Best Places to Work From in Varkala: A Remote Worker's Guide

I arrived in Varkala in late October, laptop in my bag and a vague plan to get some writing done from the cliffside. Three months later, I had a full mental map of the best places to work from in Varkala, scribbled on the backs of dosa plates and napkins from at least a dozen cafes along the North and South cliffs. This guide is the version I wish someone had handed me on day one.

Varkala does not have a conventional co-working industry. What it has instead is a loose, organic network of cliffside cafes, homestay terraces, a handful of dedicated desks, and a few quiet corners in the old town where the Wi-Fi holds and the chai never stops. Remote work cafes in Varkala tend to double as breakfast spots by morning and sunset hangouts by evening, so your workday has to negotiate with the rhythm of tourists and pilgrims. The trick is knowing which hours belong to the laptop crowd and which belong to the crowd watching the Arabian Sea swallow the sun.

The town splits into a few clear working zones. The North Cliff, also called Papanasam Beach road, is where most of the laptop friendly cafes in Varkala cluster, with long views over the laterite cliffs and a steady stream of foreigners and Malayalis on holiday. The South Cliff is quieter, more residential, and better if you need to take calls without competing with a speaker playing trance music. The old town around the Papanasam Temple and the railway station has a different energy, more local, cheaper, and useful for printing documents or grabbing a quick meal between tasks. A few Varkala coworking spots have opened in the last couple of years, mostly small setups with basic infrastructure, and they fill up fast between November and February.

Below are the places I have personally worked from, tested the Wi-Fi on, and argued with auto drivers about. I have noted the exact neighborhoods, the realistic costs, and the one thing at each spot that most tourists never figure out.

1. Café del Mar, North Cliff Road

Café del Mar sits on the North Cliff stretch, a few minutes' walk downhill from the main cliff parking area, and it has been one of my most reliable spots for morning work sessions. The owner keeps a long wooden table near the railing that catches the sea breeze from around 8:30 AM, and I have spent many hours there with a filter coffee and a notebook, watching paragliders launch from the cliff above the Arabian Sea.

The Vibe? Calm in the morning, touristy by noon, and loud after sunset when the music comes on.
The Bill? Filter coffee at ₹80–₹120, a full breakfast plate (eggs, toast, fruit) at ₹280–₹380.
The Standout? The morning light on the laterite cliff face, and the fact that the staff never rush you to vacate your seat before 1 PM if you keep ordering.
The Catch? The Wi-Fi slows down noticeably between 12 PM and 3 PM when the lunch crowd fills up and everyone is streaming reels on their phones.

The best time to work here is between 7:30 AM and 12:30 PM on weekdays. By Friday afternoon, the cliff road gets packed with weekend tourists from Kochi, and finding a seat with a view becomes a competitive sport. During the monsoon months of June through August, the outdoor section gets drenched in sideways rain, so you are stuck inside where the signal drops by half. In peak winter, November through February, arrive before 8:30 AM or you will lose the good table to someone who has been here longer than you.

One detail most tourists do not know: the café has a small plug point tucked behind the cushion of the second bench from the left. It is not marked, and the staff will not point it out unless you ask. I found it by accident after three visits, and it saved my battery more than once during a long editing session.

2. The Co-Work Station, Oyster Lane (Near North Cliff)

The Co-Work Station on Oyster Lane is one of the few dedicated Varkala coworking spots that opened to serve the growing remote worker crowd. It is a two-story building set back from the main cliff road, about a five-minute walk from the auto stand near the North Cliff entrance. The ground floor has an open seating area with plastic chairs and shared tables, while the upper floor has a few partitioned desks and a small meeting room that fits four people.

The Setup? Basic but functional. Ceiling fans, one AC unit that runs when the power holds, and a router that gives you around 30 Mbps on a good day.
The Cost? Day passes at ₹400–₹500, weekly plans at ₹2,000–₹2,500 if you negotiate.
The Standout? The rooftop section, which is technically a terrace but has a shade net and two desks, and it is where I wrote an entire 3,000-word feature in one sitting.
The Catch? The power cuts out at least once a day during summer load-shedding hours, usually between 2 PM and 4 PM, and the backup inverter only runs the lights and one fan, not the router.

The best time to use this space is early morning or late afternoon. Between January and March, it gets busy with long-stay digital nomads from Europe and Israel, and the good desks on the upper floor get taken by 9 AM. During the monsoon, the lane outside turns into a slushy mess, and you will need sandals you do not mind getting muddy. Auto-rickshaws from the railway station charge ₹80–₹100 to Oyster Lane, and they almost never use the meter, so agree on the price before you get in.

A local tip: the chai wallah across the lane, a man with a bicycle cart who appears around 10:30 AM, sells the best ginger chai in this part of town at ₹20 a cup. He also has a portable power bank he will lend you if you buy two cups and ask nicely. I have done this twice, and both times it saved me from a dead laptop during a client call.

3. German Bakery, North Cliff

German Bakery is one of the older establishments on the North Cliff, sitting along the main road between the cliff parking and the turn down to Papanasam Beach. It has built its reputation on baked goods, but over the years it has become one of the more dependable laptop friendly cafes in Varkala, especially for people who need a solid breakfast and a few hours of uninterrupted screen time.

The Vibe? Mellow and slightly bohemian, with a mix of backpackers, long-stay travelers, and the occasional local from Kochi who has driven up for the day.
The Bill? A slice of banana cake at ₹120–₹150, a pot of tea at ₹100, a full lunch of grilled fish with rice at ₹350–₹450.
The Standout? The back garden, which is shaded by a jackfruit tree and has a few tables that are far enough from the main road to feel quiet.
The Catch? The Wi-Fi password changes every few weeks and is written on a chalkboard near the counter, which gets erased and rewritten so often that half the time you have to ask the waiter for the current one.

I have worked here mostly between 8 AM and 11:30 AM, when the garden is empty and the kitchen is not yet in full lunch prep mode. The months of March through May are brutal for afternoon work, because the fans in the back garden do little against the humid heat that rolls in from the sea. In the monsoon, the garden floods after heavy rain, so you are confined to the indoor section where the signal is weaker. Winter is the sweet spot, and even then, the weekend crowd from Kochi and Trivandrum starts arriving by 11 AM.

One thing most tourists miss: the bakery makes a sourdough loaf that is only available on Tuesdays and Fridays, and it sells out by 10 AM. I once worked here on a Friday morning specifically to write a piece about Kerala breads, and the baker, a man named Jose who has been here for over a decade, came out to tell me about the starter he uses. That conversation was worth more than the Wi-Fi.

4. Preethi Restaurant, South Cliff

Preethi Restaurant is not a café in the conventional sense. It is a small, family-run eating house on the South Cliff road, about 200 meters from the South Cliff watchtower, and it has become one of my go-to spots for a working lunch. The dining area is simple, a few plastic chairs and steel tables under a tiled roof, but the Wi-Fi is surprisingly stable, and the family does not mind if you sit for two hours with a laptop and a plate of fish curry rice.

The Vibe? Local, unpretentious, and functional. This is where you go when you need to eat well and get something done without the performance of a café.
The Bill? A thali meal at ₹150–₹200, fish curry with rice at ₹180–₹250, a fresh lime soda at ₹40–₹60.
The Standout? The meen pollichathu, fish wrapped in banana leaf and pan-roasted, which is the best value dish on the menu at around ₹280.
The Catch? There is no outdoor seating, and the single ceiling fan does not cover the far corner table, so avoid that spot in summer.

The best time to work here is between 1 PM and 4 PM, after the lunch rush and before the evening crowd. The family switches on a second Wi-Fi router during these hours, which the son, a college student, set up specifically because he noticed foreign workers lingering after meals. During the monsoon, the road outside gets waterlogged, and you will need to walk the last 100 meters through a stretch that turns into a shallow stream. I have done this in chappals, holding my laptop above my head, and I do not recommend it.

A detail most tourists would not know: the restaurant closes every Tuesday for half the day because the family attends a temple function. If you show up on a Tuesday afternoon, you will find the shutters down and a handwritten sign in Malayalam. I learned this the hard way after walking 20 minutes in the afternoon heat, and I have never made that mistake again.

5. The Cliff Walk Between North and South Cliffs

This is not a venue, but it is one of the most important work-related experiences in Varkala, and I am including it because it is something I do at least twice a week. The cliff walk connects the North Cliff to the South Cliff along the top of the laterite ridge, a path that takes about 25 minutes at a slow pace and passes through a stretch of small shops, guesthouses, and viewpoints. I use it as a thinking walk, a way to clear my head between writing sessions, and it has produced more usable ideas than any café table.

The Path? A mix of paved sections, packed dirt, and a few rocky patches near the middle where the cliff edge is unfenced. Wear decent shoes, not flip-flops.
The Cost? Free. The entire walk is public, and there is no entry fee for any section of the cliff top.
The Standout? The viewpoint roughly halfway along, where you can see both Papanasam Beach to the north and the long stretch of the South Cliff to the south. I have sat on the rock there with a voice recorder and dictated entire paragraphs.
The Catch? The path gets extremely crowded between 5 PM and 7 PM with sunset watchers, and during the monsoon, the middle section becomes slippery enough that I have seen at least three people slide into the scrub.

The best time for a working walk is early morning, between 6:30 AM and 8 AM, when the light is soft and the path is almost empty. You will share it with a few joggers and the occasional cow, but that is about it. In summer, the heat makes the walk unbearable after 8:30 AM, and there is almost no shade along the ridge. During peak tourist season, December through January, the path near the North Cliff end gets so packed that you end up walking in a slow human river, which is fine for a stroll but terrible for thinking.

One insider detail: about two-thirds of the way along, on the land side of the path, there is a small, unmarked laterite wall where locals sit in the evenings. If you climb over it carefully, you reach a flat rock that juts out over the cliff with a view of the sea and zero foot traffic. I have used this rock as an outdoor office exactly twice, both times in November, and both times I got more done in 45 minutes than I had all morning. The rock is not visible from the path, and I have never seen another tourist find it.

6. Abad Copper Castle Terrace (South Cliff)

Abad Copper Castle is a resort on the South Cliff, and while I am not a guest, I have worked several times on their terrace restaurant, which is open to non-guests if you order food. The terrace overlooks the sea from a slightly elevated position, and on clear days you can see the outline of the Thiruvananthapuram coastline to the south. It is one of the more polished settings among the best places to work from in Varkala, and it suits people who need a quiet, air-conditioned-adjacent environment for calls or video meetings.

The Vibe? Resort calm. Soft music, clean tables, staff trained to be unobtrusive. It feels like working in a hotel lobby, which is both a comfort and a slight disconnect from the raw cliff energy outside.
The Bill? A pot of coffee at ₹180–₹220, a sandwich at ₹250–₹350, a bottle of water at ₹50.
The Standout? The indoor section near the back of the terrace has a long table with a power outlet, and the staff brought me an extra charging cable without being asked.
The Catch? The prices are roughly double what you would pay at a local café, and there is an unspoken expectation that you order something every 90 minutes if you want to keep the table.

The best time to work here is mid-morning, between 10 AM and 1 PM, before the resort's own guests fill the terrace for lunch. During the monsoon, the terrace is partially covered, but the wind sometimes blows rain onto the outer tables, so stick to the indoor section. In February and March, the resort hosts wedding groups on some weekends, and the terrace gets booked for private events, so call ahead before you walk over. Auto-rickshaws from the North Cliff charge ₹100–₹120 to the South Cliff, and the ride takes about 10 minutes.

A detail most tourists would not know: the resort has a small library shelf in the lobby with a rotating collection of paperbacks, many of them left behind by guests. I found a copy of a Malgudi Days edition there that I had been trying to buy in Trivandrum for weeks, and I read two stories between tasks. The front desk will not advertise this, but if you ask, they will point you to the shelf.

7. Varkala Railway Station Waiting Area

This sounds strange, but the waiting area at Varkala Railway Station, also known as Varkala Sivagiri station, has been one of my emergency work spots on more than one occasion. The station is on the Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram rail line, about 3 kilometers from the North Cliff, and the general waiting hall has plastic benches, ceiling fans, and a small plug point near the ticket counter that I have used to charge my laptop during a power cut at my guesthouse.

The Vibe? Functional and local. This is not a café. It is a railway station, and you will share the space with families waiting for the Mangalore Express and vendors selling banana chips.
The Bill? Free to sit. A cup of chai from the platform vendor at ₹15–₹20.
The Standout? The platform itself, which has a few shaded benches and a view of the tracks cutting through coconut groves. I have edited photos on my phone there while waiting for a train I never intended to board.
The Catch? The noise level is unpredictable. When a train arrives, the station fills with announcements, whistles, and crowds, and you have to pause whatever you are doing.

The best time to use this spot is mid-afternoon on weekdays, between 2 PM and 4:30 PM, when the long-distance trains have passed and the station is in a lull. During festival seasons, especially the Sivagiri Theerthadanam in December, the station gets extremely crowded, and finding a bench is difficult. The monsoon does not affect the covered waiting area much, but the platform gets slippery, and I once watched a man in a lungi slide off a bench while trying to balance a thali and a suitcase.

A local tip: the station has a small Xerox and printing shop just outside the main entrance, on the left as you exit. A4 photocopies cost ₹3 each, and basic printing from a USB drive costs ₹10–₹15 per page. I used this shop to print a train ticket confirmation and a client document, and the owner, a man named Suresh, has been running it for over 15 years. He also has a stapler and a hole punch, which sounds minor until you need them and realize no café on the cliff has either.

8. My Own Guesthouse Terrace, Papanasam Beach Road

I am ending this section with something that is not a public venue but is, in many ways, the most important work setup in Varkala. I stayed for two months in a guesthouse on Papanasam Beach Road, about 400 meters from the North Cliff, and the terrace on the third floor became my primary office. The owner, a woman named Mrs. Nair, gave me a desk, a chair, and a Wi-Fi connection that she upgraded specifically because she noticed I was working every day. This is not unusual in Varkala. Many guesthouses along the cliff road and in the old town have quietly adapted to remote workers, and the best Varkala coworking spots are sometimes not coworking spots at all but the terraces of family-run homestays.

The Setup? A plastic table, a wooden chair, a ceiling fan, and a router that gave me 20–25 Mbps on most days. Mrs. Nair also brought me coffee at 10 AM without charging me, which I only noticed after the second week.
The Cost? My room was ₹1,200–₹1,500 per night, and the terrace was included. Monthly rates for similar setups along Papanasam Beach Road range from ₹18,000–₹30,000 depending on the room and the view.
The Standout? The view of the cliff and the sea from the terrace, and the fact that I could work in silence from 6 AM to 8 AM before the town woke up.
The Catch? The terrace has no shade net, so by 11 AM in April and May, it is essentially an oven. I learned to finish all my outdoor work by 10:30 AM and retreat to my room.

The best months for terrace work are November through February, when the temperature stays between 24 and 30 degrees and the humidity is manageable. During the monsoon, the terrace is unusable in heavy rain, and the Wi-Fi signal drops when the sky is overcast, which I was told is related to the router's reliance on a line-of-sight tower that gets disrupted by thick cloud cover. In peak season, some guesthouses along this road raise their rates by 30 to 50 percent, so book early or negotiate a monthly deal in person.

One detail that connects to the broader character of Varkala: Mrs. Nair's family has lived on this road for three generations, and she told me that before the cafes and the tourists, the cliff was a place where locals came to watch the sea and think. She said the remote workers are not new, just more visible now. I found that reassuring on days when the Wi-Fi failed and I had to sit on the terrace doing nothing but watching the water, which, in Varkala, is never really doing nothing.

When to Go and What to Know About Remote Work in Varkala

The best months for remote work in Varkala are November through February. The weather is dry, the humidity drops, and the cliff cafes are full but not overwhelmed. March through May is hot and sticky, with afternoon temperatures on the cliff reaching 35 to 38 degrees, and you will want to work indoors or in the early morning. The monsoon, June through September, brings heavy rain that can flood roads, disrupt power, and make the cliff path slippery. If you are here during monsoon, keep your electronics in a dry bag and have a backup plan for when the power goes out.

Auto-rickshaws are the main local transport. There is no metro, and Ola and Uber operate sporadically, mostly for longer trips to Trivandrum or Kollam. For short hops between the North Cliff, South Cliff, and the old town, expect to pay ₹50–₹120 per ride depending on distance and your negotiation skills. The auto stand near the North Cliff has no shade, and drivers rarely use meters, so agree on the price before you get in. Local buses run from the old town to Trivandrum and Kollam, and they cost ₹20–₹40, but they are not practical for getting to the cliffs with a laptop bag.

Power cuts happen, especially in summer and during monsoon storms. Most cafes and coworking spots have inverter backup, but it usually covers fans and lights, not Wi-Fi routers. Carry a power bank of at least 20,000 mAh, and if you are on a video call, have a mobile data hotspot as a backup. The main mobile networks in Varkala are Jio and Airtel, and both work well on the cliffs but drop in strength in the old town and inside some buildings.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most reliable neighbourhood in Varkala for remote workers and digital nomads, and what is the average co-working day-pass cost in ₹?

The North Cliff road, also called Papanasam Beach road, is the most reliable neighbourhood for remote workers, with the highest concentration of laptop friendly cafes in Varkala and stable Wi-Fi in most establishments. Dedicated Varkala coworking spots like the one on Oyster Lane charge between ₹400 and ₹500 for a day pass, while weekly plans drop to around ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 if you negotiate directly. Guesthouse terraces along Papanasam Beach Road offer an alternative for long stays, with monthly accommodation and workspace combinations ranging from ₹18,000 to ₹30,000.

How reliable is the internet connectivity in Varkala's cafes and co-working spaces, and which areas have the most consistent speeds?

Internet speeds on the North Cliff and South Cliff average between 20 and 40 Mbps during off-peak hours, which is sufficient for video calls, file uploads, and most remote work tasks. The North Cliff cafes tend to have the most consistent speeds because several of them use dedicated broadband connections rather than mobile data. The old town and areas near the railway station have weaker coverage, with speeds dropping to 5 to 10 Mbps, and indoor signal strength varies significantly depending on building construction.

Are there good co-working spaces or cafes in Varkala that stay open past 9 PM for late-night work sessions?

Very few cafes on the cliffs stay open past 9 PM, and most that do switch to a music-and-drinks format that is not conducive to focused work. The Co-Work Station on Oyster Lane sometimes stays open until 10 PM during peak season, but this is not guaranteed. For late-night work, a guesthouse terrace or room is the most practical option, as you control the environment and the Wi-Fi schedule.

How easy is it to find cafes with ample charging points and power backup in Varkala, especially during summer load-shedding hours?

Most cliff cafes have at least one accessible power point, but they are rarely marked, and you often have to ask staff or look behind furniture to find them. Power backup in cafes typically covers ceiling fans and lights but not Wi-Fi routers, so expect connectivity drops during load-shedding hours, which in summer can occur between 1 PM and 4 PM. Carrying a personal power bank of 20,000 mAh or higher is essential, and keeping a Jio or Airtel mobile data SIM as a hotspot backup is strongly recommended.

Is Varkala expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget in ₹ for mid-tier travelers covering accommodation, food, and local transport.

A mid-tier daily budget in Varkala ranges from ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 per person, covering a guesthouse room at ₹1,000 to ₹1,800, two meals at local cafes or restaurants at ₹400 to ₹700, local auto-rickshaw rides at ₹150 to ₹300, and a chai or coffee habit at ₹100 to ₹200. During peak season from December to January, accommodation costs can rise by 30 to 50 percent, pushing the daily budget closer to ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 if you have not pre-booked.