Kovalam is a beach town on the Arabian Sea in Kerala, located around 13 km from downtown Thiruvananthapuram. Kovalam means a grove of coconut trees. Kovalam has three crescent-shaped beaches separated by rocky outcroppings. Shallow waters stretching for hundreds of meters are ideal for swimming. The beaches have steep palm-covered headlands lined with shops that offer all kinds of goods and services. The larger of the beaches is called Light House Beach for its 35-meter-high lighthouse, which towers over it atop Kurumkal hillock. The second largest one is Hawah Beach, named thus for the topless European women who used to throng there.