Malpe St. Mary's Island

St. Mary’s Islands are a small archipelago of four islets off the coast near Malpe, geologically remarkable for their columnar basaltic lava formations — hexagonal rock columns formed by the rapid cooling of volcanic lava roughly 88 million years ago, among only a handful of such formations found in India. The islands are a designated National Geological Monument.

Local tradition and some historical accounts identify these islands as the first point where the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sighted or set foot on the Indian subcontinent in 1498, prior to his better- documented landing at Kappad near Kozhikode; he is said to have named them “Il de Padrao” and left a commemorative cross.

Getting there: The islands are reached by a short boat ride from Malpe harbour, one of Karnataka’s busiest fishing ports; the Malpe Post Office is close to the harbour and jetty area.