Taking the Ferry to Elephanta Caves – Mumbai, India

Located in South Mumbai, the Elephanta Caves are accessible via a one-hour ferry ride across a bay in the Arabian Sea. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a collection of 7th century carvings and sculptures inside of caves, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. In this guide to visiting the Elephanta Caves in Mumbai, I’ll tell you everything you need to know, including how to get there, how to use the ferry, how much this cost, as well as what to expect when you arrive on Elephanta Island (also known as Gharapuri Island). Let’s get started!

Elephanta Caves & Ferry Ride – Quick Overview

• Closed on Mondays
• Boat ride over to Elephanta Island is 45-60 minutes each way.
• Budget at least 3 hours to do this excursion.
• Wear comfortable shoes as there’s a lot of walking on the island
• Entry fee to the caves is Rs600 for a foreigner (this is about $6-7 USD)
• If you include the ferry ride, this entire excursion will cost Rs900 (so about $10 USD).

Elephanta Caves – Ferry Information

You can catch the ferry from the Gateway of India. The Gateway of India is a beautiful site itself – it was a built to commemorate King George V and Queen Mary’s landing in Mumbai (Bombay) in 1911. It’s an iconic landmark of Mumbai, so it’s worth checking out and snapping a few photographs while you’re here.

You will see lots of ferries and the ticket booths (as well as lines!) around the Gateway of India, so you really can’t miss it. If you’re having trouble locating where to buy tickets, just ask – there are plenty of people around who know how this works!

Elephanta ferry tickets are not sold in advance. You must purchase them in person, at the kiosk.

Elephanta Ferry Cost: Roughly Rs300 (which is about $3-4 USD) for a round trip, “luxury” ticket (and by luxury, they mean that you can sit on the upper deck if you would like – the luxury upcharge is only Rs10 more, so why not?!)

Elephanta Ferry Times: The first ferry out to the caves is at 9:30am, and the ferries run every 30 minutes, so you’re never too far away from catching a ride.

Conversely, the first ferry leaving Elephanta Island returning to Mumbi leaves at 12:30pm. The last ferry of the day is at 5:30pm.

The latest you’d want to go out to Elephanta Island to get the most out of your experience would be to leave Mumbai on the 2pm ferry, arrive at the island at 3, and then be back at the terminal at 5pm to make sure you catch that last ferry back!

Ferry Ride experience to Elephanta Caves

A quick look at these ferry boats and you might be second-guessing your decision to go out to the island! They don’t look all that safe! As far as I know, there are no life jackets on the boats for all the passengers, nor did I see any signs on boat capacity. Yikes.

But our ride out to the caves was smooth and relaxing – I never once felt unsafe and I had to put the thought of not having a life jacket aside, and not let it bother me.

One of the interesting things about the boat ride out here is that the seagulls know the people on these boats have food, so they swarm every boat that goes out of the harbor! The ferries have a small snack bar, and lots of customers will buy food from the snack bar just to feed the birds.

Your ferry ride will last about 45 minutes to an hour before docking on the island. Once docked, you will disembark the boat, and walk on the long pier to the island.

There are lots of stands with vendors selling trinkets as you walk the pier.

If you have mobility issues, small children, don’t feel like walking, or just want to experience the novelty of riding in a toy train, there will be a small train you can hop on to avoid some of the walking. We rode the train just for the hell of it. It was kinda fun but if you think that by taking this train will get you there any faster, think again! You could walk right alongside it at the same pace. The train will drop you off at the base of the stairs – you will need to climb 150 steps at this point.

After you reach the top of the steps, you’ll find the ticket kiosk to purchase your entry to Elephanta Caves. Again, this is Rs600 for foreign tourists.

Beware: There are lots of touts here that will want to give you a tour – if you don’t want a tour (we didn’t), just decline, keep walking and be firm – some of them are relentlessness! Also beware of the security guards at the caves. (Yes, the employees!) They may approach you and start telling you information about the caves, unsolicited. The guards are not just being friendly. They want your rupees in exchange for this “narration” – again, if you don’t want it, just decline and walk away.

Visiting the Elephanta Caves

There are seven caves to explore here, all being a little different from each other. There is a nice walking path to the caves on the island – it’s paved and easy to follow. The best, more ornate cave is the first cave you’ll come upon. This is the cave we spent the most time in, so if anything, make it a point to stop in at this cave.

Caves 1-5 are easy to reach, but caves 6 and 7 are located further away on the island and don’t see very many visitors. We only visited caves 1-5.

Every carving and statue in here represents Shiva, a Hindu god.

The other caves on the island are not as well-maintained and not as intricate as Cave 1. We enjoyed walking around the island and popping in and out of the caves to check them out, but there wasn’t a whole lot to see inside of them.

When you’re on the island, you’ll want to watch out for monkeys, as they will steal your food as well as your personal belongings. You’ll also find a lot of stray dogs on the island, foraging for food.

One other thing I should mentioned that you can do on Elephanta Island is take the trail up to Gun Hill, where you can take a trail up to a viewpoint on the island where a cannon still sits today. We didn’t do this – and I have no regrets. Honestly, it just didn’t interest me.

When we were finished viewing the caves, we headed back to the pier to catch the next ferry.

So why is this island called Elephanta Island when there are no elephants here? When the Portuguese soldiers landed on this island, they saw a statue of an elephant, dubbing it “Elephanta Island.” When the Portuguese came to the island, it ceased being an active Hindu worship place. Portuguese soldiers also caused most of the damage to the carvings and statues in the caves. The elephant statue found here is now on display in Mumbai’s Victoria Gardens.

Ferry to the Elephanta Caves in Mumbai – Final Thoughts

Is taking the ferry out to Elephanta Caves in Mumbai worth it? Well, I mean, for roughly $10 USD for a nice boat ride and a visit to a UNSECO World Heritage Site, it’s cheap. But there are lot of things to do in Mumbai, and I wouldn’t say that I would recommend this as a must-see in Mumbai, though it was nice. If you have a few hours to spare to do this (or you just want to get out on the water!), I’d put it on your list.

Pros:

• Enjoyed the ferry ride over – I enjoyed the boat ride more than the caves!
• The toy train was unexpected, but kinda fun, even for a grown-ass adult!
• It was fun browsing the different shops on the island, near the ferry terminal.

Cons:

• The caves themselves aren’t as interesting as I expected.
• Except for the first cave, most of the caves are damaged.