Kumarakom Coconut Lagoon

When I think of it, it’s pretty surprising that it took us this long to get to Kumarakom.

‘Better late than never’ became even later thanks to a red alert in the district because of heavy rains in early August. We finally got there at the end of August.

Where to stay in Kumarakom

We had finally pulled the trigger on CGH Coconut Lagoon when we found a good offer. Thankfully we didn’t have to pay much extra for the new dates.

For the last mile, you have to resort to a ferry to the resort. #oksorry Well, there is a road, but why kill the mystique. This is their jetty, where you wait for your ride. Yes, it has a toilet, in case you’ve been holding it all in during the 2.5 hr ride from Kochi Airport. 😀

If you aren’t, you can soak in this view.

A 10 min ride will take you to the resort.

This is the first view of the property. We didn’t know then that one of these would be our cottage.

What awaits you is a cool towel, tender coconut juice and a short briefing on what’s on the charts. Quick shoutout to Tijo, who is an excellent host. An AMA with him will ensure that you take full advantage of the beautiful place you’re in.

In case you’d like to have a swing at it soon as you arrive, the reception has one. There are more in other places too.

A short walk takes you to your own lil cottage.

We loved ours because we could just sit on the chairs outside and gaze at the waters.

The inside is cosy and quite spacious, all at the same time.

See/Do

The property is huge, so take your own sweet time to walk around. Every turn is probably a postcard.

See, I told you.

They even seemed to have transplanted a few homes . The decor is impeccable too.

This is one corner of the property. It’s named after a bird. The place takes its wildlife conservation efforts very seriously. If you’re willing to wake up early, you can join their birdwatching walks.

Let’s just say that if you’re waiting to cross the bridge when you come to it, you won’t have to wait long at all.

This is along the path that takes us from the cottage to the reception. If you use that walkway from that tower, you get to food, drinks, and water. The last one is a swimming pool though.

Break on through to the other side.

This one is very close to the restaurant, but you should probably avoid it after meals.

A little further down, you have a large strip overlooking the lake. We spent a lot of time just sitting here.

In case you said “awww, lake”, this is a reminder of what it is capable of. Climate change is real!

Speaking of nature, there is plenty of it around. Flowers…

…and butterflies. Spend some time at the Butterfly Park.

They’re not keen on photos, but D is quite a click baiter.

These guys weren’t even bothered by us.

In case you want to play pool.

Come evening, and the Insta famous Ammachi arrives with tea, coffee, (and Horlicks and Hot Chocolate, we learned later!) in a boat. There will be a queue for the food and a selfie with Ammachi if you’re inclined so, but you’ll get your rewards. Or you could simply tell the staff what you want.

On the day we left, we saw Ammachi in her natural surroundings, hanging clothes at a house along the super-narrow road that takes you to the ferry and beyond. 🙂

After high tea, the boat waits to be taken away. This is actually a good place to wait until you head out to the lake for the sunset.

A sunset cruise is typically part of your stay. The sunset may or may not be.

That’s one of the boats that will take you. Our ride became fun thanks to one person sitting on the lever of a fire extinguisher and setting it off. Not the kind of powdering up D was expecting.

You see all kinds of boats when you sit near the lake. Small, big, simple, decked up. Since one ends up philosophising when adjacent to water (and spirits), it seemed like a metaphor for life. The view is the same. But there were people who were enjoying it, laughing and smiling in small boats, and there were serious faces glued to their mobile screen in the fancy ones.

On a couple of days, we managed to get the sun without the cloud friends around.

What’s not to like about blazing sunsets?

But what I love more is the colour that follows. Mwah. We sat for hours on the bench.

Since you’ve been nice enough to read thus far, here’s a panoramic view.

After sunset, maybe check out Aymanam, the seafood restaurant, open only for dinner. We loved the name, courtesy Arundhati Roy, whose native village it is named after.

There are some cottages on this side, in case you prefer being adjacent to the lake.

Before dinner, there is a cultural show. On the day we arrived, there was Thiruvathirakali.

There was Bharatanatyam the next day.

And Mohiniyattam the day after.

If your spirits are still not high enough, they have a bar.

And that’s the restaurant for all your meals.

What to Eat

Speaking of which, our original plan was to drop in at Nalan’s Toddy Taproom on the way (small detour) to the resort. But we realised when we got there that it was a no alcohol day. The nearest decent place was Kureeckal Restaurant and Bakery, from where D had what she would have regularly if she could find it – Chattichoru.

Ditto for me – porotta beef, this time in a kizhi.

Outside of our regular buffet, we also had one lunch at the resort restaurant.

The Malabar Chicken Curry was quite flavourful, and we liked it.

The Karimeen Pollichathu was only so-so in terms of flavours.

We got to have our toddy shop lunch later though. This is Ranthal, which is about 30 mins away. There is also Kilikkoodu, much closer, and pretty popular.

We had kallappam, Varaal mappas, squid, palkappa (the only thing we though was just ok) and of course kallu – munthiri (grape) and kanthaari (chilli) and loved both – the latter a little more.

And since we had room for more fish, Pallathi, as well.

One ritual for each day was the high tea. It rained on the first day and we got some excellent coffee. With parippu vada and vellayappam.

On the second day, Ammachi delivered the main deal – Pazhampori.

And on the third day, we got Bajji and Vellayappam.

Aww, we already miss you.

Our kallu shaap trip as well as our return journey to the airport was with this guy. Very reliable, and extremely knowledgeable about the local area – food, temples, history, and in general, places to see and things to do. He is also an avid traveler himself, and we had some wonderful conversations with him.

And that brings us to the very end of this wonderful trip to Keral Pradesh, the second this year, after Kannur. We might do one more trip to the are – but probably the other side of the pond – Alleppey.