Velas - A Turtle's Abode

The olive ridley sea turtle, commonly known as the Pacific ridley turtle, is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.- Wikipedia

The Velas Turtle Festival is organized every year from the month of March. The Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM) NGO joins hands with the village for creating awareness and encouraging ecotourism. The eggs of Olive Ridley turtles are hatched and tiny hatchlings embark on their first journey to the sea.

Velas is a small village in the Ratnagiri district, surrounded by water on the majority of its sides, this place is famous for its pristine beaches and the Olive Ridley Turtles. Located at a distance of about 200 km from Mumbai and 180 km from Pune, Velas is easily accessible by buses, trains, and roadways. A one-day stay trip is more than enough to explore the place around. Harihareshwar beach, Srivardhan beach & Bankot fort are some prominent locations to check out during your stay. This tiny village offers a quintessential peek into rustic rural life.

Every year, this village hosts 'The Velas Turtle Festival' marking the hatching of baby Olive Ridley turtles.

About Velas Turtle Festival:

The month of September to December marks the nesting period of the Olive Ridley Turtles, each female lays around 100 eggs on the seashore. Here, she digs a deep hole in the sand using her fins as a shovel and manages to lay and hide her eggs within, in an attempt to keep her eggs safe from the waves or any predatory bird. After doing so, she makes her way back to the sea. Before the involvement of the NGO, these eggs were usually damaged or lost within the sand, most times easily destroyed by predatory birds or the stray animals around. The job of the Kasav Mitra Mandal/Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra committee is to look for places where the eggs are laid, transfer them further away from shore into a safer haven, keep them covered and protected until they are hatched, and then during the month of March until May when the hatchlings break free, delicately transfer them back to the sea. The baby turtles are left closer to the seashore, from where they would then take their first steps and disperse into the sea. This occasion where the turtles find their way back to their home is celebrated across many beaches in Ratnagiri as Turtle Festival, the one in Velas is known as the Velas Turtle Festival.

In the month of March, I, along with a few friends decided to experience this unique festival. Let me virtually take you on this trip from Mumbai to Velas:

Though there are a lot of tours and travelers who organize trips to the turtle festival, we decided to travel and explore the place by ourselves that too on a weekday, You'll soon know the perks of this decision.

| Departure day: 31st March Night

We boarded the 'Tutari Express' at 12.05 AM from Dadar towards Mangaon.

If you decide to follow the same path, I would suggest reaching Dadar slightly early to have your dinner here. Dadar offers innumerable places that serve authentic Maharashtrian cuisine. Unlike us, do not reach the place late, as most of the famous restaurants in Dadar close by 9 PM.

Here are some authentic places you can visit: 1. Aaswaad

2. Panshiker & Co.

3. Mama Kane's Uphar Gruha

4. Prakash Restaurant

5. Gypsy Corner (This is open until 12 AM)

Post a heavy dinner, you can decide to take a stroll by the Shivaji Park Viewing deck, which offers an amazing view of the Bandra-Worli Sealink and provides a calming ambience at night. (This place remains open only until 10 PM, make sure you plan your travel accordingly)

Finally, at the literal stroke of midnight, we boarded our train for Velas's nearest railway station - Mangaon. The train journey is short and only lasts for about 3 Hrs if you have an amazing group of friends to give you company, your travel time would be synonyms to 'the blink of an eye'

Note: There are many different ways of traveling to Velas from Mumbai. One can also choose to travel by local ST bus, which leaves from CST to Velas village (travel time - approx 10 hrs), or if you wish to add on a little adventure, you might as well decide to take up a road trip (travel time - approx 6 to 8 hrs).

The reason we opted for the train journey was, firstly that ST buses were non-functional during the time, and I sort of have developed a newfound attraction towards train traveling, for me, it resounds to a traditional travel method which is strangely comforting and calming, thankfully my friends shared the same thoughts.

We reached Mangaon station at around 3 AM, from here, the only way to reach Velas is by road, therefore, one can decide to take a local bus, a rickshaw, or hire a private vehicle.

Since we reached very late at night and were devoid of sleep, we opted to go for a private vehicle, so we could manage a short nap during the journey.

The journey from Mangaon to Velas is of 2 hrs, however, a prominent bridge - Ambet, was closed during our visit, hence we had to take a longer route which added an extra hour to the travel time. The road journey from Mangaon to Velas is a pretty comfortable one, we ended up reaching Velas at 6 AM.

Now, the turtle hatchlings are released into the sea in two batches during the day, one at 6:30 AM and another at 6:30 PM.

As we were just on time, we quickly decided to drop our luggage at the homestay and run to witness the first, morning session of the turtle release. JUST ON TIME!

At the hatching site, the eggs are stored under covered pits systematically and numerically arranged. The volunteers check for each pit IF any hatchlings exist. (By stressing the IF here, I want to convey that since hatching is a natural phenomenon, it depends if any eggs are hatched during a particular session, also if they are, the number of hatched eggs varies from session to session)

Note: It would be advisable to call up and check with the SNM volunteers (link: https://bit.ly/3Ekp1yE ) who could estimate the hatching days and advise a suitable travel date for your visit, however yet again, the process is absolutely NATURAL, and witnessing turtles would fairly depend on your luck.

Pro-tip: It is advisable that you plan a night stay at Velas and reach the destination by 6 AM, that way you cover 3 sessions during your stay, and the probability of witnessing turtles in any one session is greater.

Luckily for us, there were 16 hatchlings during the morning session!

The Kasav Mitra Mandal volunteers collect these baby turtles and take them to the sea, safely.

Once released on the seashore, the baby turtles slowly progress towards the beach, as simple as this may sound, to witness the journey of these turtles into their abode magically transports you to your roots. City life rarely gives you an opportunity to witness something as incredible as this.

The turtles travel in groups, though some run towards the beach, some derail from their path and take a detour, some walk slowly and take their own sweet time to reach. It is fun to watch them throughout their journey and you would be amazed to know, that the inner child within you just jumps with joy when you see these babies finally reaching the sea and completing their journey. We saw ourselves involuntarily cheering for each turtle when it reached the sea.

The volunteers patiently wait for the last turtle to complete its journey, if need be, they help him reach the sea better.

Once all the turtles have made their way into their home, the volunteers would instruct you to refrain from entering the sea for the next 15-20 mins, you don't want to accidentally injure any of the baby turtles.

Just a few pointers when you are here at Velas beach: 1. Make sure you do not throw away any waste or plastic around the beach. (The volunteers take immense efforts to keep the beaches clean)

2. Do not commercialize or promote any water activities on the beach in any way possible. The serenity of this beach is its real essence.

Just visit, soak into the moment and feel internally refreshed.

That's about the Turtle festival, for questions like, where to stay at Velas and how to go ahead with exploring the place around, stay tuned for Part 2!