Valiyaparamba – Tranquility at its best
This post is about a place located in North Kerala – Valiyaparamba Backwaters and Island. Unspoilt. Uncommercialized. Unforgettable. 20 km long strip of Virgin Beach. 15 km Boat Ride in the Backwaters.
Move over Alleppey and Kumarakom folks!
To reach this place in Kasargod District, there are two road bridges :
1. Orikkadavu Bridge – https://goo.gl/maps/w7QpVVd5ecU2
2. Edayilekkadu Island route – https://goo.gl/maps/EkZfJSk7G1R2
Kavvayi/Valiyaparamba backwaters separates the mainland from the 20km long peninsular strip. You can also reach the peninsular strip of land through Public SWTD Boat Service (do not miss this). There are multiple stops between Kotty Boat Jetty (near Payyanur) and Padne.
I have visited this blissful place twice – first time, on a North KL backpacking tour, so explored the Boat Service option along with lots of walking. During the second visit, I was in XUV500 along with travel friends, so we explored most parts of this 20km strip of land – south to the Northern most beach – near Thejaswini River Estuary. Hence, this is going to be a long post with lots of pictures – in two parts, because the pace and theme of both the trips were different.
PART 1 :
My first visit – after lots of walking, hopping buses from Mangalore and exploring parts of Kasargod district, we finally reached Puthumana Residency in Payyanur late evening, to go to Valiyaparamba next morning.
There are few homestays/resorts in Valiyaparamba
1. Kavvayi Beach House
2. Avisa Beach House
3. Oyster Opera
If you aren’t on a very high budget, you will prefer staying in Payyanur because that is the nearest big town. And good places to stay are Puthumana Residency, KK Residency – both near the Town Bus Stand area. There was ambiguity in the Boat timings from Kotty Boat Jetty (near Payyanur Railway Station). The hotel guys suggested that the second boat is around 11am(there was no way we were waking up early to catch the 6am boat after a very tiring previous day) – even they weren’t sure though! We landed there by 1030am only to know that the boat already left at 10am – that too after searching for someone for about 20 minutes to ask if the boat left. Needless to say, the boat jetty is a silent and beautiful place.
(Route: To reach Kotty Boat Jetty, walk from the Railway Station towards Ezhimala side, as the road takes a LHS turn, there is a small road leading to the Right side (near a Bakery&Masjid). Take that road, take the first LEFT and the first RIGHT after which you’ll cross many houses to reach the Boat Jetty – If you miss the LEFT turn, you will reach PWD Guest house, if you miss the RIGHT after that – you will reach back onto the main road)
Views to behold
Although this is from my second visit, it is from the same place – Kotty Boat Jetty
Since we missed the boat at Kotty Boat Jetty, the next big boat place was Ayitti. We took an Auto from Payyanur Railway Station to Ayitti Boat Jetty. 10 km journey cost Rs. 150. 
On arrival at Ayitti Boat Jetty, we saw the “Welcome to Valiyaparamba” board – that confirmed that we had come to the right place.
Again, there was no one at Ayitti Boat Jetty, except for the Station Master inside a building.(which I “discovered” after half an hour).
Ayitti and Valiyaparamba are opposite banks. The 1000-1015am boat which we missed at Kotty, reached Valiyaparamba at around 1140pm (which we could see, sitting at Ayitti). The boat came in 5 minutes to Ayitti, took a break for refuel, left at 1230pm, dropped us at Valiyaparamba and turned towards Padanna. The same boat was to return from Padanna at 230pm to Valiyaparamba.
The 10am boat from Kotty arriving at Ayitti after dropping passengers at Valiyaparamba
This is the Public Boat – a lifeline for many people living in this area. 
Refueling in progress
View from the captain’s cabin
The interiors of the boat
The 5 minute journey across the bank cost Rs. 4 per person
The boat dropped us and proceed to the last stop. We had exactly 2 hrs to explore the island(or peninsular strip) by foot, go to the beach side and return back.
(Route to the Beach – From Valiyaparamba Boat Jetty, it is a 10 minutes walk to the Beach. Here you can choose whichever path you want to head to the Sea Side. We took a Right from the Boat Jetty, walked on the tar road, took a Left into a Path where the Road ends. Kept walking Straight through Backyards of Houses and Paddy Fields, to reach the Main Road near a Post Office and Mobile Tower.
We took a Right, walked on the Main Road till it went closest to the Sea ( https://goo.gl/maps/BqhNXwK5zin ).
From here, we again walked through the houses and fields to reach the Beach)
Some houses here were so huge and surrounded by trees on all sides – so peaceful.
We walked few minutes on the road kissing the backwaters. Typical Kerala scene, isn’t it? 
And then, it turned and ended into backyard someone’s house. It was an nice exploration path ahead, through the fields of so many houses, until we hit the main road and then the beach. 
Walking through coconut and paddy plantations – something that I last did in Ambalapuzha during childhood Summer holidays. 
Right from Kasargod area, Bekal Fort, Chandragiri Fort, Kannur area – all use this kind of brick.
What is beautiful to us, is livelihood for others!
Coconut trees – in all kind of shapes!
After 15 mins of walking, we reach this serene beach. Imagine 20 kms of this – with absolutely no one.
White sand, Black sand – you’ll find it all here.
Pristine blue waters – soothing sight to see.
1 hour spent here just flew away – a place I would want to go back to.
We started our walk back to make it in time for the 230pm Boat. We came across a few villagers enroute.
The return walk was quick – we had plenty of time to kill, while we waited for the boat. 
This view from the window was fabulous. 
Destination conquered. 
The boat arrived sharp at 230pm at Valiyaparamba from Padanna, went to drop people at Ayitti. It took 1.5hrs from here to Kotty. About 7-10 stops enroute depending on people waiting at the Boat Jetty/waiting to get off.
1.5hrs and you wouldn’t get bored for sure! Lots of bird photography opportunities. Wish I had a Camera.
Edayilekadu Road Bridge – one of the two lifelines connecting Valiyaparamba
The 320-m long and one and half meter wide Madakkal bridge, that linked Valiyaparamba island with the main land, one of the longest suspended cable bridge built in April 2013 and collapsed in June 2013.
As we neared Payyanur, we could see Ezhimala in the background.
Like I said, lots of bird photography opportunities – here’s a poor attempt from phone camera. 
We reached Kotty Boat Jetty by 0415pm. And that was the end of a 15 km boat journey. This is how it looked in GPS.
Enquired to the Boat guys about the conflicting timings. This is what he told me:
They start early in the morning from Ayitti side and reach Kotty at 600-615am.
Kotty : 0600/15am reaches Valiyaparamba/Ayitti < 0745am
Valiyaparamba/Ayitti : 0800/15am reaches Kotty < 0945am
Kotty : 1000/15am reaches Valiyaparamba/Ayitti < 1145am
Valiyaparamba/Ayitti : 0230pm reaches Kotty < 0400/15pm
Kotty : 0400/15pm reaches Valiyaparamba/Ayitti < 0600pm
I remember seeing in the SWTD website and reading in a Blog that there is a Boat from Ayitti to Kotty at 0700pm.
But, the Boat incharge said that the Boat which I was on (reached 4pm at Kotty) would return back only the next day morning to Kotty for the first ride.
You could always call up the Ayitti office to find out the timings : 0467 2213566
PART 2 :
Well, I did come back to the same place within 4 months, this time to explore every nook and corner of the land. Just like the previous time, we stayed in Puthumana Residency in Payyanur. We drove to Kotty Boat Jetty – for its tranquility and then had Aapam Stew for breakfast near the Railway Station. It was a quick drive to Edayilekkadu Island. The view from the bridges across the backwaters was calming. 
View from the Bridge
Narrow roads of Valiyaparamba, as we first headed to the Southern most driveable point.
Tarmac disappeared after we crossed Avisa Beach House.
We drove down South as much as possible, but it turned into an OTR track after 3kms.
At that place, we parked the vehicle and headed towards the beach which was hardly 5 minutes walk. (The best thing about Valiyaparamba is you aren’t far away from both the beach and the backwaters)
Again, it was a stroll through some backyard.
To see such views!
…and yet another part of the 20km long unexplored beach. 
Although I liked the one from the previous trip better – but the best was yet to come
Yet another Coconut tree in a different shape. 
We crossed the boat that comes from Kotty, heading towards Valiyaparamba
(this was the one which we missed during the previous trip)
One of the views on the Southern Driveable end to North end – 16 km road journey
… to Valiyaparamba Azhimugham – estuary formed by Thejaswini River – a place where we can walk 500m into the Sea!
Valiyaparamba Azhimugham – the northernmost point, is a must visit place when you head to Valiyaparamba. To watch the waves hit the shore from the other side is quite nice.
How the Drive route looked like
The whole island is tranquil, please don’t go spoil the tranquility. 🙂