Best Offbeat places to visit in Udupi

Udupi is a coastal district of Karnataka with breathtaking views of green valleys, rivers, lakes, great architecture – both modern and old, and lovely beaches. This makes it a tourist hotspot, especially the Udupi town. However, in this post I will briefly discuss the best places to visit in Udupi district, off-the-beaten-path.

In 1991, three taluks of Karnataka – Udupi, Kundapur and Karkala came together to form one district. The town of Udupi is most famous for two things – the Sri Krishna Matha and St. Mary’s island. These places have most tourists but they leave upto the high expectations. However, there are many hidden gems that you can explore here.

Let’s begin with the must-see places first..

Sri Krishna Matha

Vaishnavite saint Jagadguru built this beautiful temple in 13th century. An unique feature of this temple is that the devotees worship SriKrishna through a silver-plated window with nine holes. There are several other temples surrounding the matha, including the 1000-year old Anantheshwara temple.

St. Mary’s islands

Source: Wiki CC By SA 4.0

Off the Malpe coast lies this unique cluster of islands, called St. Mary’s island. The special feature of these islands are the volcanic rock formations which are among the 32 geological monuments of India. In the year 1498, Vasco Da Gama came to these islands while navigating his way to India and named it so before he proceeded to mainland India.

The ferry from Malpe beach to St Mary’s Island is usually closed in July and August due to monsoon.

Malpe Beach – Not so offbeat

The Malpe beach is quite crowded by fishermen, boatmen and tourists, especially on weekends. On weekends you might even have to queue up for the boat to St Mary’s Island, if you visit during the peak season of winter months. But trust me, it will be worth it.

Kaup Beach

Kapu Beach – 40km from Mangalore (c) Backpack & Explore

Kapu is a beautiful coastal village, 13 km from Udupi town which is most famous for its more-than-100-year old lighthouse. The 130-ft lighthouse offers a mesmerizing panoramic view of the Arabian Sea. Because of it being off-the-town it gets lesser crowd than Malpe beach or Surathkal beach.

Mattu Beach

Mattu Beach (c) Backpack & Explore

10 km from the town, Mattu beach seems like a world away from the touristy Malpe. With backwaters on one side and sea on the other this is a wonderful road to drive slow. The beach is part rock part sand and partly covered in green vegetation. Remember that this is a very long uninterrupted coastline. So just keep walking till you see no tourists around you. It will be a short walk till it’s just you and the sea and the quite backwaters.

If you decide to stay in one of the coastal homestays you may get a chance to witness the bioluminescence at night.

Manipal

End Point Manipal (C) Backpack & Explore

Manipal is actually a small town which is famous for the educational institutes founded by Dr. TA Pai. You will see some beautiful modern  architecture here. Just roaming around the township is delightful. The institute opens its gates to visitors for 2 hours in the afternoon for those who want to visit the “End Point”. This is a place offering breathtaking views of the valley with Swarna river flowing in the forests.

You can also see some amazing and novel Church architecture here. When in Manipal, don’t forget to visit the Hastashilpa Museum. It’s a model village and a living museum.

Padubidri Beach

17km away from Udupi town, Padubidri is one of the only two Blue-Flag certified beaches in Karnataka. It means it has cleared the safety, eco-friendliness and cleanliness criteria of Denmark’s Foundation for Environment Education which awards the certification. As of today there are only eight blue-flag certified beaches in India, and Padubridri beach is one of them!

Check out the ultimate Karnataka Bucketlist here.

Besides strolling in the palm-lined long sandy beach, you can enjoy many watersports activities in the beach. The beach has all facilities that one can look for – changing rooms., washrooms, coast guards, cctv cameras, children’s park etc.

Swarna River Banks

Just 8 km from here you can go to the Swarna river banks and sit there for hours. Indulge in family time or solo-time with yoga. You can also visit the nearby Hiriadka Baje Dam.

Indrali Falls

Indrali falls is located a little more than 1 km from MGM college, and hidden from plain sight. This mesmerising spot is a top secret among trotting students.

Kemann Hanging bridge

This 280 feet long hanging bridge lies in Kemmannu. This is a beautiful place connecting Padukudru to Thimmannakudru. It was built in 1991 for the training of NCC cadets. With a new facelift it has become a gorgeous attraction. But did you know about that?

Maravanthe Beach

This gem is located in the Kundapur taluk. For a long time I knew that the beauty of this beach would put the popular beaches of Karnataka and even Goa to shame. But not many people knew about it. Recently some travel site called it one of the most beautiful beaches of India. I’m sure some people might still be thinking, where’s that. Well don’t miss it. With sea on one side and river on the other, this is a breathtaking beauty indeed.

So that was a sort tour of the offbeat yet stunning corners of my abode for you. I will look forward to your visit once the COVID mess is gone. Till then, just relax, read, work and dream about travelling again.

Oh and don’t forget to save this postcard and share it with your near and dear ones.