If you are looking for a place off the beaten track for your next holiday, Bhitarkanika could well be your destination. For sea, sand and adventure. Yes, adventure. Because the Bhitarkanika group of islands in northeastern Orissa offers not just great beaches but exciting trekking trails through forests teeming with wildlife and some thrilling boat rides.
And the islands being in Orissa, you could package your holiday with visits to the state_fs famous ancient temples at the great heritage centres of Puri, Bhubaneswar and Konarak. (They are always worth a second visit if you have done them before.)
The Bhitarkanika islands can be reached from Bhadrak on the Calcutta-Madras railway line that also passes through Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. A night train from Calcutta_fs Howrah station will reach Bhadrak (297 km) at dawn. (Alternatively, you could take a train in the opposite direction from Bhubaneswar).
The beach, also known as Garhimata, is famous as the nesting ground of Olive Ridley turtles. They are an endangered species, and wildlife conservationists have of late mounted special efforts to save from poachers the hundreds of thousands of turtles that land here every winter to lay eggs. The turtles, ancient creatures of the deep seas, have been homing in on remote Garhimata every nesting season (January-March) for perhaps thousands of years; it was only a few decades ago that the nesting ground was discovered by conservationists.