Pichavaram Mangrove Forest

Name – Pichavaram Mangrove forest

Location – Near Cuddalore or Chidambaram

Date of visit 26^th Dec 2017

How to reach

Pichavaram, the second largest Mangrove forest, 1100 hectors in India (Sundarbans mangrove forest, one of the largest such forests in the world), located in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, is approx. 65 kms and a 1.5-2 hour drive from Pondicherry  thro' East Coast Road (ECR) via Cuddalore.

Route – Pondicherry/ Puducherry/ Pondy – Cuddalore – Pichavaram Mangrove forest

Google map is the best way to reach the fort base.

Pondicherry - Cuddalore - Pichavaram

Pichavaram  Mangrove Forest

A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged mud. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas. Mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion, storm surge (especially during hurricanes), and tsunamis.

Pichavaram mangrove forest is located between two prominent estuaries, the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuary complex forms backwater and Pichavaram mangroves. The mangrove forest trees are permanently rooted in a few feet of water.

 Our Journey

We were on a 5 days Pondicherry/ Puducherry/ Pondy trip and on 4^th day we visited Pichavaram Mangrove forest. We were staying at Club Mahindra Pondicherry,  approx. 15 km away from Pondy on Cuddalore road.

As Pichavaram Mangrove forest is a half day sightseeing affair from Pondy, it was a relaxed day. We got up a liitle late and started for Pichavaram by 9.00 am.

Enroute we had breakfast in Anand Adayar Bhavan (A2B)restaurant (chain of restaurants in south India) in Cuddalore. Service was very slow and no one was interested to serve the customers here. It took 45 min. to get the Dosa served. Although the quality of breakfast was good. As we had wasted a lot of time in waiting for breakfast we skipped coffee or Tea here.

Ananda Adayar Bhuvan

We reached the parking of Pichavaram Mangrove forest boating club run by TTDC by 10.30 am. As we reached by just after the counter opening time, there were very few people before us in the queue for tickets. A statue of a human sitting on a horse caught our attention. This statue is there in the TTDC campus. There is a restaurant and a watch tower near boat club that gives a good bird's eye view of the entire forest and the beach.

The main agenda here is backwaters boating, with Government run TTDC organised boating facility with 2 types of boats, Rowing boat for 1hour and 2 hours roaming, in intricate parts of forest. And motor boats take you around the forest as well as to the beach.  I heard motorboats couldn't get into thin lanes, as they would go at high speed. We preferred booking a rowing boat. Safety jackets are available and compulsory but very poorly maintained.

For crowd management, due to Christmas vacation the boat club allowed only 1 hour rides.

TTDC Boat Club Rate card

We chose rowing boat over motor boat as it would take us through the tunnels. It was 285 INR for 1 hour, 1km one way. In addition you have to give bare minimum fee of 1 INR each as forest entry fee. The catch here is that once you sit in the boat, the contract labour on boat(Boat man) tells you he will take you deep inside to show you good views with additional payment. But we sticked to official visit of 1 hour.

The boat journey first starts from a larger water surface like a lake and then goes into the narrow lanes inside the mangrove forest. The green forest around us was beautiful. As we went into the narrow lanes of water, the leaves and roots were touching our heads. In many places we had to save our heads by bowing down.

Roots

The Pichavaram mangroves attract an appreciable bird population of residents, local migrants and true migrants. The season for birds is from September to April every year. It is quite natural to encounter snakes and other dangerous creatures in such places. One can view birds like cormorants, egrets, storks, herons, pelicans and Flamingos. We could see Water Snake, Egrets and one unknown bird only.

If the backwater tides are suitable, one could see fisher-women catching shrimps in the knee deep waters. As it was a low tide, we saw few fisher-women and a fisher-man standing in 3-4 feet deep water and catching crabs, shrimps and fishes.

Fisher man 

Fisher women 

The entire boating into the dense woods was an exciting experience to escape the busy life of the city.

Narrow Passage

We completed our 1 hour round by 12.00 pm and came by to the parking area by 12.15 pm. There is a small shop where you can buy Ice-cream, or tender coconut water. 

Chidambaram Nataraja temple known as Thillai Nataraja temple, is just 15 km from Pichavaram. So you can combine both to make is as a one day trip.

Few points to remember -

• While boating inside narrow lanes, be careful about the roots and take care of your caps, goggles, camera, mobile phone.
• No food facility on the boat. Carry your food and water with you in case you plan to have long ride.
• Do carry instant electrolytes like electoral, Glucon-D.
• Small first aid kit with band aid, volini spray, iodex etc
• Camera to capture best nature moments
• Comfortable cotton clothes, it becomes very hot and humid with scorching heat.

Happy and Safe Travelling.