The Ultimate Guide to Fort Kochi Water Metro Station

Bandit here. I have ridden every route on this network worth riding. One thing before you go: check which jetty you are standing on, because two of them are a twenty-minute walk apart and only one of them is going where you think.

The Kochi Water Metro is a network of battery-powered boats linking the mainland to the islands around it, the first of its kind in India. If you are staying in Fort Kochi or Mattancherry it is the calmest and usually the fastest way across the harbour, it costs less than a coffee, and it is air-conditioned, which the road is not.

The one thing that catches travellers out

There is no direct boat from Fort Kochi or Mattancherry to Vypin. Both run to High Court on the mainland, and you change there. People lose an afternoon to this. If Vypin is where you are headed, budget for two boats.

Which routes run

• Fort Kochi to High Court
• Mattancherry to High Court
• High Court to Vypin
• High Court to South Chittoor, via Bolgatty and Mulavukad North
• South Chittoor to Cheranelloor, via Eloor
• Vyttila to Kakkanad
• Mattancherry to Willingdon Island — closed, after a fishing boat accident. Checked 15 September 2026.

Fort Kochi Water Metro Station

Where: On the seafront beside the Chinese fishing nets, a two-minute walk from Vasco da Gama Square. Full details on the station's own page.

Goes to: High Court, on the mainland. About twenty minutes.

Fare: ₹40 one way.

First and last boat: 8.25am and 8.55pm on weekdays — the longest day on the network, and nearly two hours later than most people expect.

Don't miss: The last boat out of Fort Kochi is the busiest of the day. If you want a seat, take the one before it.

Mattancherry Water Metro Station

Where: On Jew Town Road, walkable from the Paradesi Synagogue and Mattancherry Palace. Full details on the station's own page.

Goes to: High Court, on the mainland. About twenty-five minutes.

Fare: ₹40 one way.

First and last boat: 7.20am on weekdays, 8.10am on Saturday and Sunday. Last boat 7.30pm every day.

Departures to High Court: 7.20 (weekdays only), 8.10, 8.45, 9.15, 9.45, 10.15, 10.45, 11.15, 11.45, 12.15, 12.45, 1.15, 1.45, 2.15, 2.35, 3.05, 3.35, 4.05, 4.35, 5.05, 5.35, 6.05, 6.35, 7.30. That is roughly every half hour through the day, with one longer gap after 6.35pm before the last boat.

What it costs

• Fort Kochi to High Court — ₹40
• Mattancherry to High Court — ₹40
• High Court to Vypin — ₹30
• Mattancherry to Willingdon Island — ₹20, while it was running

Tickets and passes

The Kochi1 card and the Kochi1 app both work on the boats and on the metro train, so one card covers your whole day. You can also pay cash or card at the counter.

If you are here a while, the passes are worth it, and they are sold on a reusable paper ticket — no bank paperwork, no top-up fee. That matters if you cannot get a Kochi1 card.

• Weekly — 12 trips, 7 days, ₹240
• Monthly — 50 trips, 30 days, ₹750
• Quarterly — 150 trips, 90 days, ₹1,800

Those are the rates set on 1 June 2025, up from ₹180, ₹600 and ₹1,500.

Getting to the jetty, and on from it

Electric air-conditioned feeder buses connect the jetties to the land metro, every fifteen to twenty minutes. On the High Court side they stop at MG Road Metro, Maharaja's Metro, General Hospital, Boat Jetty, Menaka and High Court junction. From Kakkanad and Vyttila they run on to Infopark and Kalamassery Metro. Wait outside the terminal and they will come to you.

When to go

The Fort Kochi route is the busy one, worst at weekends and on holidays. December and January, and again April and May, fill every route. Before 9am is quiet; between noon and 3pm is quieter still. The boats are air-conditioned and the crossings are short, twenty-five to thirty-five minutes on most routes, so even a full one is no hardship.

Go late in the day if you can. The sunset over the backwaters from the boat is the best thing about the whole network, and the night crossings, with the shipyard lit up across the water, are not far behind.

Before you rely on any of this

Every time above is a departure in the direction named. The last boat back is not always the mirror of the last boat out, so if you are crossing for the evening, ask at the counter what time the last one returns before you go.

Fares, timings and the Willingdon closure were checked on 15 September 2026. The Water Metro changes them, and the counter is the final word.

Send me a picture when you finally take one. I will be on the shaded side of the deck. — Bandit