Udupi: Belle Lions Club Members and their families go on a daylong outing to St. Mary’s Island

By Eugene DSouza
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 21 Oct 2013: It was a day’s outing for  the members of the Lions Club of Moodubelle and their families, nearly 40 in number, on Sunday, October 20, 2013 on St. Mary’s Island that proved to be quite memorable as all the  members right from children to women and men enjoyed the island’s ambience of soft sandy beach, blue warm water and beautiful scenery.

 

The group of picnickers  started  at around 9.30 am and reached Malpe jetty  at around  10 am and boarded the waiting ferry  that moved towards the island at around 10.30 am. As the jetty is close to the shipbuilding facility, we could see a nearly finished ship and another one being under construction. After moving in the sea for about 30 minutes, the ferry reached nearer to the beach of St. Mary’s Island. To my surprise, we had to shift ourselves to the twin boat that was being towed  by the ferry  which took us near the Island’s beach  and we had to step into knee-deep water and drag our feet to the dry sand. This exercise was quite time consuming. A makeshift jetty would have facilitated the tourists as well as picnickers to reach the island without much trouble. A thought came to my mind as to why the state government is lax in promoting tourism to the island by improving certain facilities.

 

After alighting from the ferry we searched for a suitable place to camp and settle down. However, the shelter that we had initially chose was quite inconvenient and decided to shift nearer to the beach. However, before proceeding there Rajendra Shetty, former president of the Lions Club, Moodubelle and presently the president of the Belle Grama Panchayat was asked to cut his birthday cake along with his son and wife. After having had the breakfast we shifted to the new location nearer to the beach and camped under a shady tree. Having cleaned the area the  barbeque stand was  erected and charcoal was ignited and after a lot of efforts, the grill was ready for the chicken pieces to be roasted. 

 

Meanwhile, children and few adults who had the lure of the water entered t he sea and began to enjoy the sandy beach. Children also played digging holes in the sand and even getting buried neck deep in the sand.

 

The day was quite enjoyable being on an island, though small, scenic and appropriate for a day’s outing. The location chosen for the picnic camp was idyllic with fine sand, blue water and the view of thin whitish sand-line and greenery beyond on the coast. The barbeque chicken, fried fish, pulav and raitha for lunch on the beach facing the blue sea under the blue sky  was quite sumptuous and filling. Overall the picnic was an enjoyable outing and a getaway from the routine life.

 

Having spent the day on St. Mary’s Island, we took the ferry back to Malpe and returned to our homes, though tired  but contented and happy.

 

About St. Mary’s Island:

St. Mary’s Island is a group of small islands 6 km out at sea and can be reached by ferry from  the fishing harbor of Malpe from where there is a regular ferry service. The ferry plies between 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

 

Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese sailor who found the first sea route to India from Europe is said to have first reached these group of islands in 1498 on his way to Calicut and it was he who named them as “El Padron de Santa Maria” that is St. Mary’s Islands The four largest islands are named Coconut Island, South Island, North Island, and Daryabahadurgarh Island.

 

These islands do not have a sandy beach except a small patch that we had occupied due to the rocks along the shoreline. A large variety of seashells are found along the rocks. Benches have been installed near the shoreline for the benefit of tourists. Apart from coconut palms, there is very little shade. The quality of amenities for tourists is very poor.  It is quite surprising as to why the successive state governments have not taken any interest in creating some basic facilities such as a jetty at the island to facilitate the tourists and picnickers to land safely on the shore of the island.