Kerala Backwaters - A cruise on budgets!

razorhed

I will be traveling in May from Goa to Cochin by train, and have four days free between Cochin and my departure flight from Trivandrum. I would like to take a houseboat from Cochin to Trivandrum. Does anyone know if this is possible or if they always return you to the same port you left out of? And can anyone recommend an inexpensive houseboat for a couple nights that would pick up in Cochin and drop off anywhere near Cochin, Trivandrum, or somewhere between? Prefer A/C

touristxyz

Houseboats are not operating from Cochin. The south most point for houseboat cruise is Kollam. But, after Alumkadave the backwaters is very rough. I recommend the route Alleppey - Alumkadave.

Drews60

I wanted to bump this subject up. Has anyone else chartered a small houseboat for overnight? I see they don't leave until 12 noon, than I have an impression they tie up for an afternoon nap, then anchor at 6PM for the night. In the morning they serve breakfast and head back to port to disembark passengers at 9:30AM. It doesn't sound like much cruising gets done. None the less, I'm interested. It sounds like a leisurely way to spend a day. What was your experience? How do you get to Alleppy from Cochin?

touristxyz

Check in time for all the houseboats is 12.00 noon. And check out at 10.00 AM. They need some time to clean the boat and refresh with provisions and fuel.

There is no afternoon nap. They have to anchor the boat at 06.00 PM. Beacuse, the boats are not permitted to cruise after this time due to fishing nets. For real experience, I recommned to spend 2 / 3 nights and take a longer route like Kumarakom - Alumkadave.

There are frequest buses and convenient trains from Cochin to Alleppey.

And now a days, it is very difficuilt to see a decently furnished boat.

shashank.aggarwal

I was there in March, and even though we did'nt hire the houseboat but here is the information we collected :

1. 22 hours in a days. starts a 11 AM and finishes at 9 AM next day.

2. They do anchor in the afternoon, not sure, maybe for food or something.

3. They don't sail after 6 pm.

4. If you take the air conditioned boat, the AC only works for 7-8 hours in the night.

Cost varies between Rs.2k-8k depending on luxuries, bedrooms and other services.

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susanmallugal

My husband and children and I are planning to stay overnight on one of the houseboats in Kumerokum. whichis closer to Kottayam where we will be attending a wedding.

now, I am concered about paying too much. How is the best way to book a houseboat for a family of 4 (2 adults,2 kids, 11 and 2-1/2) we want 2 rooms with AC. one night. how much should we expect to pay? In USD about $300? we r doing this in high season, Jan 4th. please tell me if it's wise to do it online or should i have a family friend book it for us as they live in kottayam?

can u give me some hotels in kottayam also..need for a family of 4.

how about the windsor manor? the picturs look terrible. the beds are twin beds in a suite!

shashank.aggarwal

First of all I would advice you ask your known person to get it booked..as he would be local to the area and can manage to get a good rate...

I hope you have read my last post...about the timings of Air conditioner..

USD 300 should easily carry you through...I would say to expect something for USD 200 itself..but again its high season..

bariloche

We did some research on this before arriving, but unfortunately were referred to some cheap accommodation by other European travellers who said "They treat you like family". I'd hate to see his family. This person tried to help us book dancing and a houseboat. We were told that at the height of the season bookings are hard. He must have had a massive kickback because when we moved to one of the most expensive hotels they could arrange both, of a far better quality about half the price. You should be able to get it at most for USD300 even in the peak, but I agree that if you have local contacts, they would be the most reliable on checking value. When we got to the houseboat, we found there were hundreds of them and everywhere you looked, more being built. I believe that it is a buyer's market.

Nick-H

I imagine the AC needs to have a generator running?

Two noisy machines?

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shashank.aggarwal

Oh..Nick..we get Silent generators these days !!

And almost all the boats I saw, had Latest models installed..and all of them seemed to be silent ones..

Nick-H

Gosh!

It's a petrol/diesel engine, isn't it? How on earth do they make it silent? I guess technology has moved on...

I've never actually owned a generator, but although the ones I see running outside shops don't seem very noisy I'm not sure I'd want to spend the night with one.

However... with our ever-fluctuating voltage and power cuts, I may yet be visiting that shop that sells the shiny red Honda thingies to find out!

shashank.aggarwal

The ones we commonly see are not exactly silent ones..they are sort of modeled on scooter engines...as the one we have gets repaired by our local neighborhood scooter mechanic...

However there are newer models available...which are completely silent..infact they have been around for some time..but in larger models..and were very expensive...so only corporates, hotels, housing societies etc used them..

But now smaller ones are available..and even though they are expensive than their noisy counterparts, but atleast they give an option to domestic/small user...

cicliced

Hey Guys,

Loads of great info in this thread, really helpful for planning my trip next year.

Please could I have some advice on prices for myself and girlfriend doing an overnight boat trip in Feb next year.
Without paying a fortune are there many 2 person boats? Or should we expect to share with others?

Is it best to try and negotiate direct with boat owners or go through an agent when we arrive in Kerala?

Thanks

touristxyz

An exclusive deluxe houseboat (one bedroom + one living room)could costs rouhgly Rs 5800 with all meals. You may get cheaper boats in Alleppey. The price varies depending on the route. Ac boats are more expansive.

vandy

You should be able to get a 1 bedroom A/C houseboat for 5000rps
this will include all meals and bottled water.

Have a good look around at main houseboat jetty in Allepey,there
are many houseboats,take your time choosing one.

Rgds - vandy