Digha: ‘Cruise service along Champa creek to begin soon’

Kolkata: Tourists travelling to Digha, the most popular beach destination in Bengal, will soon get a flavour of Sundarbans with Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) introducing cruise service along Champa, a creek off the Bay of Bengal that connects with the sea at Digha Mohona point.

If everything goes as per plan then the cruise service is expected to kick off by December end or the beginning of the New Year 2024. The move is expected to provide a further boost to tourism at Digha in East Midnapore.

“A major portion of the wide creek along which the cruise will travel is surrounded by mangrove forest on both sides. So, tourists are expected to get a feel of Sundarbans during their Digha tour,” a senior official of DSDA said.

The construction of the vessel is going on in full swing. “Our plan is to have a capacity of 60 people at a time on board the cruise. The duration of the ride will be of approximately an hour in which a total distance of 5 km will be covered. The ticket rates will be finalized later,” a senior official of DSDA said.

The journey will start from Nayekali Temple and will then go upto 22 Pukuriya area from where it will take a backward turn upto Mohona, the meeting point of the canal and the sea and would then come back at the point of departure. Tourists will also be offered tea and light snacks during the journey.

The Nayekali temple located just 5 km away from Digha is having a good tourist footfall after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled the 29.5 km Marine Drive that connects all the four sea beach destinations – Digha, Sankarpur, Mandarmani and Tajpur reducing the travel time for the tourists.