Tag: watersports

Malpe

by Leela Gopinath, posted in Karnataka

This is a word I have to keep up….

I had promised to do a detail blog on Malpe when I touched upon this jewel of a beach during my road trip episode. Well; here it comes….

Beautiful Malpe beach

Beach Umbrella typical of Malpe

Some of you will think….What’s so different ? A beach is a beach whether it’s in Goa, Kerala, TN, Maharashtra or even Pondicherry. Well it’s not like that…each of these beaches has it’s own flavour and ambience. Each of these beaches has its own colour of sand, the coarseness of the sand grains, the rockiness of the coast, the width of the beach, the drop of the sand ridge into the ocean and various parameters that make each one unique. Each of these beaches has its own unique water sports, food and local ambience too! I will be touching on most of these beaches in my forthcoming episodes and that should clear the air.

Located just 6 kms from the temple town of Udupi in Karnataka, Malpe beach is an awesome destination. Very few know about the wonderful beach that this temple town is home to.

Mangalore at a distance of 60 kms is the nearest airport and Udupi the nearest railway station. It is located very conveniently at a short drive from the Mangalore Mumbai highway.

Not as well marketed as the beaches of Goa, helps in maintaining its serenity and peace. I have visited this beach many times and I can tell you, its gaining popularity but simultaneously losing its peace. So those of you who love peace on the beach, you are running out of time!.. Head there before it gets to that stage of “just another beach”. Those of you who like crowded beaches can take it easy….the more you wait, the more crowded it will get…the popularity of this beach is growing!!!!!

A little history and geography…

Malpe is one of the exquisite unexplored beaches of the Indian West Coast. Located at the mouth of the Udayavar River, the rocky coastline has 4 islands, the most famous being St. Mary’s Island.

For centuries, Malpe has been an important trading port with the West. It is also believed that Vasco da Gama had made a short halt during his voyages at St Mary’s Island and it was he who gave the island its name. Malpe is also an important fishing harbour due to the diverse marine life here due to the mixing of the fresh river water and the sea.

Safety is what adds to the tourist attraction of a place. Being a very uniform and gentle sloping sand beach with no sudden depth , makes it one of the safest beaches in the region. As mentioned earlier, the popularity of this beach has grown and lot of tourists and locals reach this beach in search of a great beach holiday. The authorities have risen to the occasion and a lifeguard station functions here. Apart from that coloured flags indicating the level of danger are put up on the beach front regularly. Beach patrolling by the guards who monitor the swimmers also occurs.

Life guard station Malpe

Red flags on a risky day

Accommodation

Accommodation of various categories ranging from luxury hotels to backpackers and homestays are available close to the beach itself which makes it very convenient.

Paradise Isle Resort where we usually stay

Some other hotels overlooking the beach

A variety of watersport activities take place here in the evenings. Indulging in them or even just standing by and watching them can be a very relaxing experience. Some pictures from my visit to Malpe…

Boards displaying various activities at Malpe

Some of the activities at Malpe beach

Sea Walk

A seawalk is one of the latest additions at Malpe that helps one enjoy the sunsets from an extended walkway into the sea.

Sea Walk Malpe

St Mary’s Island

Another activity that one can indulge in, is a visit to St Mary’s Island. This island can be spotted in the horizon from Malpe. A short boat ride takes one to this palm fringed island.

The boat ride to St Mary’s Island

Approaching St Mary’s Island

St Mary’s Island

Rare basalt volcanic rocks are found here and it has been added as a National geological monument.

The Basalt Rocks

Food

The word Udupi is almost synonymous with typical South Indian breakfast fare of Idly,(a steamed rice cake) Dosa, ( savoury pancake made of rice),Sambar,( a gravy that accompanies the idly) and Vada (deep fried lentil fritters) . When we talk loosely of a Udupi Hotel, it refers to such vegetarian fare. But contrary to that, local food includes lot of nonvegetarian items too.

Malpe offers great non vegetarian cuisine especially fish. Tulunadu…that’s what this region is known locally , is known for its variety non veg fare. (“Tulu” is the local dialect of Kannada and “nadu” is country) Kori Rotti, ( chicken and wheat bread) Fish Curry, Prawn roast, Neer Dosai etc are part of typical tulunadu food.

A typical restaurant signboard

Just reaching the kitchen!!

A sombre ritual

I was witness to a religious ceremony one morning on the beach. A family was performing the obsequies of a relative.

It is customary for Hindu families to perform certain rituals after the death of their family members. It is performed close to waterbodies and Malpe is no exception….

Obsequies

As you have seen, Malpe beach is a hub of activities that can keep anyone entertained. However, if you prefer a quieter place with the ambience of a lagoon, head to the mouth of the Suvarna river a few kms from the main beach. Here there are resorts on the banks of the estuary which have a quiet ambience.

Some pictures from one such place.

The resort

The beautiful views from the resort

With Malpe offering so many avenues of entertainment, it sure is finding its way into everyone’s bucket list. Apart from Malpe, one can visit other lesser known beaches along the Karnataka coast from here.

Kaup is one such beach destination where there is a famous light house. It is also a famous surfing destination.

Kaup Lighthouse

Maravanthe is also another beautiful beach close to Udupi on the highway.

Beautiful Maravanthe

So as you can see , there are lot of beach holiday options along the Karnataka coast. Easy to approach and pocket friendly, all of you should definitely try out some of these.

Before I bid goodbye , let me leave you with a sunset view from Malpe..

A cloudy sunset at Malpe…

As you plan your beach holiday, don’t forget to subscribe, comment and send in your feedbacks.

THE KEYS

by Leela Gopinath, posted in United States of America

A day that we were excitedly looking forward to….the trip to Key West.  Key West is the most popular of the archipelago of islands called Florida Keys

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 A brief summary about the Florida Keys:

“Key” is derived from the Spanish word cayo, meaning small island

The Florida Keys are a string of tropical islands off the southern tip of Florida between the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. These islands are linked by the Florida Keys Overseas Highway which is rightly called The Highway that goes to Sea. The drive from Miami to Key West takes 4 hours and crosses over 42 bridges ; the longest bridge being 11 km long. The water surrounding this highway has shallow flat lands, mangroves and coral reefs. The drive to the Keys is indeed mesmerizing with a straight road ahead of you with water on either side for the major part.

The Highway that goes to Sea

Initially, the Keys were accessible only by water. A railway link was subsequently developed but was disrupted due to repeated hurricanes. Following this, the rail road bridges were converted into automobile roadways.

The Old railroad bridge that was destroyed by the hurricane

The keys are divided into 5 main regions..Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine and Lower keys and Key West.

Key Largo is the largest and it is home to living coral formations.The Coral Reef State Park located here is the first Underwater state park. Glass bottomed boats, snorkeling, scuba diving and other coral reef viewing activities are available here.

The keys are home to a variety of plant and animal life particularly a variety of deer and is a refuge for the great white heron. The Everglades National park encompasses many of the keys and is home to turtles, alligators and manatee.

Key West

Key West, the southern most Key is the most popular and is just 90 miles from the Cuban coast.

Our Trip

The Key West Express Bus picked us up from our hotel in Biscayne Boulevard (Miami) and soon we were on the way to the Keys. The drive to the keys is really beautiful with water on either side of the road and crossing multiple bridges. The landscape includes a mixture of shallow flat lands, mangroves and well developed tourist resorts on both sides. As we approach the main Keys, there are lots of restaurants, hotels and resorts along the road.

View from the highway of  some of the resorts as we drove by

After 4 hours of this beautiful drive on the highway to sea, we were dropped off at Key West

Typical street scene in Key West with Spanish colonial villas

Once we were dropped off at Key West with time to explore on our own,we decided to take the conch train.

We took the train tour and our first destination was Duval Street which is the epicentre of Keywest. This thoroughfare is lined with bars, pubs, restaurants, shops, galleries and other attractions.The famous Key West butterfly and nature conservancy is also located here.

Walked around the street and savored the ambiance and had some good food .

The Train Tour     

  Some good food at Duval Street    

After re boarding the train we hopped off at The Southernmost Point….

 There is a red Buoy to mark the southern tip of Florida which is only 90 miles from Cuba

       

The Buoy at the southern tip of florida

 

Boarded the train again and hopped off at Mallory Square.

Mallory Square is a plaza located adjacent to the cruise ship port. This Square is particularly famous for its sunset views. Tourists gather here in large numbers to watch the sun go down. There are various activities here around sunset time….street performers, food carts, art exhibitors etc. Since we were leaving before sunset time, we missed the celebrations in Mallory square. Spending one night at Key West will definitely be worth it, if your schedule permits.

       A short video of Mallory square with people enjoying the water sport activities

                                                                         

At Mallory Square with the cruise ship in the background

From Mallory square, we walked along the water front and reached a marina where lots of yachts were anchored. Also some high speed motor boats were seen anchored there. 

Key west Marina with the high speed boats and a passenger catamaran

Tourists enjoying the evening at the marina at Key West

While discussing Key West, it will be inappropriate to not mention one of its main attractions… snorkeling. Home to the only living coral reef in America, it is a prime snorkeling site. Since we had experienced snorkeling at great barrier reef in Australia and we had dearth of time, we did not snorkel. For snorkeling, you are taken in a catamaran to the designated sites and guided to snorkel.

Another attraction at Key West is Hemingway House which is a museum dedicated to the famous english author Earnest Hemingway. We also saw this during our tour around key west.

The sun was slowly going down on yet another beautiful day and we headed to our bus for the return trip.

Meanwhile, tourists who were staying overnight at Key West were gathering around Mallory square for the sunset and other activities.

Spending one night in Key West is definitely worthwhile if your itinerary permits!

Boarding the bus, we had another beautiful drive on the Highway that goes to Sea…this time in the other direction. Enjoying the scenery, we bid farewell to Florida and USA.

Well as I said earlier; with this blog, I finish my blogs on USA. From next week, its going to be Canada….

I hope you all enjoyed your US trip with me…

Get set to cross the border to Canada.

See you all next week at a great destination…NIAGARA Falls!!

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