Chilika Lake Queen of Natural Scenery

Chilika Overview

Chilika Lake in Odisha is Asia's biggest internal salt water pond studded with few tiny islands including the most charming Honeymoon Island and the Breakfast Island. Chilika Lake - Asia's largest brackish water lagoon with water spread ranging from 1165 sq km in the rainy season to 906 sq km in the dry season is nestled in the heart of the coastal Odisha. It extends from Bhusandpur in Puri district in the North to Rambha-Malud in Ganjam district in the South, separated from the Bay of Bengal by a 60 km long narrow strip of marshy islands and sand-flats.

Chilika Lake, popularly known as Chilka, the queen of Natural scenery in Odisha, also known as the Swiss-lake in the continent. Nestling in the heart of coastal Odisha, during dry season, it runs along the borders of three districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam and finally joins the Bay of Bengal through a narrow mouth, forming an enormous lagoon of brackish water.

Bird Sanctuary & Nalaban Island

Chilika Lake is treated as the real paradise for bird-lovers and ornithologists since the whole vicinity attracts large numbers of aquatic birds preferably in winters for the migratory counts. Nalaban Island is about an hour away on a motor-powered boat from the Barkul boat marina. Although you need a permit to enter Nalaban Island itself, you can hire a boat (from OTDC Panthanivas) and camp a few hundred meters away from the shore of the island to view the spectacular flocks.