vembanad lake

the boats are spacious, clean, elegant and some have a wonderful upstairs day bed from which to watch the backwaters drift past. Sitting outside the weather is pleasant with a slight breeze, but after dark, when you're moored up the mozzies descend.We discovered you had to ask for the air-con in the room to be turned on at 7 o'clock in the evening, the cabins get very hot during the day, and ditto with the hot water.The food was very good and there's a fair choice. The boats are dry so it is advisable if you want a beer or wine to take it with you, they will put it in the fridge.well worth going.

We have just stayed on a houseboat for three nights cruising Vembanad Lake in Kerala - what a lovely experience! It was "Spice Routes" houseboat "Cinnamon" - staffed by a crew of three who were extremely professional and friendly. The chef excelled himself and all the food was absolutely delicious. The en-suite accommodation was clean and comfortable and the all important air conditioning worked very well. The lake is a paradise for bird watchers - so many to see and life on the shores of the lake as we were gliding by was fascinating. We also had a trip on a Shakara boat which enabled us to visit the smaller backwaters which was equally fascinating. Would definitely recommend.

Viewing and travelling in a house boat in the Vembanad Lake offers an excellent experience. This large lake adjoining the Kumarakom resort village offers an exquisite holiday experience in Kerala. The gentle breeze while boating add an additional bonus apart from the water view around. The house boat meal with the popular Karimeen fish is a must to do to complete the feel.

It was a nice houseboat experience. You get nice and tasty food handcooked by the fishermen on the boat.

We did boating in huge Vembanad Lake which is endless as well as in Alleppey canals. If you are short of time, I would advice backwater boating in the canals of Alleppey as its much more relaxing, scenic and you get a chance to see the lifestyle of people staying in small villages near to canals.

Vembanad is the longest lake in India, and the largest lake in the state of Kerala. It is also counted as one of the largest lakes in India. A lake spanning several districts in the state of Kerala, it is known by different names in different localities viz. Punnamada Lake in Kuttanad, Kochi Lake in Kochi. Kochi Lake is the portion of the Vembanad Lake located in and around the Kochi mainland. Among the several groups of small islands that the Kochi Lake forms home for, are, Vypin, Mulavukad, Vallarpadam, Willingdon Island etc. Kochi Lake is home for the Kochi Port which is built around the Willingdon Island, and the Vallarpadam island. Ferry riding is available from Kochi and go up to the arebian sea. Chinese fishing nets are main attraction in this lake. Harbor related Activities like coming of ship, tugging by tug boat and keep ship at right location is seem here.The celebrated Nehru Trophy Boat Race is conducted in a portion of this lake; in the Kuttanad region, known as the Punnamada Lake.

Vembanad lake is the largest fresh water lake in Asia. Opt for a 2/3 hr boat ride starting from 4pm so you can experience the sunset. Shikara boats are reasonably priced @ 500 rs per hour available from government jetty. You can ask them to take you through narrow canals and villages. Here one gets a glimpse of rural life modelled around the canal. In fact local villagers use a canoe as mode of transportation. During the boat ride one can sight countless kingfishers, bee-eaters, cormorants etc. If you are really interested in bird watching hire a local villager with a canoe boat.

It feet wow on boarding a beautiful house boat with upper deck after a log journey from Munnar to Kumarakom. We felt very relaxed and enjoyed the cool breeze while sitting on the upper deck. The lake is huge and is surrounded by houses and resorts. The lake is soo huge that one can hardly see the other end of the lake. The house boat can be taken from Alleppey as well as Kumarakom. There are multiple points from where one can board the house boat. While booking for the house boat, plan the nearest point from the resort so that you can take maximum benefit and the pleasure of bot ride during the day till evening 6:00 pm.The house boat has a deadline to row only till 6 pm post which it will be anchored as per Government rules. We took the house boat from Kumarakom after a lot of research and feedback shared by people on their experience. Our decision was apt and we enjoyed every bit of the ride on this beautiful lake. The house boat was well equipped with room amenities and for entertainment they had Tamil and Hindi movies DVD. The room was comfortable and nice.We enjoyed all 3 meals while our stay at the house boat. the food was well cooked and was tasty. The boat care taker were very courteous and helpful.While taking a ride in the lake we say many birds, once of them was a white headed eagle and we were fortunate to see her going for the kill (fish). A glimpse of the bird sanctuary can be seen on one side while taking a ride on the lake.The only disappointment was the time when the boat is anchored as we did not feel good. Post sailing in the boat the entire day when it comes to a stand still the feeling of being stagnant is depressing. The best experience would be if the boat sails continuously. One can also skip staying in the boat overnight and can take a day long cruise as there is nothing special about

The lake is huge.. and really scenic as well. Go for a ride on the lake and you will capture the classic pictures of Kerala - coconut trees bending into the back waters, houseboats floating around majestically and fishermen busy in their chores. The calm and beauty on the place has a refreshing effect.

It was an afternoon cruise for the two of us, my (senior citizen) mother and myself, wherein we boarded the houseboat from the banks of the Manor Backwater Resort itself on 04/07/2013, just shortly after 12 noon. As July usually falls in the monsoon or the so-called off season in Kerala, I bargained with the manager of our resort and settled for a 3-hour cruise (i.e., the minimum time limit) over the Vembanad Lake and that too at a steep (supposedly at a discount due to the off season) rate of Rs.1,100/- per hour (i.e., Rs. 3,300/- for a total of 3 hours) without any other extra benefits like food/lunch and beverages/refreshments. As more than 90% of the houseboats were in fact lying idle without any sort of tourists in sight, still the houseboats should have been available at a throwaway price like 50% off/discount but that was not to be. Moreover due to the dilly dally tactics of guiding the houseboat properly, as well as taking a total time of 30 minutes or close to half an hour for having lunch for the driver and his assistant/oarsman on our behalf (i..e, timewise loss on our part, which as I argued should have been adjusted but was not). Also during the total time of 3 hours, hardly about 15 minutes was spent by the driver in really catching up with good speed for the houseboat, and for the rest of the time in spite of my fervent requests to speed up (which ultimately fell on deaf ears), the driver declined to do so, citing the reasons for the engine not being that powerful for taking up speed. The colour of the water in general was dirty (cloudy yellow and greeenish near the banks) and the smell of the water was like that of sea fish, but once we reached almost at the middle/central part of the great Vembanad Lake (the longest and one of the largest lakes in India), the water was crystal clear to say the least. The trip was a good one for us and a must have on for all travellers list of to do's at Kumarakom. I for one think that a 3-hour shift for houseboat cruise is enough for the travellers. As the houseboats remain still all through the night, it is of no use spending a costly night in a houseboat, whereas one can spend the same night in the comfort of a **** star facility at a resort like us. By the way, at Kumarakom, there are houseboats with ACs varying from one to six in each houseboat along with attached bedrooms and restrooms (washbasin, shower & Western style commode), in fact there are both single storey as well as double storey houseboats. A cautionary reminder for all my fellow travellers, judging from my own personal experience, one must reasonably bargain in order to get a fair deal as regards hiring houseboats in Kerala.

Hire a local guy to cruise you through the backwaters and the lake. They have the best knowledge of the birds!!

Vembanad Lake is beautiful and Largest lake I have ever seen.lake is full of beautiful houseboats.u have to hire a houseboat for day cruse or for 1-2 days to visit this lake.houseboat cruise on the Vembanad is a must.dont miss houseboat stay. It is undoubtedly the best lake. Kumarakom side is better and cleaner.

Vembanad lake can be accessed from Kumarakom or from Muhamma boat jetty on the Aleppy side. We were staying in Kumarakom and we hired a boat for five hours. The lake is so huge that it looks like a sea.We traveled along the resorts and then visited the R- Block where paddy is cultivated below sea level. One has to actually take the boat ride to feel the enormity of it. There are lot of Houseboats available on hire. If one can afford it, it is better to hire a house boat for over night stay. The authorities should clean the lake of the weeds which is an eyesore.

one of the largest freshwater lake separated by the estuaries with a Bund made by man,the vembanad lake is a truly heaven in gods own country ,the main lake lies between allepey and kottayam district and has a big lake area with small small streams going to variouslowlying areas of allepey and ewen backwaters of ernakulam,we took a boat ride in the lake and could experience a great atures beauty,thanks that it didnt rain and we were in a shikkara a sall single platform boat( traditional vallam made of wood) ther eis good space for nearly 50 people in the vallam,the vallam goes around the lake were enumerous house boats and shikaras roam with tourist showing them the calm and peaceful water lotof resorts are there in the coastal line of lake,our boat took s to the paddy growing area of lake called r-block where traditional houses cook pearlspot( karimeen) and GAint freshwater shrimp( scampi-Konchu) in front of us, they also serve Toddy which is alcoholic got from the cocunut, truly an experience nv-dec is the season time but i would say rainy seasons are best when u can feel the rain

Massive lake stretching from Kumarakom to Alleppey. Best to take long day cruise in Shikara costing about Rs 500-600 per hour. The view of sunset from the middle of lake is unforgettable. We never realized how the 3 hours passed in cruising all over the lake.