Velas turtle festival

Turtle Festival is celebrated each year in the form of a unique conversation program, which reflects the fact that Olive Ridley turtles are on the verge of extinction. The main objective of organizing this event is to educate people to a maximum extent regarding the successful ways of taking care of various turtles in the best possible manner

Turtle Egg Hatchery - Egg are collected and kept safely till it get hatched

Velas is a coastal village which falls in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. The place is well known for its beaches which reflect nature in its best preserved and pristine form. Besides Velas beach, here are several other tourist attractions at Velas including the Bankot Fort and the Harihareshwar Temple. However, of lately, Velas has been attracting tourists more for its Velas turtle festival maharashtra than anything else. Hundreds of Olive Ridley Turtles, one of the most treasured species of marine turtles, come ashore at Velas beach for breeding and lay hundreds of eggs. When the Velas turtle festival dates are announces, thousands of tourists visit the velas beach in order to witness baby turtles.
Dates

11th and 12th Feb 2017

While the coastal village of Velas is well known for its annual turtle festival Maharashtra, there are several other places which we visited :

1. Bankot Fort : During Homestay accommodation at velas, visited Bankot fort which is in the vicinity of these beaches. Made part of Bombay Presidency in 1756 and was the foothold of British Raj in Southern Konkan. The origin of this fort is enigmatic even for the historians which further increases its appeal for tourists.

This is the prime Velas beach and arguably one of the most naturally preserved ones which one would come across in vicinity. The fact that Olive Ridley turtles choose these beaches for laying their eggs in huge numbers vouches for its pristine form.