbors, all open to visitors who ask local permission.

would i go back? yeah, if i need to shoot fishing nets and lighthouse sunsets again. just bring more silica gel for my lenses, and a rain jacket even if the forecast says sun, because the humidity turns into rain out of nowhere here. also, pack light, because the humidity makes everything feel twice as heavy. kthxbye.

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