The Kerala House boats are either poled by local oarsmen or powered by engines. All of them have a crew comprising oarsmen, a cook and a guide.  Gliding along the calm and serene backwaters flanked by green palm groves, watching rural Kerela is a unique experience to any visitor

The houseboats of Kerala have become one of the most exciting tourism products in India.   Today there are A/c and Non A/c house boats with with Deluxe and Luxury facilities.  The houseboat holidays of Kerala are increasingly becoming popular with domestic as well as international tourists.  Consequently, the number of houseboats plying the backwaters of Kerala have increased dramatically. 

So inorder to evaluate the safety and service standards of houseboats and classify them accordingly, the Government of Kerala has conceptualized a scheme to grade the existing house boats which maintain the quality standards into Goldand Silver Star categories and also to give Green Palm certificate as a symbol of eco-friendliness to those house boats which adopt environment friendly practices in its operation