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St. Mary's Islands

The geographical location of St Mary’s island holds great significance to geo scientists as the rock columns present in the four islands offer great clues to how land was created on Earth surface, millions of years ago. These islands are quite similar to the islands found in Ireland which are known as Giant’s Causeway. You can reach to these islands using a ferry service from Malpe fishing harbor. The best time to visit these beautiful serene islands is during the month of December and January every year.

How did St Mary’s Island receive its name?

The history of Mangalore states that the famous Portuguese explorer Vasco De Gama named the islands after Mother Mary and their original names are “El Padron de Santa Maria”. The famous explorer is said to have visited the shores of St Mary’s island on his way to Calicut. Each island of St Mary’s Island has names which are Daryabahadurgarh Island, Coconut Island, North Island and South Island respectively.

St. Mary's Islands
St. Mary's Islands - An aerial view

How were these islands created

Many studies have been taken to find out how St Mary’s Island was created and it has been established that the islands were created during the period where there was continental rift and Madagascar and Africa broke away from India. The famous columnar rocks of the islands are made of basalt. The island offers a great sunset view to its tourist. Most tourists visiting St Mary’s are surprised by a simple fact of nature that it is not a sandy beach but has heavy rocky shoreline. The tourist can sit in the benches which have been built for them to enjoy the great view of the scenery around them and the cool breeze.

St. Mary's Islands
The beautiful shore of St. Mary's Islands

The serene beauty of St Mary’s Island 

The complete island can be visited in a matter of 90 minutes. If you love collecting sea shells, you can enjoy collecting a variety of them across the shoreline. St Mary’s Island is a famous spot for bird watchers who love the calm and quietness around the area. Some of the birds spotted in the area are Grey egrets, Sandpipers and Brahminy Kites. There are also colonies of beautiful butterflies inhabiting the beautiful islands.

Other areas in and around St Mary’s Island

Apart from enjoying the serene beauty of the island, the tourists visiting St Mary’s Island also visit a few other places like Vadabhandeshwara temple. This temple is dedicated to Balarama. You as a tourist can also visit the ruins if fort at Bahadurgarh which was built by a Naik chieftain.

Reaching St. Mary’s Island Using Different Type of Transportation

When you are traveling to ST. Mary's Islands, you would be amazed to find that the efficient transport system enables you to reach the destination well ahead of the planned time.

Via Flight
If you are flying into Mangalore’s main international airport, for a vacation at St Mary Island’s, you would have to travel for another sixty four km before you enjoy the beautiful scenic islands. This journey would take you around two hours.

Thru Rail
You would have many tourists getting down at Mangalore central Station on their way to St Mary’s Island. Then they would have private transport or public charted buses which would carry them to this beautiful tourist attraction which is seven km from the main railway station.

Traveling to Road
When traveling by road to St Mary’s Island, most travelers take the popular Malpe road and take a few minutes to reach the serene island in the shores of the Arabian Sea. They are many charted tourist buses which travel from Udipi and Mangalore city to St Mary’s Island.

The Ferry Service in Malpe Fishing Harbor
Whatever might be your transportation to reach Malpe; from there you have to use the ferry service which would take you to the St Mary’s Island. Each ferry trip boards around thirty people and the service is available between the times from 8:30 am in the morning to 5:30 PM in the evening.

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