Devprayag to Rishikesh by Kayak: What the Expedition Is Really Like

Our course pages list what's included on the expedition. This guide is about what the three days actually feel like, and whether you're ready for them.

The trip in numbers

• Distance: 68–78 km, all paddled by you
• Days: 3 days and 2 nights, camping by the river
• Water: Grade II–III
• Group: 4–6 kayakers, with a guide, a safety kayaker and a support raft
• Price: from ₹25,000 per person

Day 1: the hardest kilometres come first

You leave Tapovan at 5–6 AM for the four-hour drive to Devprayag, and stop at the confluence before getting ready. Then comes the surprise: the first 5 km is the hardest water of the whole trip. The two rivers are still mixing, the current is unpredictable, and there are boulders everywhere. Your guide picks the lines and the raft stays close behind. After that, the river opens into long pools and easy rapids until camp at Vyas Ghat, about 18–20 km from the start.

Day 2: the canyon day

This is 20–25 km of Grade II–III rapids with calm canyon stretches in between. Because the raft carries everything, your kayak is light and easy to turn, which makes it a good day for playing on waves. In the afternoon you walk to a hidden waterfall and then Gartang Gali, an old traders' stairway built into the cliff. Most people say it's their favourite part of the trip. You camp at Kodiyala/Bhaysi.

Day 3: the long day home

At 30–35 km, this is the longest day. It ends with the famous rapids Roller Coaster, Golf Course and Club House. If you've rafted them before, they feel completely different from a kayak. Lunch is on NIM Beach, then a drive back to Tapovan.

Camp life

You sleep in shared tents on the river beaches. Dinner is cooked hot, there's a bonfire and barbecue both nights, and with no city lights the sky is full of stars. Lunch is packed and eaten on a sand bar.

Are you ready?

• Minimum: at least 2 days of kayak instruction, or the same experience from elsewhere.
• Strongly recommended: a roll. The first morning below Devprayag is where you'll miss it most.
• Fitness: three long paddling days in a row. Paddle a few times in the weeks before if you can.
• Insurance: required for Class III water.

The 7-day course is the ideal way to prepare. It finishes on the same lower corridor you'll paddle on day three.

Kayak vs raft expedition

The raft version covers about 100 km. In a kayak we do 68–78 km because paddling yourself through Grade II–III water is much harder work. The camps and the river are the same, but you're far closer to the water. See the full kayak expedition details.