Kochi Shore Excursion- Private Day Tour of Heritage and Backwaters

Our boat tour of the backwater was wonderful. The crew was attentive and the cook provided a truly excellent lunch. Our guide and driver knew the traffic and got us back safely with time to spare. The stops we made gave us a true sense of Kochi. The guide was perfect to represent the people of Kochi.

Met at dockside by smart, friendly English speaking driver/guide and immaculate, air conditioned, roomy and comfortable vehicle. Ninety minutes of fairly hair-raising driving - mainly by others, although there were some interesting overtaking moves - but this is India and is the way everybody drives. Arrival and transfer to houseboat went smoothly and, as booked, we had the entire craft to ourselves and our guide, plus a local crew of three who were charming and attentive. The cruise itself is quite long but after the first hour there is little else of interest to see and it is a much the same. Very relaxing though. Lunch was a revelation. Grilled fish, fried chicken and a host of accompanying dishes. All delicious, but far too much for us, although we tried, and enjoyed, everything. Return road trip was by a different route and included some unanticipated and interesting sightseeing under the guidance of our driver, who got us back to the ship safely and in good time. It was an expensive excursion but we acknowledge that we were paying for the exclusivity. None of the other houseboats we encountered had many passengers and unless you really wish to be alone, a shared journey would probably offer better value for money. Nevertheless we much enjoyed the experience and it gave us a good look at Cochin in the time available.

Very professional. The La Vacanza Travel guide and the driver were the first in line with my name in a bold printed card when my group got down from the cruise ship. The guide was well informed on any subject and communicated well. The boat crew and the boat accommodation was great. My group consisted of health and state inspectors and they observed that the food prep and the boat were acceptable standards. The food served were prepared well and food were excellent. Compared to the other boats carrying passengers from the cruise ship...we had the boat to ourselves 14 in one group versus the excursion boats that had all the chairs and seats occupied. For the price, it was the best excursion we had in our trip.

We had a truly wonderful day with Sebastian , our guide, and Martin our driver! They were there to meet us us as soon as we left the ship and had a lovely Toyota 4x4 with super air conditioning and very comfortable seats. Seb chatted to us throughout our journey to the houseboats .....this for me was definitely better than being on a coach, as I am very deaf! At the houseboats we watched as the coach loads of our cruise companions were herded onto a houseboat, while we were taken to another houseboat. What a lovely surprise to find we had the whole houseboat to ourselves!!! A lounging area at the front, a dining table, armchairs, a bedroom and bathroom, and a chef in the kitchen preparing our lunch!!!! I am very difficult with food as I don't like spicy food, but the lovely cheerful chef said that was no problem, and he made us a superb lunch of fish and chicken, rice, lentils, chickpeas etc, all without spice!! Followed by dessert then banana fritters then fruits ...it went on and on!! Seb travelled with us and answered all our questions. Afterwards we drove through areas past beautiful Catholic Churches etc and then to the sea where we saw the Chinese fishing nets. As he could see we were intrigued by these, he took us onto one of the Nets and after a chat with the fisherman, we were allocated ropes to pull to bring in the next catch!! Seb took my phone and took photos and a video of us pulling the ropes until the job was done! What a wonderful experience! I was concerned because I had no rupees as you can't get them on the ship or take them into India, and I wanted a few to be able to give tips and buy souvenirs, so Seb and Martin went out of their way to drive around Kochi to find an ATM...the first one didn't work, so they drove around some more until we found one that did work. Seb helped me to understand all the instructions. Our day with Seb and Martin actually lasted about 2 hours longer than advertised and I was worried we were making them late, but they were charming and said they just wanted to be sure we were having a good time.
I cannot rate them highly enough, they were superb.
This was the first time we had used La Vacanza Travel, and I was sorry I hadn't booked other excursions with them. Next time, we will be booking La Vacanza Travel rather than the Cruise excursions.