St. Mary’s Islands – Amazing Island In Karnataka

Crystal clear waters of the sea gently caressing your feet as you sit on the soft white sands of the beach underneath the shade of a swaying palm tree, and all you can hear is the gentle lap-lap of the waves and your own heart beating. We are on an island and we have it all to ourselves! Were we dreaming? we wondered and then realized that we were in the enchanting environs of  St Marys Islands which is an uninhabited island off the coast of Karnataka in the Arabian sea, the island and its pristine beach retained their pure and enchanting form, the beach was indeed one of the best beaches that we had visited in Karnataka.

St. Mary’s Islands – An Island of Dreams

We had a dream which was fueled by some local vernacular films that we had watched which showed the hero and the heroine cavorting on a beautiful island with blue waters and strange rock formations. Chasing our dream we had reached the mesmerizing shores of St Marys Island.

Our inquiries had revealed that the place was not far from Bangalore, India, just about an overnight journey by bus. The island had an interesting name, St. Mary’s Island! and was situated in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Malpe, and very near to the temple town of Udupi, Karnataka, India.

We were determined to visit this place at the earliest and in spite of it being a rainy season we boarded a night bus from Bangalore to Udupi and reached there in the early morning and took an auto-rickshaw to Malpe which is about 6 kilometres away.

The gloomy weather did not bode well for us but our spirits were not dampened, excitedly we checked in to our hotel and after a hurried breakfast was again seated in an auto-rickshaw making our way to a shipbuilding yard or port from where we understood we would get a boat that would take us to St Mary’s Island.

The rain was pouring down now and the wind was howling in our ears and the auto-rickshaw looked frail and vulnerable against the fury of the rain and wind. Somehow we reached the gate to the port where we disembarked and ran for shelter. We were in for a big disappointment! We were told, that because of the inclement weather the boats would not be moving. Our hearts sank! There was no sign of the weather getting any better, in fact, it was getting worse! We retraced our steps and were back in the hotel. We spent the day confined in our hotel and returned to Bangalore with our dream unrealized but determined that we would be back again!

A month later, we were back and this time a clear blue sky buoyed our spirits. We checked into the same hotel and again made our way to the port. We reached the place and found a small ticket counter and were told that the fare was 120 Rs. per person and the boat would take us to the island where we could spend a couple of hours and then the boat would bring us back. But there was a catch! The boat would move only if it had a minimum of 20 passengers to ferry!

We were asked to wait for other passengers to turn up as we were the only two at the moment! But we were out of patience by then and could not wait for others to turn up, in fact, there were chances that not many may turn up. So we had a quick discussion with the man behind the counter and agreed to pay the fare for 20 people and the boat would take us to the island.

Soon we set sail, just the two of us on the boat, sailing in majestic splendour towards our destination, St. Mary’s Island. It was a 30-minute boat ride as we glided through the clear blue waters of the Arabian sea. In the distance, we spotted the tall palm trees of the island swaying gently in the breeze as if they were waving a welcome to us.

The boat anchored very near the shore and we gently stepped into the cool and clear water and walked across the clean sand to the island. We spent some time lying on the sand and letting the waves gently massage our feet and then we were on our way to explore the island.
The island has no inhabitants and is bereft of any hawkers, food joints, or any other commercial venture making it all the more alluring. It has a verdant green cover and we could see and hear different birds basking luxuriously in this green utopia.

Unique Rock Formations at St Marys Islands

We examined the unique rock formations on the beach near the island. These are as we later understood, columnar basaltic lava formed by volcanic activity that may have taken place more than 80 million years ago.

We then spent some time just strolling around the island allowing our senses to absorb the natural sights, sounds, and fragrances all around us.

Soon it was time to go and we boarded our boat and looked wistfully at the island as it slowly receded away from us.

Oh! how lovely if we could live on this island both of us echoed our thoughts simultaneously.

St. Mary’s Island Interesting Facts

• The island has been classified as a National Geological monument because of the columnar basaltic lava found here which is very rare
• The basaltic rock is believed to have been formed more than 80 million years ago at the time of the Madagascar rifting before this interestingly Madagascar was joined to India
• St Mary’s Island is also known as Coconut Island as well as Thonespar and is actually a group of 4 islands
• There is a regular ferry service that operates from Malpe harbour to St. Mary’s Island but again the service is dependent on weather conditions as well as the number of tourists
• The ferry service to St.Mary’s Island generally operates from around 10 AM to 5.30 PM and is closed in the monsoon

How to Get To St. Mary’s Islands

• St Marys Islands is about 7 kilometres from Malpe beach and is reached by a 30-minute boat ride
• Malpe is a small seaside village at a distance of about 6 kilometres from the temple town of Udupi in Karnataka
• The nearest airport is Mangalore International Airport at a distance of about 63 kilometres from Malpe
• St. Mary’s Island is about 414 kilometres from Bangalore

If you are bowled over by the images of St. Mary’s Island and planning a visit, you can book a cheap flight through TripAdvisor or Agoda or CheapAir or Cleartrip or Makemytrip or Priceline right here to reach Mangalore. You can do a road trip from Mangalore or alternatively from Bangalore by self-drive car or cab or bus.

Where to Stay When Visiting St. Mary’s Islands

St. Mary’s Island is uninhabited and there are no options for accommodation there. One needs to stay either in Malpe or Udupi.

You can book your hotel in Udupi or hotels and resorts in Malpe right here through TripAdvisor or Cleartrip or Agoda or Makemytrip or Priceline and save a lot by getting the best savings on booking your stay.

Experience the serenity of St Mary’s Island. Here is our short video on St Marys Islands. Please watch in HD on full-screen:

Do you feel like visiting this beautiful St Marys Islands? Would love to know your thoughts.

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