Sunbathing at St.Mary's Island

"That beach sand in your hair, that beach wind in your face and that salty beach smell. Those are the secret ingredients to my Beach Therapy" 

- Nishma Khetia.

Manipal is very much like Forks, the rainy gloomy town that you see in the Twilight series. A few kilometers away from Manipal University and you will be surrounded by the forests of the Western Ghats of India. Other than college activities and course work there is not much a student can do other than travel. Which is kinda perfect, right? If you have watched or read the Twilight book you would remember that one beach that Bella went to with Jacob called La Push? This blog post is about Manipal’s very own La Push beach. No, it is not the commercialized Malpe or Kapu beach. It is St.Mary’s island, a place with clear blue waters and an interesting history.

St.Mary’s island has distinct rock formation known as the columnar basaltic lava and is one of the four geological monuments in Karnataka. According to folk history, people believe that Vasco da Gama landed at the island and fixed a mother Mary cross giving it its name. This beach just keeps getting more and more like La Push. It is also believed to be connected to Madagascar before the whole continental drift happened. I loved Geography back in school and all this information topped with my travel bug took me to St.Mary’s island.

I put on my beach maxi dress and left around 10 am in the morning from Manipal. St.Mary’s is easily accessible by boat from Malpe beach which is 12km from Manipal. We took a bus to Malpe. It was a full-house day at the beach because of a public holiday but we decided to go ahead and be a part of the crowd! The waiting for the boat can take to about an hour but you can laze around at Malpe and have some ice-creams which was what we did.

The boat ride was fun and took about 20minutes. The island looked beautiful as our boat approached it. My mind was already racing ahead thinking of all the aesthetic photos I would get to take. The last boat back from the island was at around 4 pm so we had a few hours to chill and sunbathe. The island has not been commercialized and therefore it is hard to find any restaurants or food there so I would suggest carrying a picnic basket with a few snacks and water.

The rock formations on the island were truly beautiful and unlike anything I had seen before. I tried to photograph my experience and my friend helped me. As we got lost into our photo shoot we missed a bunch of crows trying to attack our chips bag! We had to save it and fight them off. We took a long relaxing walk around the island and climbed on few of the higher rocks to enjoy the top view of the beach. The ride back was uneventful. I wish we were allowed to set up a tent/camp on the island. My thoughts continued as the sound of the crashing waves played as background music and before I knew it Dora-the-explorer was back to reality.

If you are in or plan to visit Manipal be sure to save some time to check out this place and you will not be disappointed.

TRIP TIPS FOR YOU:

 (Try saying that 5 times faster!)

-Start your day early so you get enough time on the island.

-Carry some food and remember to stay hydrated as it can get sunny.

- The island is usually closed during monsoon (June-September) due to the rough ocean.

-Don’t forget your beach essentials: Sunscreen, Sunglasses, and Flipflops!

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Feel free to comment below with your favorite beach trips or where you are planning to go this summer break. Like, comment and follow Hakuna Matata :)

Signing off,

-Nishma Khetia.