Muttukadu Boat House Ticket Price, Boat Rates and Timings

Muttukadu Boat House ticket price: boats at the TTDC boat house on Chennai’s East Coast Road are priced per boat, not per person. TTDC’s official booking site lists a 3-seater row boat at ₹350 (30 min), an 8-seater motor boat at ₹1,050 (20 min), a 3-seater speed boat at ₹1,200 (10 min) and a 2-seater water scooter at ₹600 (3 min), all including tax. The entrance fee is ₹10 per adult and boating hours are listed as 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., with no weekly closed day shown.

Last checked: 21 October 2026, on ttdcbooking.com, the booking website of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC). This page is not based on a personal visit. TTDC can change rates and boat types without notice, so check the booking page on the day you go.

Muttukadu Boat House at a glance

Muttukadu boat prices (TTDC, October 2026)

These are the boats TTDC listed for Muttukadu on 21 October 2026. Each price is for the whole boat and is the total including tax. None of them is self-drive: TTDC’s price breakdown includes a rower or driver charge of ₹65 for the row boat and ₹60 for the other boats.

Default and express tickets: TTDC also lists a higher “express” price for two boats: ₹400 for the row boat and ₹1,350 for the motor boat. On the dates we checked, the booking site showed express tickets as not available online, so plan on the default price.

Old prices online: many travel sites still show older figures, such as ₹1,000 for the water scooter, ₹1,300 for a 10-seater motor boat or ₹150 for a kids’ pedal boat. Those boats and prices were not on TTDC’s current Muttukadu list when we checked. Trust the booking site over older blogs.

Entrance fee, parking and other charges

Apart from the boat ticket, TTDC lists these charges for Muttukadu (all including tax):

TTDC lists only an adult entrance fee. It shows no separate child rate and no child discount on boats, so we cannot say whether children pay at the gate. Ask at the counter if this matters for your group.

Timings and the best time to go

• Hours: TTDC lists boating at Muttukadu from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Its online slot calendar for 24 to 27 October 2026 showed rides starting at 9:00 a.m., in 20-minute slots for motor boats and 30-minute slots for row boats, and the last slots listed ended at 7:00 p.m. Treat the official 6 p.m. as the safe limit.
• Days: no weekly holiday is listed. The booking calendar opens seven days ahead and included every weekday when we checked.
• Weekends: Chennaionline reported about 2,000 visitors on weekends and more than 40 boats in service (22 November 2025). Go on a weekday or right at 9 a.m. if you want a short wait.
• Season: Tamil Nadu Tourism gives the best time as “all year round”. Rides can stop when the water is too low: in January 2024, after Cyclone Michaung, sandbars at the estuary stopped motor boats and water scooters and only pedal boats ran for a few days (Maalaimalar, 28 January 2024).

How to book Muttukadu boating

1. Open ttdcbooking.com/boats/18 (Muttukadu Boat House).
2. Pick a date (up to a week ahead), the boat and a time slot.
3. Verify with OTP and pay. TTDC says you get a QR ticket and an offline copy to scan at the gate.

TTDC’s booking site carries a public notice that fake websites are using TTDC’s name. TTDC says boat house reservations should be made only through www.ttdcbooking.com. The older addresses ttdconline.com and its boat-house pages now redirect there.

Latest news from Muttukadu (last 12 months)

• New boats: 10 new boats worth ₹70 lakh were introduced at the boat house to cut waiting times (mychengai.com, 14 July 2026).
• Minister’s inspection: Tourism Minister Rajesh Kumar inspected the boat house on 12 June 2026 and asked about the number of boats, weekend crowds and safety arrangements (Dinakaran, 13 June 2026).
• Estuary desilting: the Water Resources Department began removing sandbars at the Muttukadu estuary on 4 September 2026, a ₹1.6 crore job planned to run until December, ahead of the northeast monsoon (Dinamalar, 5 September 2026). We found no report that boating was stopped for this work.
• Water quality: visitors have complained about poor upkeep, a drainage smell and expensive rides (Chennaionline, 22 November 2025). Residents told The Hindu that sewage dumped upstream makes the backwater smell, especially in summer (26 January 2025).
• Floating restaurant: a floating restaurant boat for about 100 people, run by a private firm, Seanz Cruise, operates in the canal under a TTDC contract (Dinamalar, 11 January 2026).

We found no report of a boating accident at Muttukadu Boat House in the last 12 months. The nearby beaches are a different matter: Tambaram City Police said 17 people drowned along this coast, including at Muttukadu and Kovalam, between January 2025 and February 2026, and told visitors not to enter the sea when it is rough (The Hindu, 28 February 2026).

Boat house or beach: what is the difference?

The boat house sits on the backwater where the Buckingham Canal meets the sea (Dinamalar), so the rides are on the backwater, not on the open sea. Wikipedia gives its depth as 3 to 6 feet. The ECR beaches are open sea with strong waves, and swimming there is risky. Do your boating at the boat house and keep out of the sea on rough days.

How to reach Muttukadu Boat House

The boat house is on East Coast Road (ECR) at Muthukadu, on the road from Chennai towards Mamallapuram. Tamil Nadu Tourism gives these distances:

Planning a full day out in Chennai? See our guides to VGP Universal Kingdom, Queensland Chennai and Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo). For lake boating in another city, see Hussain Sagar boating in Hyderabad.

Tips before you go

• On weekends, book online in advance: each time slot has a fixed number of boats.
• Carry some cash for the entrance and parking counters.
• Make sure everyone, including children, wears a life jacket. A June 2024 Hindu Tamil Thisai report said child-size jackets were missing, so ask before you board.
• The official price already includes the rower or driver charge. A 2024 report in Hindu Tamil Thisai said some boat staff asked visitors for extra money (13 June 2024); you do not have to pay more than the ticket.

FAQ

What is the Muttukadu Boat House ticket price per person?

TTDC sells whole boats, not single seats. If you fill every seat, a row boat (₹350, 3 seats) works out at about ₹117 each and a motor boat (₹1,050, 8 seats) at about ₹131 each. Add the ₹10 adult entrance fee. Prices checked 21 October 2026.

What are the Muttukadu Boat House timings?

TTDC lists boating from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. No weekly closed day is listed.

Is the price higher on weekends?

No. TTDC showed the same prices for Wednesday 21, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October 2026. Only the “express” ticket, when offered, costs more for the row boat and motor boat.

How much is the water scooter at Muttukadu?

₹600 for a 2-seater water scooter ride of 3 minutes, with a driver, including tax (TTDC, 21 October 2026). The ₹1,000 figure on many websites is out of date.

Can I book Muttukadu boating online?

Yes, on TTDC’s booking site, ttdcbooking.com, up to about a week ahead. TTDC warns that fake websites use its name.

Is there a separate price for children?

TTDC lists only an adult entrance fee and per-boat prices. No child rate is shown, so ask at the counter.