Matsyafed Njarackal Fish Farm — Attraction in Kerala

Njarakkal Aqua Tourism project by Matsyafed is a huge 125 hectare brackish water fish farm. It is located at 15 kilometres from Kochi in a village called Njarakkal. It has four culture ponds along with three nurseries. The fish farm almost lies inside the lake of Vembanad.

Njarakkal Aqua farm offers numerous facilities for spending a complete day there. You can  relax on hammocks, swings or benches on the bunds under the shady coconut trees, or do some fishing or even boating. This tourist centre is a big aqua farm where you can enjoy beauty as well as learn something new about farming and fishes.

Fishing is the most important sporting activity in Njarakkal Aqua fish farm. You can get fishing reels, fish food and lots of useful advice, before you can indulge in fishing at this farm.

The ticket fare is Rs.200/-per head and Rs.100/-per children up to 12 years, which include entry fee, welcome drink,  pedal boating, row boating, lunch with fish curry ,fish fry , prawn pickle and ice cream.

Special fish dishes like karimeen pollichatu,fish molly, crab roast, prawn masala etc are available in the restaurant at reasonable rate.

Tourists can take rest in hammocks under shade of coconut leaves and can use huts and benches constructed on bunds of fish ponds. Tourists can enjoy sunset at Aarattuvazhi beach which is just a walkable distance of 200 meters away.

This farm is located 9 km from High court junction, Ernakulum.

The way to tourism centre starts from High court junction, Ernakulum. Drive through Vallarpadom- Vypin- Paravur road, cross 3 Gosree bridges, right turn at LNG circle, after 5 kms, reach hospital junction at  Narakkal, turn left to Arattuvazhi beach road.

Visiting Time : 9am to 6 pm

Lunch time    :...

Matsyafed runs two aqua farms at Njarackal and Malappuram which are basically only 3/4 km apart. The place is maintained by local folks and a canteen is run by the kudumbasree units.

Visitors are asked to pay a fee of 200 on normal days for elders and 100 for children below 12 years. The amount is 350 & 250 respectively on saturdays, sundays and other public holidays. The amount includes a welcome drink, lunch and boating charges. Food includes rice samba and Kaalan, fish curry gravy without coconut , fish curry with coconut and one piece of fish, one (small) piece of fried fish, fish pickle and a pappad. Quantity of curry is limited but rice would be served at demand. The lunch is self service. Specials like karimeen or prawns fry is available with an extra payment but of limited quantity per day.

It's a humble venture and Please do not expect highly hygienic premises. It's a fish farm and naturally smells.

U are allowed half an hour (self) boating, and two paddles are provided. There is kuttavanchi and motor boat.

Two three bamboo huts are built in the middle of water. Of course with an extra payment, the speed boat will take you there and lunch will b provided on demand. Fishing rods and baits will also be available from counter with extra payment. Remember that even if you catch a fish, you need to pay according to its weight and there is a facility of getting it fried. The hammocks and swings around the pond is also a good experience.

Pros and cons It's a best place for an outing and suits a person of any age.

Almost similar experiences awaits you in Malappuram aqua farm. But are not connected to each other, despite being run by the same authority, you need to pay the same...

An absolute gem of a place It's a bit tricky to find, I guarantee the taxi driver won't know where it is, but it's worth search.

The staff are friendly and managed to politely deal with us despite them not knowing much English.

The fishing great, going back to basics with a still and some line, but don't expect to catch much. The hooks are far too big for the only for you're likely to catch, but that makes it more of a challenge. We managed one between the two of us.

The meal served was excellent and the staff really friendly. We found there was actually too much food for us, but others may disagree.

The pedalos are ancient, but clean and fun to ride. If you're going to do this, I'd suggest you do it early morning as it's pretty hard work. A bit of grease might have helped to be honest.

The highlight of the trip was certainly the jumping fish. Make the effort to walk the 1/4 mile or so to this but if the park. The guys running the "speed boats" (they're not really sorry) are really friendly and we had a great laugh with them despite there obvious language problems.

The fish jumping is extraordinary and we were amazed at how many fish we saw. They were flying past or faces from all angles and it was a great experience. Sadly, none landed in the boat, but I could imagine it must happen a lot.

Overall, a great place which deserves a bit of marketing and signposting to get people there. Well worth the trip and incredible...