The Chambal boat safari

Rajasthan's most surprising safari isn't in a jeep. It's on emerald water, between sandstone cliffs, with crocodiles on the banks โ€” twenty minutes of driving and a world away from Kota.

The emerald Chambal river inside the Jawahar Sagar gorge near Kota

A river safari through a hidden gorge

Below the famous Garadia Mahadev viewpoint, the Chambal narrows into the Jawahar Sagar gorge โ€” sheer sandstone walls, still green water, and one of the cleanest big rivers in India. Our boat safari cruises this stretch: marsh crocodiles basking on the rocks, gharial in the shallows, turtles, and cliff-nesting birds overhead.

It's calm, safe and spectacular โ€” as good for families and photographers as for serious wildlife people, and it runs on a stretch of river most Rajasthan visitors never learn exists.

Gharial basking on a Chambal sandbank

Crocodiles & gharial

The Chambal is India's stronghold for the critically endangered gharial โ€” seeing one wild is a genuine privilege.

The Chambal meandering through its gorge below Garadia Mahadev

Garadia Mahadev from below

You've seen the postcard from the clifftop โ€” the boat shows you the same bend from the water, looking up.

Indian peafowl โ€” birdlife along the Chambal cliffs

Cliff birdlife

Raptors, owls, kingfishers and winter migrants along the gorge walls and sandbanks.

Booking: the boat safari has its own dedicated site run by our team โ€” chambalsafarikota.com โ€” or simply WhatsApp +91 97722 81836 and we'll arrange it, on its own or combined with a Mukundra forest drive.

The forest + river combination

This is the plan we recommend to almost everyone: Mukundra jungle safari one half of the day, Chambal boat safari the other โ€” tiger country and crocodile water inside a single Kota weekend, with Garadia Mahadev at sunset in between. See the full Kota weekend plan.

Book the boat safari  Visit chambalsafarikota.com โ†’