Vembanad backwaters, a day on the water
Alleppey · 7 hrs · Cab and jetty transfer · Pickup from your stay
From ₹3500 for the whole vehicle, up to 6 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹3500 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The roomier one for a family day. ₹4500 for the vehicle.
The backwaters, minus the bit where you stand at a jetty being sold something
Alleppey's water is genuinely one of the best days in India and the first hour of it is usually awful. You arrive at the main boat jetty, six people quote you six different rates, nobody will tell you how long the boat runs for or whether it can enter the small canals, and by the time you are afloat you have lost the morning and the good light.
This booking removes the car problem and the jetty problem in one go. A vehicle collects you from your stay or from Alleppey station, takes you to Punnamada rather than the tourist jetty, and waits there for the whole cruise so you are never stranded when you step off. Your boat is arranged in advance with a fixed running time and a route that leaves the main channel for the narrow village canals, which is where the day stops being a photograph and starts being a place.
The car is booked for your group at a flat rate, ₹3,500 for a Dzire or ₹4,500 for an Ertiga, whether two of you ride in it or six. The boat itself is not in that price and we are not going to pretend it is: it is hired at the jetty at its own published rate, agreed before you board, along with your lunch. What you are buying from us is the vehicle, the timing and a boat that is booked rather than bargained for.
Why not just turn up at the jetty
The small canals are the whole point
Big boats stay on the main channel because they physically cannot turn in the village canals. The route here is built around a boat that can, which is the difference between seeing the backwaters and being in them.
Your car waits, so you are never stuck
The vehicle stays at the jetty for the whole cruise and takes you back afterwards. Stepping off a boat at four in the afternoon with no transport is how most Alleppey days end badly.
Nothing is negotiated on the bank
The car is a fixed price for the whole vehicle. The boat rate and the lunch are agreed before you board, in writing, rather than shouted at you at the jetty.
Where you'll go
1. Punnamada jetty
The wide stretch where the Nehru Trophy snake boats race every August, and where almost every boat in Alleppey starts. Your car brings you here rather than leaving you at the main boat jetty in town, where the queue is.
Your boat, hired at the jetty at its own rate
2. The open water of Vembanad
India's longest lake, wide enough that the far bank is a green line. Chinese-style dip nets, cormorants, and the ferries that are the local bus service crossing in front of you.
3. The village canals
Off the main channel into water barely wider than the boat, with houses, churches, temples, school jetties and washing steps on both banks. This is the part of the day people remember and the part big boats cannot enter.
4. The paddy below sea level
Kuttanad, farmed two metres under the sea outside the bunds, one of very few places on earth where that is done. From the water you are looking up at the fields.
5. Lunch on a leaf
Rice, avial, thoran, sambar, pickle and payasam served on a banana leaf, with karimeen fried if the catch was good. Cooked on the boat or at a canal-side house depending on which boat you take.
Your meal, settled with the boat or the house
6. Back through the coir belt
The drive back runs past the yards where coconut husk is still spun into rope by hand, the industry Alleppey was built on. Your driver stops if a yard is working.
How you get there
Car to the jetty and back, boat hired separately
Everything in Alleppey is flat and close, so the driving is short and the waiting is long, which is exactly why hiring by the day beats hiring by the trip. The vehicle collects you, runs you to Punnamada, waits through the cruise, and drives you back through the coir belt. The boat is a separate, arranged hire paid at the jetty.
- Pickup: Your stay in Alleppey, or Alappuzha railway station
- Vehicle: Swift Dzire up to 4 or Innova or Ertiga up to 6, with driver
- Drive: Short. Under 30 minutes to the jetty, and the car waits all day
- On the water: About 4 hours, main channel and village canals
- Drop: Back at your stay by about 4:00 pm
The day on the water
9:00 am: Pickup
From your stay or the station, straight to Punnamada rather than the main jetty.
9:45 am: Board
Boat rate and running time confirmed before you step on.
10:30 am: Vembanad open water
The wide lake, the dip nets and the cross-lake ferries.
11:30 am: Into the village canals
Off the main channel, into water barely wider than the boat.
1:00 pm: Lunch
Sadya on a banana leaf, moored or ashore.
2:30 pm: Back towards the jetty
The long way, past the Kuttanad bunds.
4:00 pm: Drop
Back at your stay, via the coir yards if one is working.
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup, jetty transfer and drop
- The car waits at the jetty for the entire cruise
- Your boat booked in advance, with the rate and route agreed before you travel
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- The boat hire itself, paid at the jetty
- Lunch and refreshments
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- The boat, hired at the jetty at its own rate and agreed before you board
- Lunch on the boat or at the canal-side house
- Anything you buy at a coir yard or a canal-side shop
- Personal expenses
Who this suits
Everyone, including older travellers and small children. Getting on and off a country boat needs one steady step, and the crew hold the boat for you. Life jackets are on board and children must wear them. The car seats four or six depending on which you pick, at one flat price either way.
What to bring
Sun protection, a hat, repellent for the late afternoon on the canals, and cash for the boat and lunch. A dry bag for phones is a good idea in any month.
Rain is normal, wind is not
Boats run in rain and the canals are lovely in it, so the day goes ahead. If the port authority restricts movement on Vembanad in high wind or flood, you choose a full refund or a free reschedule. You are never charged for a day that did not run.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Run by a licensed local ground operator we have travelled with ourselves. Boats carry life jackets for everyone on board and children wear them for the whole cruise. Boarding is from a fixed jetty, not from the bank. A GoExplorer number is on your confirmation for the whole day.
Questions
Is the boat included in the price?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. The price here is the car for the day, ₹3,500 or ₹4,500 depending on which you pick. The boat is booked for you in advance and paid at the jetty at its own rate, which you see before you travel.
Is this an overnight houseboat?
No. It is one day out, on the water for about four hours, back at your stay by evening. We do not sell overnight boats here.
Is the car price per person?
No. It is the price of the vehicle for the whole day, whether one of you rides in it or six.
Can we do this from Kumarakom or Kochi?
Kumarakom yes, tell us at checkout. Kochi is a long enough transfer that it becomes a different day, so ask us on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth it.