Pichavaram Mangroves

Pichavaram covers around eleven hundred hectares of mangrove between the Vellar and Coleroon estuaries, cut by a network of channels and holding around fifty islands, and it is among the largest mangrove forests anywhere. Rowed boats take visitors along channels that narrow until prop roots arch over the water and close out the sky, which is the point of the visit; motorboats run the wider routes. The forest sheltered villages behind it from the 2004 tsunami, a case widely cited in coastal protection studies. Birdlife includes herons, egrets, kingfishers and, in winter, migratory waders and flamingos.

What you actually see

• The narrow channels - rowed passages where roots arch overhead.
• The island network - around fifty islands within the mangrove block.
• The birdlife - herons, kingfishers and winter migrants.
• The tsunami evidence - the forest that shielded villages behind it in 2004.

When to go

October to March for birds and comfortable weather; November to January brings the most migrants. Summer is hot on open water. Boats run through the day with the longer routes best.

Honest expectations

The cheapest boats take the wide motor routes and miss the narrow channels entirely; the rowed long route is what to ask for. Boatmen negotiate hard. There is no shade on the water.

Nearby

Chidambaram lies west; Tranquebar is south.