Chandipur On Sea

Chandipur, a relatively less popular quaint seaside village located 15 kms from Balasore is a “World Famous Picnic Spot” for the Balasore community. But outside of Balasore, “Chandipur on sea” is merely a beach promoted by Orissa Tourism for its “Vanishing Sea”. A unique phenomenon rarely seen anywhere else, the bay recedes by as much as four kilometers every day by not just enthralling the onlooker, but also by offering an opportunity to literally walk into the sea.

Chandipur on Sea – 4.1.2015

I along with priyaa, my friend set out to chandipur in train. We reached Balasore by 12 PM, took a small walk till the chowk close by the station. Across the junction few meters ahead, we found a local bus parked and heading to chandipur. I would recommend any backpacking, low-on-travel-funds kind of tourists to use this mode rather than hiring an auto for 250 bucks. They charge meager 10 bucks for the drive. We reached chandipur by 1 PM. We expected chandipur to atleast have a market place. To our surprise, a 200m road leading to the sea with a handful of small hotels on either side of the road was all chandipur is. We got a room in hotel chandipur for 650 Rs, decent enough for a night’s halt. Had a great scrumptious seafood meal from hotel Shubham. And man, it was so cheap and fresh. You might wonder how cheap was that?? Good, let me allow your wisdom to determine the worthiness of that meal “Promfret fry, prawn masala and prawn tandoori for 350”. Now you do the math!

We then walked down to the sea. It was Sunday, hence crowded. There were 3-4 groups making food in large vessels. They seemed to be here for a picnic with their family and friends. It was 4 PM in the evening and we started to walk 2-3 km stretch of the sea bed to reach the beach area which has some gentle tide. Sea bed to our amusement was full of catenary ripples formed due to continuous to-and-fro motion of water over loose sand.

We then made a coastal trek along the sea beach from Chandipur to the mouth of Buribalam River. It was a long walk of 3 odd kilometers till we reached this beautiful tranquil place. Recommend to everyone for just enjoying the view this point offers. Also, there is a small patch of land in the centre. If sea water does not get filled there, it would perfectly qualify to be a splendid picnic spot for drinks party.

Withal its uniqueness, the beach also supports a varied scope of biodiversity. Although rare, I suppose it’s only normal to thus find a horseshoe crab, red crab, sand bubbler crab or a star fish crawling beside you. We even found a sea anemone to our immense surprise.

Sea anemone in Chandipur Beach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyl9mOouVU

Between, we did not see sea bubbler crabs, but did happen to notice the disintegrated sand pellets made by them.

By 7 the bay had started receding back to the turf. Sea level had begun rising. We had a full moon sight to our treat. Unfortunately, the beauty of the same could not be captured from a 12MP camera.

Moral Of the story: Retina Vision Of Naked Eye >> Camera Vision