Try this (fairly) new adventure in Kochi!

Standup Paddle in Kochi

One of the simplest yet coolest adventures to try out is definitely Stand up Paddle. I was in Kochi for a few days last week and decided to try after seeing some Instagram posts.

SUP in Kochi — They have two sessions 5 days a week (Wednesday to Sunday). I opted for the session at 6:00 am and it was the best decision ever.

My father, sister, and I love adventures, and our mom has always supported us to try out new things. However, I had booked the session just for my sister and me. My father has chronic back pain and we didn’t want to take the risk of injuring him.

The night before the session, it was raining cats and dogs in Kochi. I was almost certain that the session would be canceled. But nonetheless, we decided to go, though it was still drizzling. My 80 yo grandfather and our father also tagged along with us.

We reached the venue at 5:45 am (reporting time). We noticed that the backwaters had currents and the clouds were also not very friendly. My fear started to build in. 😅 I started having second thoughts about doing this. We were met by the instructors — Anna and Sharath — who seemed pretty cool and confident and didn't seem to be bothered by the weather.

Apart from my sister and me, there were 3 others who were also part of the session that day. As one would have expected (I guess) couple of people didn't turn up (I am guessing the cozy rainy weather in the morning caused the laziness, I get it). I asked Anna if we could have our dad also join for the session and she was more than happy to accommodate him. Dad quickly came along.

After we were given a quick class on the basics of paddle boarding, we were handed over with the life-jacket and one by one Sharath helped us onboard the paddle board. In my head, I was like “That’s it? We just move to the practicals now? All alone? One person per paddle. 😱”

I have to be honest, it was bloody scary! Mmm… maybe for the first 5 mins, then you gain confidence and realize that the currents don't affect you. The next thing we knew, it started to rain, and paddling in the rain was the fun(est) part. And once we started getting comfortable and enjoying the process, we tried out different sitting and standing positions on the paddle board.

Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! The session lasted 2 hours and 15 mins. In between, we took a break for some water and munchies near the Bolgatty palace under a tree. Since it was still early Sunday morning, it was generally silent but one could hear the sounds of different birds cooing on that tree. One of the best things I did while on the paddle board was laying down and staring at the gorgeous morning sky. It was just so relaxing and I wished time froze. Moving my head to one side, I could see the long water body at the level of my eye. It’s just an amazing feeling and something that can’t be described, only experienced.

So, if you are visiting Kochi and have a couple of hours to kill in the morning hours, do check out Stand Up Paddle in Kochi! You can make the bookings with them on their IG page. It will be totally worth it! 😃