In the state of Odisha, near Balasore Village in the small town of Chandipur, Chandipur Beach is a secluded place with a unique mystery. It’s unique because the sea water periodically disappears right in front of your eyes, then reappears late night. Intrigued? Read on.
Also called the ‘hide-and-seek’ beach, Chandipur Beach is a sprawling stretch of golden sand surrounded by Casuarina trees, pristine waters, and lush coastal vegetation. But a strange natural phenomenon occurs here every day. Believe it or not, the sea water recedes up to 5 kilometers (3 miles), twice a day during low-tide, leaving behind only the shells. The water returns during the high tide.
This extreme natural phenomenon has really enriched the biodiversity of sea creatures in the area. When the sea water re-appears, it brings along with it horseshoe crabs and red crabs, which otherwise live further from the beach.
This phenomenon is thought to be unique to this beach. There’s no fixed time that the tide retreats, as it depends on the moon cycle, but it happens every day. Locals are familiar with the timings of the low and high tides. The sunrises and sunsets are particularly spectacular at this beach, whether the tide is in or out.
Another interesting fact about Chandipur beach is that it is home to DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) Integrated Research Range, where ballistic missiles are test-fired.
Chandipur Beach is also a great place to try some lip-smacking fresh seafood at one of the many restaurants lining the beach and also try the street foods if you're a great foodie.
We batchmates were planning for a Trip since March and was not possible to make it happen. After farewell to our seniors. Our seniors planned this trip to chandipur and we probably knew this may be the last trip with them so all agreed on this trip. It needed to be something worth remembering so we booked a traveler for About 23rs per km.
We started by 1.30pm and reached by 6.30 it was all dark and by the time we moved on to the beach water was disappeared. We started walking on the beach to locate the sea but there was no trace of a single drop of water. It was almost 8.00 pm. We walked for a few kilometers towards the sea when a local fisherman asked us to return. The sea was about to emerge back and it was not safe to go that far. As it grew dark all of us came back and sat on the huge steps at the beach watching the waves grow. The sound of the waves have always been mesmerizing for me. We didn’t miss having some fresh fish on the food stall there.
Chandpur is a small beach town with a number of restaurants and local shacks around the area. Odisha tourism department has a resort where you can have delicious Oriya cuisine like fish curry and crabs.
We didn't book any rooms we were having fun sitting in those huge steps in the beach for all night nobody slept, Everyone was sharing their experiences and flashbacks of the college days they had in SSU.
And finally the sun rose, filling the sky with shades of orange and pink. We were able to witness one of the beautiful sunrise in chandipur.
