Field note · India · Assam

Majuli

Majuli is a river island and the way in is the ferry from Nimati Ghat outside Jorhat to Kamalabari, run by the Assam Inland Water Transport directorate on a schedule that is rewritten twice a year as the Brahmaputra rises and falls, with nothing after mid-afternoon. A second, drier approach comes overland from the Lakhimpur side over the Kherkatia bridge, which is how the buses from North Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Guwahati arrive. The Jorhat–Majuli road bridge is still being built. On the island, shared autos and tempos meet each ferry, and most visitors then hire a bicycle or a scooter, because the satras are spread out over flat, quiet roads. In a bad monsoon the ferries stop altogether for days at a time.

Researched: 21 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 8, 26 sources
Not confirmed: 7
Fares seen: 2025–2026

The place

Majuli is the largest river island in Assam, a state in Northeast India. It is bordered by the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west, and an anabranch of the Brahmaputra to the north.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The place page has what to see, do and eat, and every way there from the planner.

How transport works here

8 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed eight ways of moving to, from or around Majuli: three by water, three hired or on demand, one under your own steam and one by road, from 26 sources. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be.

The fares were seen in 2025 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. One fare carries no year, because it could not be confirmed and the field says so. We rate 1 of the 8 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.

3 ways

By water

boat

Nimati Ghat – Kamalabari passenger ferry

Nimati Ghat, about 14 km north of Jorhat, across the Brahmaputra to Kamalabari Ghat on Majuli

Walk onto the ramp at Nimati Ghat and buy a paper ticket at the counter before boarding; there is no reserved seating and people sit on the deck and the roof. Both government vessels and smaller private boats work the crossing, and the government ones are the larger, steadier boats. Get there twenty minutes early – boats leave when the ramp clears rather than exactly on the clock

When: Roughly every 45–60 minutes through the day. The Inland Water Transport schedule effective 1 October 2023 listed departures from Neamati at 07:30, 08:30, 09:30, 10:15, 11:00, 12:00, 12:45, 13:30, 14:15, 15:00 and 15:30, and from Kamalabari at 07:00, 07:30, 08:30, 09:15, 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:30, 14:15 and 15:00. A further revision takes effect each 1 October for the shorter days and lower water, so confirm on the day
Takes: About 1 hour, up to 1h 30m when the channel is long
Fare 2025: ₹15 per head on the government service; some 2025 accounts quote ₹20–40 depending on the boat

SeasonYear-round, but suspended outright during high water in the June–September monsoon. The last boat is mid-afternoon in every season – there is no evening crossing. BookingBuy at the ghat, or online at asiwt.in. IWT helpline 1800 889 4717. Run byDirectorate of Inland Water Transport, Government of Assam, plus licensed private vessels.

boat

Ro-Pax vehicle ferry, Nimati – Kamalabari

Same crossing, but with a roll-on ramp for cars, motorcycles and goods vehicles

Drive to the Nimati Ghat ramp and join the vehicle queue. Deck space for cars is small and fills first, so book the vehicle ticket online at asiwt.in before you arrive rather than turning up and hoping. Motorcycles are much easier to get on than cars

When: Several Ro-Pax sailings a day inside the same schedule as the passenger boats
Takes: 45–60 minutes on the water, plus loading
Fare 2025: Reported figures vary: about ₹800 for a car in one 2024 guide and ₹1,200–1,500 in a 2025 one; motorcycles around ₹100–150. Passengers still pay the per-head fare on top

SeasonYear-round except during flood suspensions; vehicle sailings are the first to be cut when the ramps are under water. Bookingasiwt.in in advance for vehicles. Run byAssam Inland Water Transport Ro-Pax service.

boat

Dhunaguri Ghat crossing from Bihpuria

Dhunaguri Ghat, about 10 km from Bihpuria in Lakhimpur district, across the Subansiri to Majuli. Luit Khabolu Ghat to Khabolu Ghat is the same north-bank idea

A short local crossing used by people coming from the Lakhimpur and Bihpuria side rather than from Jorhat. Much quicker than the Brahmaputra crossing and it runs later in the day

When: Through the day
Takes: About 15 minutes on the water
Fare: Not published by any source found

SeasonListed as 07:00 to 17:00. Subject to the same flood suspensions. BookingAt the ghat, or asiwt.in. Run byAssam Inland Water Transport.

3 ways

Hired, booked and on demand

share auto

Jorhat town to Nimati Ghat shared auto

Jorhat ASTC bus stand area to Nimati Ghat, about 14 km

Shared autos and tempos for Nimati leave from near the ASTC station in Jorhat. They fill up and go; the driver will stop for other passengers on the way out, so allow longer than the map says. Leave Jorhat at least an hour and a half before the ferry you want

When: Frequent through the morning, thinning out after the last ferry
Takes: 20–45 minutes, up to an hour with stops
Fare 2025: About ₹30 per person in a shared government auto; ₹500–800 to take a three-wheeler to yourself and around ₹1,200 for a private taxi one way

SeasonYear-round. BookingNone, pay the driver. Run bylocal auto and tempo drivers.

share auto

Shared autos and tempos from Kamalabari Ghat

Kamalabari Ghat to Kamalabari town, Garamur and the satras along the main road

Shared autos, tempos, e-rickshaws and the odd Sumo line up at the ramp and meet every arriving ferry. Say which satra or which homestay you want. They leave when full, so the first ones off the boat go soonest. Kamalabari and Garamur are only a couple of kilometres apart on the same road; Auniati and the outer satras are 10–25 km out

When: One wave after each ferry; between ferries you wait for the vehicle to fill
Takes: 10 minutes Kamalabari to Garamur; 30–60 minutes to the outer satras
Fare 2025: ₹20–30 per person Kamalabari to Garamur. Around ₹100 a head was quoted for the short run from the ghat to the hotels

SeasonYear-round; road surfaces are poor after the monsoon. BookingNone, pay the driver. Agree the price before you get in. Run bylocal auto and tempo drivers.

private hire

Auto or jeep hired for a satra circuit

A loop from Kamalabari Ghat taking in Kamalabari, Auniati, Dakhinpat, Garamur and the mask-making village at Samaguri, finishing back at Kamalabari or at Aphalamukh Ghat

The drivers waiting at the ghat all offer this. There is a taxi association rate for a full day. Fix the price and the list of satras before you start, because the circuit is open-ended and the ferry back is early

When: On demand, all day, but timed to end before the last ferry
Takes: 2 hours for a short circuit, 8 hours for a full day
Fare 2025: About ₹1,600 for an eight-hour taxi association day tour; shorter auto circuits are negotiated

SeasonYear-round; some satra approach roads are impassable after floods. BookingAt the ghat, or through your homestay the night before. Run byMajuli taxi and auto drivers association, and independent drivers.

One way

On foot, by bike, or otherwise

scooter hire

Bicycle and scooter hire

Anywhere on the island; the usual run is Kamalabari to Garamur and out to the satras through paddy and bamboo

Most homestays and bamboo cottages in Kamalabari and Garamur keep bicycles and a few scooters, and there are hire shops near Kamalabari. Ask at the place you are staying first – it is usually cheaper and they will lend you a helmet and a phone number if you break down. The island is flat and the roads are almost empty of traffic

When: Daily hire
Takes: A satra circuit by bicycle is a full day; the far satras can be an 80 km round trip, which is too far to cycle from the usual hotels
Fare 2026: Bicycles about ₹100–200 a day; scooters and motorcycles about ₹400–700 a day, with one rental listing starting at ₹299

SeasonDry season only in practice. Roads flood and break up between June and September. BookingAsk at your homestay on arrival; no advance booking system. Run byhomestays, bamboo cottages and small hire shops.

One way

By road

minibus

Road buses over the Kherkatia bridge from the Lakhimpur side

North Lakhimpur, Dhakuakhana, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh or Guwahati to Garamur and Kamalabari, entering Majuli over the Kherkatia Suti bridge on the Dhakuakhana–Majuli road

This is the dry approach and it does not involve a ferry at all. Buses board on the island at Kamalabari, Garamur, Sonariati, Phulani and Jengraimukh, and terminate at the ASTC bus stand in North Lakhimpur. Overnight services run from the Inter-State Bus Terminus in Guwahati through Dhakuakhana to Garamur. Useful when the river is high and the ferries are off

When: Several a day to North Lakhimpur; the Guwahati services run day and night
Takes: About 3h 10m Majuli to North Lakhimpur; a long overnight from Guwahati
Fare 2026: From about ₹200 Majuli to North Lakhimpur

SeasonYear-round, and the fallback when ferries are suspended. The road itself can be cut by flooding. BookingAt the counter, or on the usual bus ticketing sites. Run byASTC and private operators including Chandan Travels, Pranjit Travels and Saikia Travels.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
Monsoon suspensions are the single biggest risk and there is no published rule for when they happen. The Inland Water Transport department has suspended all Majuli ferries indefinitely more than once when the Brahmaputra approached the danger level and the ramps at Kamalabari and Aphalamukh went under water. Check the day before you travel on the IWT helpline 1800 889 4717 or asiwt.in. Sources: nenow.in report of June 2023 quoting the water level "towards the danger level", and later reports of Ro-Pax and all-ferry suspensions.
02
Ferry timings change twice a year and the published lists disagree. The 1 October 2023 IWT list is the most complete one found; a further revision effective 1 October in a later year was announced only as an image, which could not be read. Treat every timing here as indicative and confirm at the ghat.
03
Vehicle ferry fares differ by a wide margin between sources – about ₹800 for a car in one guide, ₹1,200–1,500 in another. The authoritative figure is whatever asiwt.in quotes on the booking date.
04
The Jorhat–Majuli road bridge (Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu) is not open. The Assam Chief Minister targeted April 2026 in November 2023, when about 20 percent was built, and a 2025 report says the contract was reassigned with roughly a two-year timeline from late 2025. There is no confirmed opening date, so plan on the ferry.
05
Scheduled bus routes within the island, as opposed to the buses that run off it to North Lakhimpur, could not be confirmed. Shared autos are what people actually use between the satras.
06
Hitching customs on Majuli could not be confirmed from any source and are not described here.
07
Safety: a 2021 collision near Nimati Ghat killed and injured passengers and led to life jacket rules being enforced on the crossing. Life jackets are now supposed to be worn, but accounts differ on how consistently this is done on private boats.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Majuli is this.

N: Scheduled flightsnearest airport IMF is 231 km away
Y: Trains and coachesTransitous carries 2 timetable feeds for this country, 1 with real-time
Y: FerriesKamalabari ghat, 10 km; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Jorhat, 11 km.