The standard package boards at noon, cruises through the afternoon, moors before dusk (compulsory by law) and returns the next morning. Meals are cooked on board and are usually excellent — the karimeen alone justifies it.
A one-bedroom boat sleeps two comfortably; larger ones go up to five bedrooms. Prices swing by season and by whether the air conditioning runs all night.
Prices are per boat, not per person, and double over Christmas and New Year. Insist on a boat with a waste tank and insect screens. Boats must moor by 5:30pm — anyone promising night cruising is not being straight with you.
Must visit
A three-hour state ferry across Vembanad Lake and up the canals, through exactly the same landscape as…
Must visit
A punted canoe into the narrow canals that houseboats are too big to enter, past coir-spinning yards…
A wide beach with the remains of a 137-year-old sea pier, a lighthouse behind and the usual Kerala…
A fishing-village beach 15 km north, quieter and cleaner than the town beach, with palm groves behind…