“Ok… we will plan…. which place do you want to visit this weekend?… decide… decide… fast….”. This was the words of Party Admin of our account. After hell lot of conversation / consultation / consideration / deliberation / examination and blah blah… we mutually decided to visit one of the beautiful islands in south India, the St. Mary’s Island. Well..the above was the introduction part about how we finally… decided the place. The partners in the picnic are my colleagues(13 member team). St. Mary’s Islands, are a set of four small islands in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi, Karnataka, India. Since the place is not far form Mangalore so we relied on the public transport to visit.

Mangalore to Malpe is one of the most beautiful tourist routes in the South Canara (now its in Udupi 🙁 ) district. The travel route begins in Mangalore and ends up at the city of beautiful beach Malpe. The 66 kilometers long travel route from Mangalore to Malpe is best accessible through road. Your camera stays busy thorough out the journey.

Little facts about the place

Malpe is one of the natural ports of Karnataka. The city is for about 6 kilometers to the west of Udupi. Malpe is famous for its beaches and group of Island. The mainland of Malpe includes four islands. They are

• Daria-Bahadurgad
• Daria-Gadara-Kalluthe
• Kari-Illada-Kallu
• Thonse Paar (we call it St. Mary’s Islands)

The island is home to basaltic rock formation in a hexagonal form, the only one of its type in India. It covers about an area of 500mX100m. The island is formed during the Deccan Traps, about 60 million years ago. Due to the impressive numbers of coconut trees, the island is also called as “Coconut Island”. Ideally the island has no habitation, but the colonies of Gulls, Sandpipers and a few crows can be sighted on the Islands

How we got in there..

The only way of getting to the islands is by boat. Regular ferry service covers the approx 7 km distance from the Malpe fishing harbor to the islands. However, the frequency of these boats may vary depending on the number of tourists visiting. The cost of the ferry service is Rs.80 per person(includes return journey). They consider minimum of 30 head counts per journey.

The ferry journey was for about half an hour. As soon as we enter the ferry… everybody started to search their favorite spot to sit, so that they can enjoy the ride. We started the journey comfortably. But the comfort started to vanish soon. As we entered the deep sea, it was getting rough. Since the ferry had a flat bottom, it started tilting sideways. Somehow we managed the situation and started to capture the journey through camera.. Everyone was in search their new profile pics for FB.

Since the ferry cannot go near to the island shore (because of rocks) we were shifted to small boat which took us till the shore. The island is dotted with coconut trees, and some huts to picnic under. But make sure you carry your water and food – you will get nothing here.

The Fun…

Useful Tips

Some of tips for the visitors

• Carry enough water and food along with you
• Cary First Aid box as there is no medical service available
• Carry an umbrella if you are too conscious about sun burns
• Don’t Litter. Take along a trash bag or other receptacle for collecting your trash so that you can deposit it in the proper trash receptacle.
• Last but not the least… Swimming is dangerous. Follow the instruction of the sign boards and ferry owners