On the water
Fourteen boats, and crews who grew up on this lake.
- 14
- boats in our fleet
- 2004
- year our first boat launched
- 3
- boatmen on every houseboat
Who we are
The lake at the hour it goes quiet.
Joseph Mathew launched our first kettuvallam in 2004 from his family’s jetty at Punnamada. Today we run fourteen boats, built by hand in Alappuzha yards, with cooks and drivers from the villages we moor beside.
Overnight houseboat cruises, sunset trips and private boats on Vembanad, with Kerala meals cooked on board. Our sunset cruise leaves the jetty at 4.30 pm with tea and pazham pori on board. Six guests per boat, back by 6.30.
— The Kettuvallam Kayal Houseboats team, Alappuzha
What we stand for
Three things we will not change
A crew that knows the water
Every boat has a driver, a cook and a deckhand, most of them from the villages along our route.
Food cooked on board
Meals are cooked in the boat’s own kitchen with fish and vegetables bought that morning, not sent from a hotel.
One clear price
The price is for the boat, with meals, crew and water. Fuel, mooring and taxes are included.
The two hours before the lake goes dark.
Our sunset cruise leaves the jetty at 4.30 pm with tea and pazham pori on board. Six guests per boat, back by 6.30.
Visit or call usOur story so far
Kettuvallam Kayal Houseboats, year by year
- 2004
One boat from a family jetty
Joseph Mathew rebuilt an old rice barge as a two-bedroom houseboat and took his first guests out from his father’s jetty at Punnamada.
- 2011
Six boats and our own kitchen crew
We stopped sending food from town and trained cooks to make every meal on board, with fish bought at the morning market.
- 2018
The flood year, and starting again
The August floods kept us off the water for two months. Four boats were rebuilt in the same Alappuzha yards that made them.
- Today
Fourteen boats and early morning trips
Joseph’s daughter Anna runs bookings, and the small boats now go out at dawn for birds and nets as well as at sunset.
Choose
Pick a boat and a date, or ask us on WhatsApp.
Confirm
Pay 30% to hold the boat; the rest on boarding.
Board
Meet us at the jetty at noon. Lunch is waiting.
Reviews
What customers say
Sample reviews, written for this demo. Real customer reviews replace them on your store.
We moored beside a paddy field and watched the ducks come home. The cook made karimeen for dinner and taught my son to fold the banana leaf.
Booked the family boat for my parents’ fortieth. The crew put up lamps on the upper deck without us asking.
The early morning trip was the best part of our Kerala holiday. Mist, kingfishers and Jose rowing in silence.
Monsoon nights, lower rates.
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