Affordable Day Out
for Friends & Family
"From waterfront breakfast to beach sunset — everything Alleppey in one day, meals included."
This is the package most groups book — and it shows. Two meals are included, the Shikara ride comes with a Kerala lunch served on the water, and the day ends with a sunset walk on Mararikulam's quiet beach. Five activities across two water bodies, from the narrow village canals to the open Arabian Sea, in a single day that starts at 6am while Alleppey is still waking up.
Why This Package
Why This Is Alleppey's Most Booked Package
Most Alleppey day packages make you pay separately for food, then add a beach visit as an afterthought, then hand you over to a generic Shikara operator. This one is different — everything is planned, meals are included, and the day has a clear arc from the quietest hour on the canals to the busiest — the Arabian Sea at sunset.
Two meals built into the price
Breakfast at the waterfront before you get on the water. Kerala lunch served on the Shikara itself as you drift through the backwaters. No separate food budget to manage, no stopping at tourist restaurants mid-day.
The Shikara lunch is the centrepiece
A full Kerala meal — karimeen, rice, coconut curry, thoran — served on a traditional wooden Shikara while you float through the backwaters. It is the experience that appears in every photo review and brings groups back. No other package at this price point includes this.
Mararikulam — not the busy beach
The day ends at Mararikulam (Marari beach) — a fishing village beach 13 km north of Alleppey town that most tour operators skip. Quieter, cleaner, more authentic than Alleppey beach itself. A fishing village beach where the nets still go out at dusk.
Five activities, one guide, one day
Kayaking, Shikara, canoeing, speedboat and beach — five distinct experiences across different water bodies. Your NIWS-certified guide is with you throughout. No switching operators, no gap in the itinerary, no dead time.
6am start — the canals at their best
The Punnamada canals are extraordinary in the early morning — mist on the water, kingfishers, the odd country boat, no tourist traffic. By 9am the houseboats begin. The 6am start is intentional: it gets you on the water at the exact hour it is worth being there.
Hour by Hour
Full Day Itinerary
Thirteen hours from first light to beach sunset. Every element timed to the best version of the experience.
Waterfront breakfast
The day begins at the water's edge at Thathampally — a traditional Kerala breakfast before the activities start. Puttu and kadala curry, or idiyappam with stew, or appam — your guide sorts it. The backwaters at 6am are worth arriving early for on their own: mist, silence, the first light on the water.
Kayaking — Punnamada village canals
Into the kayaks for the morning session through the narrow village channels of Punnamada. Safety briefing, life jackets, and your guide in the water alongside you. No prior experience needed. The early morning canals are the highlight of the day for most guests — coconut palms, paddy fields, kingfishers, complete quiet. The houseboats have not started their engines yet.
Premium Shikara with Kerala lunch — on the water
Board a traditional wooden Shikara for a long, unhurried glide through the backwaters. Lunch is served on the Shikara itself — a full Kerala meal while you drift. Karimeen fry, rice, coconut fish curry, thoran, rasam. Eating on the water, nothing visible but the lake and the distant paddy fields. This is the moment most guests say they remember longest.
Canoeing — quiet channels
After the Shikara, a canoe through the shaded village waterways. The pace drops right down — a canoe sits lower in the water, moves slower, passes closer to the banks. You hear the village sounds: a radio, a woman washing clothes on the steps, children on a school boat. A completely different texture from the kayak or the Shikara.
Speedboat — open backwaters
The speedboat is the energy reset after the canoe's quiet — fast, loud, exhilarating across the open lake. A deliberate contrast: the canoe sits you in the landscape; the speedboat throws you across it. Most groups love both for different reasons.
Mararikulam beach — Arabian Sea sunset
Drive north to Mararikulam beach — a quiet fishing village on the Arabian Sea with white sand and almost no tourist infrastructure. Walk the beach, swim, watch the fishing boats come in, or just sit as the sun drops into the sea. Alleppey beach is available as an alternative if preferred. Return by 7pm.
The Centrepiece
Shikara Ride with Kerala Lunch on the Water
Included in this package
Kerala lunch, served on the Shikara
A traditional wooden Shikara seats four to eight people on cushioned seats under a canopy. As you drift through the open backwaters, lunch arrives — karimeen (pearl spot fish) fry or curry, steamed rice, coconut-based side dishes, rasam and a sweet to finish. The fish was in the market this morning. The rice was from the paddy fields you are floating past. Eating like this, in a place like this, is the kind of travel moment that does not happen inside a hotel restaurant.
A Shikara is a small, open wooden boat — traditional to Kerala's backwaters. Unlike a houseboat (which is large, motorised, and follows a fixed channel), a Shikara is quiet, low in the water, and can navigate narrower reaches of the lake. The pace is slow. There is no engine noise. You sit close to the water surface and the experience is fundamentally different from anything larger.
Every Activity Explained
Five Activities, One Day
Each activity covers a different aspect of the Alleppey backwaters — from the narrowest village canal to the open sea.
Kayaking — Punnamada Village Canals
A solo or tandem kayak through the narrow channels of Punnamada — passages so tight that only kayaks and small canoes can enter. Coconut palms lean over the water. Local fishermen cast their nets. The canal surface is mirror-still in the early morning. NIWS-certified guide leads, life jackets provided, no experience needed. Suitable for beginners and children. This is the most intimate way to experience the Kerala backwaters — you are in the ecosystem, not observing it from a deck.
Premium Shikara + Kerala Lunch on the Water
A traditional wooden Shikara seats your group for a long drift across the wider reaches of the backwaters. Lunch is served on the boat — a full Kerala meal with fresh fish, rice and coconut curry. The Shikara is unhurried, quiet and visually spectacular at mid-morning when the light has lifted but the lake is still calm. This is the centrepiece of the Affordable Day Out and the reason most groups book this package over the others.
Canoeing — Village Waterways
A canoe sits lower and moves slower than a kayak — the pace is meditative and the sounds of the village come through clearly. Shaded by coconut palms, the afternoon canoe passes through the residential stretches of the backwater network — the side of Alleppey that tourists on houseboats never enter. After the energy of the morning, the canoe is the activity that people are quietly surprised to love.
Speedboat — Open Backwaters
A speedboat run across the open lake — the deliberate contrast to every other activity in the day. Fast, loud, spray in your face, the horizon wide open. After the canoe and the Shikara pace, most groups find the speedboat a natural energy release before the beach. The ride covers significant open water quickly — you see the scale of Vembanad Lake from the middle of it.
Mararikulam Beach — Arabian Sea Sunset
The day ends at the sea. Mararikulam is a fishing village beach 13 km north of Alleppey town — white sand, low crowds, still working as an active fishing community. The beach faces due west, which means the sunset is direct and unobstructed. Walk, swim, or sit. The fishing boats that went out at dawn come back in as the light goes amber. Return to Alleppey by 7pm.
The Beach
Why Mararikulam — Not Alleppey Beach
Mararikulam Beach
Mararikulam — or Marari beach — is a working fishing village on the Arabian Sea coast, approximately 13 km north of Alleppey town. It sits at the junction where the backwater network meets the open sea, which means the landscape shifts dramatically from still water and paddy fields to open coast within a short distance.
Alleppey beach is in the town centre — developed, walkable from hotels, and well-known. Mararikulam is the opposite: a long stretch of white sand that has not been fully commercialised, with a few beach resorts set back from the waterline and the fishing boats pulled up on the shore. At dusk, the fishermen repair their nets on the beach. It is the more memorable ending to a backwater day.
Distance from Alleppey
~13 km north
Crowd level
Low · Local
Sunset facing
Direct west
Character
Fishing village
Everything in the Price
What's Included
No separate food budget. No activity add-ons. One package, one price, everything listed below.
Waterfront breakfast
6am · Traditional Kerala
Kayaking
Punnamada canals · AM
Premium Shikara
With Kerala lunch on water
Kerala lunch
Karimeen · rice · curry
Canoeing
Village channels · PM
Speedboat
Open backwaters
Mararikulam beach
Arabian Sea sunset
NIWS-certified guide
Full day throughout
Life jackets & safety
All water activities
Free photography
Guide assists throughout
Choosing Between Packages
Affordable Day Out vs Backwaters Day Out
Both are full-day 1-day packages running 6am to 7pm. Here is how to choose between them.
| Affordable Day Out | Backwaters Day Out | |
|---|---|---|
| Meals | Breakfast + Lunch | Not included |
| Shikara | With Kerala lunch | Included |
| Houseboat | Not included | Day cruise 11am–5pm |
| Beach | Mararikulam | Alleppey beach |
| Best for | Groups, families, value | Houseboat experience |
| Water activities | Kayak, Shikara, Canoe, Speedboat | Kayak, Shikara, Speedboat, Canoe, Houseboat |
Best For
Who Should Book This Package
Groups of friends who want a full active day with meals sorted — the Shikara lunch and beach sunset are natural social highlights that work especially well for groups of 4–8
Families with children — the calm canals for kayaking, lunch on the water, and the beach at the end make this the most family-friendly structure of our 1-day packages
Couples who want the most complete Alleppey day without needing a 2-night stay — breakfast, five activities, lunch on the water and a beach sunset covers everything
Budget-conscious travellers who want maximum value — with breakfast and lunch included, the out-of-pocket food cost during the day is zero
First-time visitors to Alleppey who want to cover kayaking, a Shikara, canoeing, a speedboat and the beach in a single day without planning multiple separate bookings
Photography travellers — the early morning canals, the Shikara lunch on the water, and the Mararikulam sunset all photograph extraordinarily well
Your Local Guide
Led by Rahul the Guide
Rahul the Guide
Founder & Lead Instructor · Alleppey Kayaking Club
NIWS Certified · National Institute of Watersports, Goa
The Shikara operator we use is someone Rahul has known his whole life. The karimeen on your lunch plate came from the same canal network you kayaked through at 6am. The Mararikulam fishermen who pull their boats up at dusk are neighbours of the homestay families we work with. None of this is coordinated via a booking platform — it is a set of relationships built over years of living and working in Alappuzha.
Rahul is certified by the National Institute of Watersports (NIWS), Goa — the same institution that trains the Indian Coast Guard. Every water activity in this package is led by him or a guide from his team with equivalent certification. Safety briefings are taken seriously. Life jackets are not optional.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
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Other Tour Packages
Want a houseboat cruise instead? Or arriving from Kochi or the railway station? We have a package for every situation.
Locally Rooted
About Alleppey Kayaking Club
Alleppey Kayaking Club is a family-run tour operator based in Kallupurackal Nehru Trophy Ward, Thathampally, Alappuzha, Kerala — on the Punnamada Lake stretch where the Nehru Trophy Boat Race is held every August. Every tour is guided by Rahul the Guide (Rahul Raj), certified by the National Institute of Watersports (NIWS), Goa. You book directly with us — no agents, no commission routing, no generic itineraries.
Most Popular for a Reason
Breakfast. Backwaters.
Beach Sunset.
WhatsApp us your group size, your travel dates, and any dietary preferences. We confirm availability and send you a price — no middlemen, no markup.
Alleppey Kayaking Club · Thathampally, Alappuzha, Kerala