Kankaria Lake Front – The name doesn’t give any vibes of it being a fun destination where people of all ages can enjoy and have a great time. When I first read the name, I thought that this would be just a minor upgrade to the Dussehra festival carnival, which Indians are used to.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong. There is a common saying that “Never judge a book by its cover”. And here I judged a place by its name. I thought Kankaria Lake Front would be just a picnic spot with few uninteresting and not-so-maintained activities. But instead, I got to do water zorbing, speed boating and play mini golf for the first time.
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About Kankaria Lake Front
Kankaria Lake is the largest lake in Ahmedabad. Lake Front was developed in 2008 with the aim of making it one of the top tourist attraction of Ahmedabad. Kankaria Lake Front is home to a variety of fun activities:
- Mini Golf
- Mini train ride
- Boating
- Balloon Safari
- Desert Safari
- Amusement Park
Other attractions include Mirror maze, Segway, Butterfly Park, Tree walk, Water Zorbing, Bungee Jumping, Kids Zone and much more.
My Experience
It was the 3rd day of our Ahmedabad trip. I along with my sister, brother-in-law and 2-year-old niece took a cab and reached there at 10 in the morning. We had planned to stay there for half a day. As we were not too excited about visiting Kankaria Lake Front, we had not pre-selected any activities, instead decided to choose activities as they come.
Butterfly Park
The first attraction we saw was Butterfly Park. We went there and circled the park and saw some pretty butterflies. Little away from there was a zoo, and being someone who loves animals I wanted to go there, but others were not interested. We gave it a miss.
Mini Golf
After that, it was time for some mini-golf. As we had never played golf or mini golf, we were thrilled to try it out. It took 1 or 2 tries to understand the stance and the right speed to hit the ball. Seeing us play, my niece also got excited and started insisting to play. She was not able to lift the club but she wanted to play anyway. So, my sister helped her in picking the club and gliding the ball. It was a lot of fun and gave us tons of entertaining moments.
Tree walk
Adjacent to the mini-golf, there was a Treetop activity. We opted for the single loop which is basically a walk from one tree to other. Seeing us do that, my niece started to cry as she also wanted to do that. That day, I realized that the kids want to emulate their elders, no matter what and that too without anybody’s help. After some consoling, she stopped crying and we went to a small eatery joint for some light snacks.
Segway
Afterwards, we tried our hands on Segway ride. It was difficult at first but we learnt to balance it soon. Near to it, there was hot air balloon safari ride. We thought of trying that but were informed that it was not operational due to unideal weather condition. That was a bummer as I was very eager to do that.
Water Zorbing
Next, we came across Water Zorbing which is an inflatable ball in which you are pushed into, then it was filled with air and zip locked. Then you have to roll the ball on the water. My brother-in-law and I entered the ball and my sister stayed behind to take care of my niece. We were not able to maintain balance at all and kept falling. Despite trying our best to walk on the water, I don’t think we would have moved more than 10 feet. That was embarrassing, people around were laughing at us. I think we should have just tried to roll the ball instead of walking in it, or should have gone with some sort of strategy.
Speed Boating
After taking motorboat experience at the Sabarmati riverfront, we opted for Speedboat this time around. Although ride must have been for 3-4 minutes only but it was truly breath-taking.
The sharp turns the boat took, the water that sprinkled on our clothes; every moment on the boat was thrilling and exhilarating.
Arcade baby car ride
We took my niece to Arcade centre for some baby car rides to make up for all those times when she had to watch us enjoying from the sidelines. She got the hang of it in no time and was not ready to leave the place. We had to persuade her by promising a train ride.
Mini Train
Kankaria has mini train ride which circles around the lake after every 30 minutes. We took train tickets and boarded the train. It was comical to see the Ticket Collector (TC) checking the tickets as if it were a real train journey.
Finally, we had lunch and left the Kankaria Lake Front for our next attraction of the day. We had covered only half of the park and the other half was still left to be explored when we left. Park was very huge and needed at least a full day to explore.
I can see why Kankaria Lake Front is very popular in Ahmedabad. It is not just a normal amusement park with some thrill rides, rather a destination where people of all the age groups from baby to old have activities to enjoy. All the activities are also very reasonably priced. All the above activities plus food cost us only Rs 2100 for 3 people. The heterogeneity of activities that Kankaria Lake Front offers is truly unparalleled and I don’t think it is offered anywhere else in India.
I am glad that we didn’t skip the Kankaria Lake Front as it was the best part of our trip. If I go Ahmedabad again, I will keep the full day for Kankaria Lake Front, and whether you are solo or couple or family traveller, it is definitely not to be missed.
Address – Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Vyayam Shala, Gate no. 3, Kankaria, Maninagar, Ahmedabad – 380022 Gujarat, India
Phone – +91 79 25472444
Official website – http://www.kankarialakefront.in
Opening Hours – 10 AM to 10:30 PM (closed on Monday)
I am usually not one for amusement parks but this one is altogether different. I can envision myself doing many of the activities offered Katankaria Lake Front, like the tree walk, segway, and water zorbing. Speed boating would be exhilarating, too! What a unique set of experiences. You’ve changed this scaredy-cat’s perspective–I’ll try it!.
What a great way to spend a day with family and friends. I would love to give the Segway a go and mini golf is always fun. The lake looks lovely too.
Oh wow! It sounds like a day filled with all kinds of fun stuff to do. I could just see myself taking a walk along the lake and among the trees. However, the best of all, might be the water zorbing!
Wow, what an eventful day. The water zorbing sounds fun.
The Segway tour looks amazing. And I agree – never judge a book by its cover. Turned out to be a great trip!
Oooh isn’t it awesome when a place surpasses all of your expectations!? Kankaria Lake Front looks like a great place to relax for a day. I’d love to try the water zorbing, and step up on that treetop walk!!
These are the perfect activities to keep my kids busy all day. They’d love the butterfly park and the Mini Golf!
I have not heard of this place before but sounds like a fun place to visit. With the Segway and the Butterfly park, it really sounds good.