Turtle Festival 2022 – Struggle for Life at Velas Beach | Velas and Harihareshwar Sea Turtle Festival India

Turtle Festival 2022 | Velas and Harihareshwar Sea Turtle Festival India – The Creator created many kinds of creatures on this earth, and each creature has a unique identity and quality. All of these are cooperating with nature in there own way. One of them is a Turtle which is very beautiful, calm and innocent.

Take a walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause. – Bruce Feiler

Maharashtra blessed with beautiful long seaside. It shares its coastline with Konkan, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Thane district. This seaside attracts a large number of marine creatures to see. However the exact number and type of marine creatures visiting Maharashtra are unknown. In this all Velas, Ratnagiri celebrates turtle festival in every year.

Velas is a small village on Maharashtra’s west coast. This village attracts Olive Radley mother turtle to lays her 100-120 eggs on the sandy beach. Not only in Velas but turtles also love to give birth to there baby turtles on Harihareshwar Beach.

Olive Radley turtle gets there name from there olive green heart shaped design shell. This Sea turtles are among the second-smallest of the world’s sea turtles. Specifically Olive Radley turtle found in Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The small eco-village Velas is located in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. It is an area where nature has been preserved in its most pristine form. Velas is responsible for 60% of sea turtle nesting on Maharashtra’s Coast. Besides Velas beach, here are some other spots which are really worth to visit.

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Basically in Velas, turtle festival is more organized and you need to buy ticket to see this turtle festival. They will provide you all information about this turtles and the process of nesting. The same sea turtle nesting is happens on Harihareshwar beach. If you go to Velas you can cover two spots:-

Bankot Fort
Velas Turtle Festival

As I mentioned earlier the same turtle nesting and preservation happens on Harihareshwar beach just near Harihareshwar temple which is also know as second Kashi. Here you do not need tickets to see baby turtles. You can watch these turtles hatch and go to sea for free. What you need to do is just follow instructions.

I have attained this turtle festival on weekend and I travelled by car. There are many other ways to reach Velas and Harishareshwar. But you will find very few option to stay in Velas. You will not find fine and decorated hotels to stay in Here. There are very few homestays available and in this homestays you will need to stay in halls which are separate for gents and ladies’. Washrooms are available for all group on a count of 1 or 2. At some places separate rooms are also available but not attached bathroom.

But in Harihareshwar, you will have amazing stay and good clean rooms with attached toilet & bathroom. I have also booked one homestay in Harihareshwar and it was an amazing stay. Room was clean and bathroom was attached to the room.

I have booked Gokul Homestay in Harihareshwar and from this homestay Harihareshwar temple, beach, turtle site and all food places are just at walking distance. Homestay is really very clean and owner of this homestay is very polite. He guided me towards Harihareshwar beach for turtle nesting and made my trip memorable.

How to reach Harihareshwar

1. By Car – I have travelled to Harihareshwar from Pune by car and it takes almost 5 and half an hour to reach Gokul Homestay. After reaching Harihareshwar it is really easy to reach Gokul Homestay as it is well guided rout by hanging the poster which will guide you to this homestay. From this homestay Harihareshwar beach is on walking distance. It will take around 10 mins by walking to reach Harihareshwar beach.

2. By Train – Pune Junction is the nearest major railway station to Harihareshwar which is located at a distance of 175 km from Harihareshwar. The railway station is connected to the major cities of Maharashtra. After reaching Puen you need to travel by bus or car to Harihareshwar.

Homestays in Harihareshwar

Gokul Homestay, Harihareshwar
- Address – Opp Katal Talav, Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan, Raigad
- Contact no – 9421941468 / 9272394890
- Email id – gokulparyatakniwas@gmail.com
- Distance from beach – 10 mins walking
- Rooms – AC & Non-AC
- Near by – Harihareshwar Temple, Harihareshwar Beach
- Food Places near me- Purnima, Sai, Beach Resort
- Recommended – Highly Recommended
- Good about – Stay was very calm and rooms are very clean

Beach Resort, Harihareshwar
- Address – Harihareshwar beach, Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan, Raigad
- Contact no – 8087403696 / 8983346632
- Email id – support@harihareshwar.com
- Distance from beach – 500 meter
- Rooms – AC & Non-AC
- Near by – Harihareshwar Temple, Harihareshwar Beach
- Food Places near me- Purnima, Sai, Mamata, Prachiti
- Recommended – Highly Recommended
- Good about – view from rooms and food taste

Sai Restaurant and Lodging, Harihareshwar
- Address – Harihareshwar beach, Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan, Raigad
- Contact no – 9765735465 / 9270316029
- Email id – NA
- Distance from beach – 500 meter
- Rooms – AC & Non-AC
- Near by – Harihareshwar Temple, Harihareshwar Beach
- Food Places near me- Purnima, Mamata, Prachiti
- Recommended – Recommended
- Good about – view from rooms and distance from temple

Sahyadri Homestay, Harihareshwar
- Address – Opp Sai Restaurant, Harihareshwar beach, Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan, Raigad
- Contact no – 9820351496 / 9322449253
- Email id – NA
- Distance from beach – 500 meter
- Rooms – AC & Non-AC
- Near by – Harihareshwar Temple, Harihareshwar Beach
- Food Places near me- Purnima, Sai, Mamata, Prachiti
- Recommended – Recommended
- Good about – view from rooms

Swayam Hotel, Harihareshwar
- Address – Near Bank of India, Harihareshwar beach, Harihareshwar, Shrivardhan, Raigad
- Contact no – 9021405912 / 9356116473
- Email id – NA
- Distance from beach – 500 meter
- Rooms – AC & Non-AC
- Near by – Harihareshwar Temple, Harihareshwar Beach
- Food Places near me- Purnima, Sai, Vishranti,Mamata, Prachiti
- Recommended – Recommended
- Good about – view from rooms

There are other options available to stay in Harihareshwar. You will get very few options for food, and one suggestion do not expect authentic Konkan sea food here.

How to Reach Velas

1. By Car – I travelled to Velas from Pune by car and it takes almost 5 and half an hour to reach to bagmandla and from there you need to take ferry to reach velas beach.

2. By Train – Pune Junction is the nearest major railway station to Velas which is located at a distance of 200 km from Velas. The railway station is connected to the major cities of Maharashtra. Then travel by bus or car to Velas.

Homestay in Velas

Velas Daripkar’s Homestay, Velas
- Address – Velas, Mandangad, Ratnagiri
- Contact no – 7057303646 / 9850581022
- Email id – NA
- Near by – Velas Beach
- Recommended – Recommended

Turtle Nest Homestay, Velas
- Address – Velas, Kokan Pakhadi
- Contact no – 8975622778 / 8983767388
- Email id – NA
- Near by – Velas Beach
- Recommended – Recommended

Velas The Turtle Breeding Village, Velas
- Address – Velas
- Contact no – 9372567779
- Email id – NA
- Near by – Velas Beach
- Recommended – Highly Recommended

This are some homestays which are good to stay and you will get good food options to eat. Turtle Nest Homestay offers veg food and other two offers veg and non veg both food type.

How to reach Velas form Harihareshwar

You need to travel by ferry to reach Velas beach from Harihareshwar. You can travel with your vehical to the Bagmandla jetty point. For swift we paid 180 rs and for one person it was 15 rs for ferry. You can catch first ferry at 7AM in the Morning and Last ferry from Vleas is at 10PM in the night to return to Harihareshwar.

Velas Turtle Festival

Velas is a eco village in Ratnagiri. In this village the villagers undertaken the turtle conservation movement. Sahyadri Nisargmitra (NGO) and villagers work together to provide protection to eggs of Olive Ridley turtle.

The Velas Village has full of natural beauty. One can enjoy a beautiful, clean beaches here. In this Eco Village, a turtle named Olive Ridley comes to lay eggs. The villagers work to protect these turtle eggs and releases the baby turtle to sea after they born. March to April is the time when turtle festival is in progress in Velas.

Velas turtle festival is the occasion to witness real struggle of life, where this baby turtles come out from the eggs and villagers released them back to the sea. It is really amazing to watch first step of baby turtles towards sea.

From here the long journey of life of turtles start which will be full of struggle and challenges. Turtles are coming out from the eggs opening there eyes and seeing world first time is a very memorable experience for all visitors.

Here in Velas you will get all information of this festival and details about this cute little life. You can also enjoy village tour offered by villagers. While watching this turtles you need to follow some instructions.

Instructions to Follow while watching the baby turtles:-

Do not use mobile flash.
If you are standing in the water and the baby turtles are coming out from the sea path because of waves, then do not move in the water and stand at one place for a while.
Do not touch to baby turtle.
Stay away from baby turtles, do not go very close to them.
Do not pick up turtles.

If you want to see turtles in peace and from less distance, but without crowding then you can fulfill your wish on Harihareshwar Beach without going to Velas.

Where to see turtles on Harihareshwar Beach

Firstly, you need to wake up early at around 6AM. Then go to the Harihareshwar beach, you can see temple at your left side and some green shaded squares at your right side. Yes! that green squares are the nesting for turtle eggs. Go there and ask for Mr. Kande. He is a person who will show you the new born turtle on Harihareshwar beach.

After taking permission from Mr. Kanade, you just need to follow his instruction and you are ready to witness the first breath of life. See the struggle and challenges turtle faces from the begging. It is really beautiful to see that baby turtle going to the sea.

I have visited to Velas but did not get chance to see the turtle so I have decided to try my luck on next morning at Harihareshwar Beach. And yes my luck was with me I saw this turtle to coming out from the egg and going towards sea.

My Experience of Velas Turtle Festival and Harihareshwar Tour

I have given you all the information about Velas Turtle Festival till now. Now I am going to share my experience of Turtle Festival with you.

I stayed overnight in Velas and enjoyed seeing a new life being born at Harihareshwar beach. I will tell you where my journey started, what is my experience and opinion about Velas Turtle Festival, whether you should go to Velas or not, and what you should know before you go to Velas Turtle Festival.

For Velas I planned a 2 day trip, travel to Harihareshwar on the first day and from there to Velas turtle Festival, one night stay to Harihareshwar and return to home on the next day. I know you are curious to know all about this Velas Trip, so let’s start our tour of the Tortoise Festival without wasting time.

Day 1

As I told before, I have started my jourtny to Velas from Pune. So on first day of this exciting trip to Velas, I got up at 4 in the morning and did everything regarding the houlhold things. I was travelling with my 4 friends, so it was around 6 o’clock when we leave the house.

And the journey begin. My homestay booking was at Hariharveshwar, so I had to reach Harihareshwar first from Pune. So we started our journey towards Harihareshwar. The road to Harihareshwar is very beautiful and full of nature.

We crossed Tamhani Ghat in between. On this trip we stopped at a hotel near Mulshi Lake Sunset Point and had tea. And then marched back towards Harihareshwar. Mulshi Lake has a beautiful sight to behold. That form of nature save in the album of the heart through the camera of the eyes.

At 12:30 o’clock we reached Gokul Homestay which is near Harihareshwar Temple. This is where we had the booking. The premises of Gokul Homestay is very beautiful and quiet. And from Gokul homestay Harihareshwar temple and beach are just on 10 mins of walking distance. Here you will also find amazing food places near by.

After checking in and freshening up, we went to Pournima Hotel for lunch. Pournima Hotel serves home style food and here you will find Konkani food menu. We had Bangda Fish thali and solkadhi for lunch, after that we went back to homestay.

We slept for 2 hours and then headed towards Velas Beach to see the Turtle Festival. The ferry service from Bagmandla is 4 km away from Gokul Homestay to Velas Beach. We boarded the ferry from Bangamandala and we also park our car in the ferry. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach Velas.

We reached the other side. Velas Beach is 6 km away from here. We drove to Velas village. In this village you can see documentary on this Velas Turtle Festival. After watching documentary and gathering all information you have to walk down a bridge to Velas Beach. After walking for 10 minutes, you can see the beautiful and clean Velas Beach of black sand. Here you have to take ticket to see turtles. Rs 100/- per person is the price.

Here you can see small squares covered with green cloth. Olive Ridley turtle eggs are preserve here in this green squares. In that green square, a person gives all the instructions and information about these turtles.

Here the young turtles are released into the sea. Coming out of the eggs, the journey of baby turtles begins towards life. This experience fills the heart with joy. Watching these little turtles go into the water and their struggle for life really brings to the fore the truth of life. When these turtles go into the water, their eyes are not open and the waves of the sea open their eyes.

But our bad luck, we didn’t get to see the turtles here. Disappointed, we had to return to Harihareshwar. Since our one night booking is at Gokul Homestay, I asked the owner of this homestay about preservation of turtles on Harihareshwar Beach. He told me that turtles are preserved on Harihareshwar Beach too. Then after dinner we all went to sleep.

Day 2

The next day we got up at 6 in the morning. We went to Harihareshwar beach. Upon reaching the beach I have the Harihareshwar Temple on the left and on the right I see a small green square in a corner. And I’m convinced that these are the squares where the turtle eggs are preserve.

I started walking towards that little green square and when I reached there I saw a man sitting there. When asked, he said yes, there are turtles here and now we can release them in the sea. I was overjoyed to see those little turtles coming out of the ground. The baby turtle were very small and their eyes closed.

We watched the little turtles going into the water. The water of the sea waves was opening the eyes of that baby turtle. They were walking towards the sea as the sea was waiting for them. All the little turtles went into the sea. It was an magnificent experience.

On the same day we visited Harihareshwar temple and completed the Pradikshana. The way for Pradikshana of this temple is very beautiful. Then after some shopping and lunch we started our return journey.

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