Kayaking in Varkala’s emerald backwaters is a bucket-list experience, but visitors often ask: “How safe is it really when the rain starts pouring?” Short answer: perfectly safe—if you mind the weather windows, use top-quality gear, and paddle with a certified operator.
Below, we focus on the Southwest Monsoon—the longest rainy season in Kerala. The shorter Northeast Monsoon needs a separate post of its own, which we’ll publish soon.
From early June to late September, Kerala enjoys warm, stable temperatures that hover between 27 °C and 30 °C during the day. The Arabian Sea becomes rough, with surface temperatures ranging roughly from 26.7 °C to 28.3 °C. Rain is frequent—think 24 to 28 wet days in June, July, and August, easing to about 18 days in September—but most showers arrive as steady, predictable rains rather than violent squalls. These rains, combined with the mild air and water temperatures, make paddling surprisingly comfortable. Backwater channels deepen just enough to smooth out sandbars, leaving beginners with flat, sheltered routes in Paravur Lake.
Safe monsoon paddling hinges on four variables: wind, visibility, current and lightning.
- Wind: When readings stay under 20 km/hour, the backwaters remain calm and beginner-friendly. Syzygy’s guides track a dock-side wind sensor and postpone trips the minute speeds climb toward 20+ km/hour, which is when white-caps begin to form.
- Visibility: One-kilometre sight lines are ideal, but light mist is manageable thanks to shoreline-hugging routes and decades of local knowledge.
- Lightning: Because thunderstorms are rare in the Southwest Monsoon, trips seldom face electrical danger. If thunder does rumble within 10 seconds of a flash, guides halt the tour and land at the nearest dock—no exceptions.
- Current: Paravur Lake and the Ithikkara River normally flow below 2 knots. After intense rainfall in the Western Ghats upstream, the current can spike above that mark. Syzygy turns this to your advantage by hugging natural ridges and well-charted inner bends, letting the flow push you along while avoiding energy-sapping head currents. Guides also schedule departures to line up with the gentlest ebb of the local tide, trimming any tidal impact to a minimum.