Just 8 km from Trivandrum city, Shanghumugham Beach is a place for people who enjoy sunsets. Traditional Kerala houseboats, Kettuvallams cruise from Kollam to Shankhumugham. Powered both by gondolier-like boatmen with poles and by sail this journey is really an absolutely wonderful, unforgettable experience.

Shankhumugham Beach is fast emerging as an Asian adventure sports destination with immense scope in various kinds of water sports. Water loving speed freaks will not be able to resist getting into a speedboat. Sleek with a growling, throaty engine, these thoroughbred speedboats are compelling machines that make the sea your road.
On holidays, the city comes out to the beach for a weekly refreshing. Long wide and clean sandy beach can accommodate tens of thousands. The water here, however, is not suitable for bathing. The beach being a fishermen village ensures an interesting sight of fishermen having their daily catch. The beach is adjacent to the Thiruvananthapuram Airport and the Veli Tourist Village.

The tourist village has an indoor recreation club, the Matsya Kanyaka (a gigantic, 35 m long sculpture of a mermaid) and a restaurant shaped like a starfish. The nearby Chacha Nehru Traffic Training Park has been set up to teach children to have a first-hand knowledge about traffic rules.