Anjarle Turtle Festival

Overview

Every spring, endangered olive ridley turtles come ashore along a stretch of the Konkan coast to nest, and a few months later their hatchlings make a first, precarious dash across the sand to the Arabian Sea. Velas gets most of the attention for this, but Anjarle runs the same conservation program with a fraction of the crowd — the same protected nests, the same forest-department-timed releases, watched by a fraction of the people.

The trip itself stays gentle throughout: an easy two-day stay built around dawn and dusk hatchling releases, with no climbing and no long walks, just quiet beach and village time between watches. Anjarle adds one thing Velas doesn't have on the same scale — a centuries-old temple perched above the creek, giving the weekend a bit of Konkan culture alongside the wildlife watching. Outside the festival window, Anjarle is simply a sleepy, unhurried beach village, which is part of why it feels so different from the busier turtle-watching villages nearby.

March and April are the festival window, timed to the olive ridleys' natural hatch cycle, and Wild Rangers schedules batches specifically around the forest department's release dates during those months — outside that window there's nothing to watch, so this genuinely is a spring-only trip. Because the releases happen at set times of day, the schedule naturally leaves plenty of room for beach walks, the temple visit and simply doing nothing much at all, which is exactly the pace this weekend is meant to run at.

At about 250 km from Mumbai and 220 km from Pune, it runs as a two-day batch with transport, a seaside stay or camp, meals, a guide and festival access all included. It pairs naturally with a stop in Dapoli or a comparison visit to Velas if you want to see both villages' approach to the same conservation effort. If the appeal of Velas is the turtles but the crowd is the drawback, Anjarle gives you the former without the latter — a calm, purpose-filled Konkan weekend built around one of the coast's genuinely feel-good wildlife moments.

Because the hatchling releases follow nature's own timing rather than a fixed show schedule, a bit of patience is part of the experience — watches happen at dawn and dusk and sometimes ask for a quiet wait on the sand beforehand, which suits the generally unhurried pace of the whole weekend. Bring a torch with a red or dim filter rather than a bright phone light (strong white light disturbs the hatchlings), comfortable sandals for the sand, and a light jacket for the cooler dawn watch.

Based in Ratnagiri District, this easy 2-day trek is best attempted during March, April — when the trail and surroundings are at their most rewarding.

Day-wise Itinerary

Trip Highlights

• ✓Olive ridley turtle hatchling releases — quieter and less crowded than Velas
• ✓Centuries-old Anjarle temple perched above the creek
• ✓Easy, gentle two-day pace with no climbing involved
• ✓Seaside stay or camp included alongside the wildlife watching
• ✓Strictly a March–April trip, timed to the forest department's release schedule
• ✓Two-day batch from Mumbai (~250 km) or Pune (~220 km)

Gallery

Inclusions & Exclusions

Things to Carry

FAQs