Pichavaram Mangroves 2nd Largest in India

Everyone goes to Puducherry (old name Pondicherry) from Chennai. 

But very few go another 70 kms south to Pichavaram. Pichavaram? Never heard of it?

Pichavaram (also spelt as Pitchavaram) is a tiny fishing village in Tamil Nadu located between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. It is famous for the Mangrove Forest which is the second largest in India after Sundarbans. 

India is home to seven percent of world's mangroves spread over the Indian peninsula. See the maps below courtesy respective websites. 

How to Reach Pichavaram

Pichavaram is accessible by road from Puducherry. See the maps below. Nearest rail head is Chidambaram.

Importance of Mangroves

Mangroves prevent soil erosion, provide breeding ground for fish and other marine animals and absorb the impact of sudden surge in the water levels like cyclones and tsunami. Mangroves are important for our survival. Pichavaram mangroves are a designated Ramsar Site vide serial number 2482. See the visuals below for the importance of the mangroves.

How to Visit the Mangroves

Row boats and motor boats along with life jackets are available for visitors. For professional videography, extra fees is to be paid. However, cell phone cameras are allowed free of charge. The forest department charges a token fee of Rs 10/- per visitor.

Our Visit

We visited the mangroves at Pichavaram on 18th May 2024. Sharing below few pictures and videos of the mangroves and its surroundings taken from a moving motor boat at high noon.

The reader may get a feel of the boat ride through the mangroves in the YouTube video shot by Ghumakkad. Please bear with the engine noise as the video has not been re-processed.

You may click on the 3-min YouTube video below shot by Ghumakkad. It takes you through the narrow waterways of Pichavaram mangroves.

A short one-min YouTube video below shows you how the canopy of the boat is folded and re-erected while moving!

A short video below shows how narrow the waterways are through the mangroves. Once again, the engine noise may please ne ignored.

Pichavaram is primarily a fishing harbour. 

Sea Food at Pichavaram

Pichavaram is a haven for sea food lovers like our son Ankush. There are numerous restaurants along the road leading to the boat house. Few pictures.

Enroute to Pichavaram

We crossed Cuddalore on the way to Pichavaram. During the Tsunami, the coastal town was devastated and more than 800 people lost their lives. The old clock tower withstood the tsunami. See the picture below.

The drive from Puducherry to Pichavaram goes through many villages and railway crossings. It was fun reliving the childhood excitement of counting the rail wagons while waiting at a level crossing. See a video and few pictures.

Mangroves - Other Stories

You may browse the following stories for pictures of other mangroves in India visited by Ghumakkad:

Mangroves at Havelock Island in Andamans - The story shows how few grandparents splashed around the Havelock Island in Andamans against the backdrop of healthy mangroves. See the tall mangroves in the background in the picture below.

Walking Mangroves at Kalapathar Beach Andamans - Kalapathar beach is where you rediscover yourself. Browse the picture story which includes the 'walking mangroves' of Kalapathar in Havelock island Andamans.

Mangroves and Corals - This story shows the co-existence of mangroves and corals around the world. See the picture below where Punam Taneja a botany teacher, explains the importance of Mangroves in maintaining the ecological balance.

Hope you enjoyed the story on Mangroves which are so important for sustaining the ecological balance on our planet. Do share your feedback even if a few words!

Special thanks to our son Ankush for organising the trip and being the local foodie guide.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 24th June 2024

Postscript:

24th June: From Commodore TMJ Champion. "You have brought back a flood of memories of my time at Annamalai University where I did my BE. Pichavaram is a few km from my university and I been there last in 1968."

24th June: From Capt NR Ravi. "Thanks Harsh. Lakshmi and I spent our honeymoon there in 1986. Beautiful place. We spent a lot of time studying the tide based creatures we had read about in Discovery."

#mangroves #pichavaram #corals #ecology #tsunami #suddensurge #marinelife #boatride #walkingmangroves #ramsarsite #eastcoastofindia #seafood #fishingvillage #cuddalore #tamilnadu #forestdepartment #tourism #estuaries #sealevel

Scuba Diving at 65

"Is there an upper age limit for Scuba diving?"
"No, as long as you are medically fit" clarified the coordinator at www.Scubaluv.in -- the diving shop integral to our Resort at Havelock. She went on to explain that they are very strict about the medical protocol. The diver has to self certify a host of questions in a two-page format. For those not familiar, SCUBA stands for self contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Out of 26 FFA veterans and spouses (click here for what is FFA?), five decided to take a dive. These five included Debarati-- the only lady in the team. After an early morning shake up, we donned the diving suits. Smiles writ large on our faces, we carried our flippers to the diving area. From L-R: Swapan Banerjee, Debarati Banerjee, Gian Prakash(Gipy), Harsh (Ghumakkad) and Arun Dhupar.


The beach was familiar because we all had enjoyed a dip-cum-splash in high tide two days ago (click here for picture story). 

But in low tide, bare rocks now surfaced, the beach looked more like moon-surface.

Our briefing-cum-training commenced in waist high water. How to wear the mask, mouth piece for breathing, sign language for under water communication-- were all explained so well by our diving instructor Dharmesh Singh from Agra. See the illustration below.

PADI is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. It is world's largest recreational diving certification and membership.

Another diver with under-water camera appeared from nowhere and started clicking. All the diving pictures are courtesy Scubaluv.in. It was part of the diving fees for every diver. Normal fees is Rs 2500/- but Seashell Resort guests get a discount of Rs 500/-. Cool.

By now we had learnt to say "OK" in diver's sign language. See the clipart below followed by our pictures with face masks.

You would have noticed the incoming tide. Initial briefing was followed by underwater breathing while still in shallow waters. Once cleared by the diving instructor, our Buoyancy Compensator was inflated and we were ready to dive. With gradual deflation, we were guided deeper. The cameraman captured each diver. Though it wasn't best of the days for diving with overcast sky, yet we could see the marine life you can't see otherwise!

We saw coral of different shapes, sizes and hues besides variety of fish. We also saw Clown fish and sea anemone as in the picture below. Clown fish and sea anemone have a special relationship. As per Tree of Life Web (www.tolweb.org), "Symbiosis describes the special relationship between clownfish and sea anemones. They are the only fish that do not get stung by the tentacles of the sea anemone. Clownfish have a slimy mucus covering that protects them from the sea anemone. However, if this covering is wiped off of a clownfish, it will get stung and possibly be killed when it returns home to the anemone. The clownfish and the sea anemone help each other survive in the ocean. The clownfish, while being provided with food, cleans away fish and algae leftovers from the anemone. In addition, the sea anemones are given better water circulation because the clownfish fan their fins while swimming about."

Credit for this research goes to Gipy who was prompt to point it out.

Our dive continued with excitement. We experienced the wonders of underwater world! Gipy and I dived together with Dharmesh as our instructor. More pictures.

The cameraman also shot a two-minute video showing the divers (Gipy and Harsh) admiring the coral and other marine life.

Before we realised, the dive was over. Total time one hour which included briefing and training underwater. We dived upto 6.5 meters. Not very deep but good enough for beginners at 65 years of age! 

If you haven't yet done scuba diving, don't wait till 65, do it sooner. You will love it. Besides Andamans, you can do scuba diving in Goa in India. Other popular diving destinations are Hawai, Fiji, Australia and SE Asian coastal nations.

Those of you who are scared of diving, Ghumakkad will take you snorkeling in the next story.

Bye till then
   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 8th Oct 2016

Postscript: Links to all the ten stories of our visit to the Andamans in 2016 are given below. Just click to browse.

Who were the travellers? - FFA Friends forever asli

Port Blair and its attractions- Kaala Paani, Corvyn's Beach

Sailing to Havelock - weather permitting

Havelock- Never too old for splashing in the sea

Scuba Diving at 65!

Thrill of Snorkeling- Elephant Beach

Kalapathar Beach- Where you discover yourself

Radhanagar Beach- Where the Sun goes down in a blink

Ross Island- Ruins with a story and incredible sound and light show

Chidiyatapu- Where the birds find you

Thanks again.

     Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 30th Dec 2016

#Portblair #andamans #islands #cellularjail #ffa #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #havelock #elephantbeach #radhanagarbeach #rossisland #scubadiving #snorkeling