This paper focuses on identifying the determinants of labour migration to the Gulf and the difference emigrants between Gulf and non-Gulf destinations. The study uses new data from the Kerala Migration Survey 2018, sampling individuals of working age from 15,000 households and fitting a logistic regression model. Kerala is a State in India which has a strong history of migration to the GCC dating back to the 1970s but has also seen a change in the characteristics of these migrants over the years. The quantitative model is also substantiated further with inputs from qualitative interviews conducted among current emigrants in different GCC countries. The study finds that the decision to migrate and the destination choice are significantly affected by factors related to individual characteristics, human capital, and household dynamics, and there are prominent network effects. Individuals with a higher propensity to migrate to the Gulf are younger, male, married and looking for employment, indicating that the inability to find employment in the source region is a major push factor for migrating. These and other factors such as the individual’s educational attainments determine their destination choice between Gulf and other destinations. There is a strong social network effect, as the probability of an individual migrating to a GCC destination is higher if they belong to a household with existing GCC emigrants, are part of the Muslim community, or come from a region (taluk) with high emigration rates. There is a sense of familiarity when the respondents talk about migrating the Gulf, however, there is also a sense of increased precarity that comes across in many interviews.