What to expect
Highlights
- The tortoise-shaped island.
- The hilltop Narasimha temple.
- Snorkelling and the annual jatra.
Kurmagad Island
A tortoise-shaped island ~4 km off Karwar with a hilltop Narasimha temple, snorkelling and an annual jatra; reached by boat. This island guide is organized from Karwar in Uttara Kannada district, with practical planning for routes, timing, nearby stays, food, operators and direct local inventory. Use it to compare what to see, how long to spend, when to go and which homestays, boat operators, houseboats, canoe guides, restaurants and last-mile transfers should be verified around Kurmagad Island.
Practical guide
Plan Kurmagad Island
Who's going?Tailor Kurmagad Island to your trip
Typeisland
Nearest baseKarwar
DistrictUttara Kannada
Best timeThe calm season when boats run
Time neededHalf a day with the boat
EntryFree
Places to visit4→Listed businesses12→Kurmagad is a tortoise-shaped island about 4 km off Karwar, with a hilltop Narasimha temple.
It offers snorkelling and an annual jatra, and is reached by boat.
Getting there
How to visit
- About 4 km off Karwar, reached by boat; arrange a local boat from Karwar.
- A boat trip and a short climb to the temple — wear a life jacket and check the sea.
Distance by road
- Panaji (Goa)100 km
- Hubballi165 km
- Udupi175 km
- Mangaluru270 km
- Bengaluru500 km
Road km to Uttara Kannada; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.
Timing
Best time
The calm season when boats run — avoid the rough monsoon sea.
Weather in Kurmagad IslandSeasonal guide
Live forecast loads in your browser.
Today at Kurmagad Island
Sunrise6:22 am
Sunset6:44 pm
Golden hour best light5:44 pm–6:44 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:44 pm–7:09 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 278°
Moon tonight🌗 Last quarter · 48%
Sunset is in about 2 hours.
South-west monsoon. June to September is monsoon season: the sea gets rough, swimming is often unsafe and boat services can be suspended. Follow lifeguard and local warnings, and expect changeable conditions.
Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.
Visitor notes
- A boat trip and hill climb — go with a licensed boatman and carry water.
Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop
Stays, food & things to do near Kurmagad Island
Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Kurmagad Island — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.
5 places to stay near Kurmagad Island
7 places to eat near Kurmagad Island
7 sights to see near Kurmagad Island
3 nature spots near Kurmagad Island
E
Emerald Bay, Karwar, Sterling Holidays
Place to stay
Top pick
Hotel
Emerald Bay, Karwar, Sterling HolidaysA three-star resort operated by Sterling Holidays on the coast about 5 km south of the town centre, and the largest branded hotel in Karwar. OpenStreetMap's surveyors visited it on the ground and recorded wi-fi, wheelchair access and the three-star grade. It is a package resort rather than a town hotel: expect to be driven in and out for everything in Karwar itself.
P
Prafulla Homestay
Place to stay
Top pick
Homestay
Prafulla HomestayHomestay on Ocean Deck Road at Sadashivgad, north of the river and roughly 8 km round from the town centre, near the estuary rather than the town beach. OpenStreetMap records its address as Ocean Deck Rd, Sadashivgad, Karwar 581352 and a mobile number for it; there is no website, so confirm rooms and rates on the phone.
E
Estuary View Resort
Place to stay
Top pick
Homestay
Estuary View ResortGuest house on the Sadashivgad side of the Kali, named for the view it is built to face — the river mouth where the Kali meets the Arabian Sea, with the islands beyond it. About 6 km round by road from the town centre, which puts it away from the town beach and beside the estuary instead. It publishes no website or tariff we could verify; ring ahead in season.
H
Hotel Mahamaya
Place to stay
Hotel
Hotel MahamayaHotel on Link Road at Sadashivgad, on the Majali side of the river bridge and about 5 km from the town centre — a useful position if you are heading for Majali beach or driving on to Goa rather than staying on the town seafront. No official website or published tariff could be verified for it.
I
Inspection Bungalow
Place to stay
Guest house
Inspection BungalowThe government inspection bungalow in the town centre, eleven minutes' walk from the seafront — the old Public Works rest house of the kind every district headquarters in India has, built for touring officials and let to the public only when it is free and only through the department. Not a hotel: there is no booking site, no tariff card and no reception in the usual sense. Worth knowing about, not worth planning around.
Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.
Ranked
The best of Karwar, ranked
Kurmagad Island sits in Karwar, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.
Across the whole of Karwar
Ranked guides
Top experiences around Karwar
3 more places around Karwar, each worth a day of its own.
beachKarwar Beach
4.1 km · ~10 min by auto
The long shallow town strand of Karwar under its headland, running south from the mouth of the Kali river — the evening promenade of the district headquarters, with fishing boats drawn up on the sand and the Western Ghats behind.
fortSadashivgad Fort
3.5 km · ~9 min by auto
A Sonda-era hill fort of 1715 above the mouth of the Kali river, about 5 km from Karwar, with the Shantadurga temple and a 17th-century dargah on the way up and the Arabian Sea and its islands below.
beachTagore Beach & INS Chapal Museum
4.4 km · ~11 min by auto
Karwar’s main promenade beach, named for Rabindranath Tagore, who stayed here in 1882 and wrote a chapter of his memoirs about it — with the decommissioned missile boat INS Chapal preserved on the sand as a walk-through warship museum and a retired Tu-142 patrol aircraft beside it.
Roampedia is commission-free — own or know a stay, eatery, guide or shop near Kurmagad Island? List it and it appears here once verified.
Add a nearby businessBefore you go
Kurmagad Island — at a glance
TimingsBoat trips by day; weather-dependent
Best timeThe calm season; not the rough monsoon sea
Entry: Free island; boat charged
Getting here
How to reach Kurmagad Island
About 4 km off Karwar, reached by boat; arrange a local boat from Karwar
Getting back
Work out your return before you settle in for the sunset. Public transport here thins out sharply in the evening, and Kurmagad Island is easier to reach than to leave. We do not publish departure times: there is no official live feed we are permitted to republish, and a wrong time here would strand you. Check the operator directly on the day.
- KSRTC — the Karnataka state bus operator; route and schedule enquiries. Online booking.
- Indian Railways — live running and seat availability for the nearest railhead, named under “Getting here” above.
Ask at the bus stand for the time of the last service back, not the next one. If you miss it, an auto or app cab is the fallback — agree the fare before you get in.
Getting around Kurmagad Island
We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.
If you need help at Kurmagad Island
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).100Police101Fire108Ambulance (emergency / EMS)1091Women’s helpline (distress)1098Child helpline1363Tourist helpline (India, 24×7, multilingual)
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
Nearby
What’s near Kurmagad Island
On the map
Where Kurmagad Island is
Good to know
Kurmagad Island — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit Kurmagad Island?
The calm season when boats run — avoid the rough monsoon sea.
What are the entry fee and timings at Kurmagad Island?
Entry: Free island; boat charged. Timings: Boat trips by day; weather-dependent.
How do I reach Kurmagad Island?
About 4 km off Karwar, reached by boat; arrange a local boat from Karwar. A boat trip and a short climb to the temple — wear a life jacket and check the sea.
How much time do I need for Kurmagad Island?
Half a day with the boat.
What else is near Kurmagad Island?
Nearby you can pair Sadashivgad Fort (3.5 km), Karwar Beach (4.1 km), Tagore Beach & INS Chapal Museum (4.4 km), Gokarna Beach (39.6 km).
Read before you go
Kurmagad Island guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about Kurmagad Island itself yet. These cover Karwar, the town it sits in, and the wider district.
Around Karwar
Kurmagad Island sits in Karwar, so these cover the streets, buildings and surroundings around it.
Day-trip guide
Day Trips from Karwar: The Whole of Uttara Kannada from One Base
6 min read · Read →
Story
Tagore in Karwar: Four Months That Gave a Beach Its Name
5 min read · Read →
Story
The Last Ward: How Karwar Got Its Name, and Its Language
6 min read · Read →
Story
Sadashivgad: The Fort at the Mouth of the Kali
6 min read · Read →
Town guide
Karwar Town Guide: The Beach Town at the Mouth of the Kali
8 min read · Read →
Itinerary
Karwar in 2 Days: Beach, Warship, Fort and Island
6 min read · Read →
Karnataka-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Karnataka.
Image credits
Photographs: S5OKINFINITY, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wikimedia Commons.