editorial

Words by Sneha Thomas June 1, 2026
A catamaran journey offers glimpses of crocodiles and riverine communities in <a href="https://destinasian.com/travel-guide/india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a>’s second-largest mangrove system.
<figure id="attachment_157187" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157187" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157187" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Village-Life-and-Crocodile-Sign.jpeg" alt="A resident of one of the riverine communities on the outskirts of Bhitarkanika National Park; a cautionary sign in the forests behind Shikar Kothi." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Village-Life-and-Crocodile-Sign.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Village-Life-and-Crocodile-Sign-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Village-Life-and-Crocodile-Sign-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Village-Life-and-Crocodile-Sign-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157187" class="wp-caption-text">A resident of one of the riverine communities on the outskirts of Bhitarkanika National Park; a cautionary sign in the forests behind Shikar Kothi. (Photos: Sneha Thomas)</figcaption></figure>
“Where is Kalia?”
“Might have gone for lunch.”
I listened to this casual exchange between our host and onboard naturalist as the motor catamaran navigated a muddy creek, dense mangroves closing in on both sides. “This is his territory,” one of them added—and the penny dropped. Kalia was not a person, but a saltwater crocodile, the world’s largest reptile. I kept my eyes on the water, scanning for a presence spoken of like a pet.
My pre-trip research on Bhitarkanika National Park, a sprawling estuarine reserve in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, pointed to two very different narratives. One framed it as the country’s most successful species-recovery effort, with the state forestry department’s 2025 census confirming 1,825 crocodiles—the highest population in the country. The other was an unsettling record of human lives lost to crocodile attacks, somewhat at odds with the friendly banter about Kalia. To help mitigate this while bolstering conservation, the government has restricted fishing by riverine communities along the park’s fringes and promoted tourism as an alternative livelihood.
I boarded the twin-hulled MV Brahmani in Dangamal village for a three-day cruise that would take me beyond the headlines that define the park. The boat’s manager and my host for this trip, Sanghamitra Jena, started her career as Odisha’s first female guide in the early 1990s, at a time when women stepping into public roles was almost unheard of. When Delhi-based <a href="https://www.antaracruises.com/mv-baitarani-and-mv-brahmani/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Antara Cruises</a> decided to begin operations in Bhitarkanika, Sanghamitra, long involved in local tourism initiatives, was the obvious choice to lead.
Launched last year, the project began with the refurbishment of four abandoned catamarans from an earlier, unsuccessful attempt. They were little more than floating frames. Now, they each feature a lounge, an upper sundeck, and just two teak-floored suites accented by traditional Gond artwork. Better still, these comforts are matched by a deep commitment to sustainability. With its shallow draft, low-emission engines, hybrid solar-diesel system, and strict waste management practices, the Brahmani and her fleet mates are designed to minimize their impact, keeping this fragile ecosystem—recognized by the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance—undisturbed.
From Dangamal, we glided through the delta of the Brahmani and Baitarani rivers, a landscape stitched together by creeks, estuaries, and thick mangrove forests. Bhitarkanika National Park has been called the Amazon of the East, and it certainly feels like a wild adventure, though one cushioned by such luxuries as onboard butler service. “None of them come from hospitality schools,” Sanghamitra said of her six-member crew, who were drawn from nearby villages. But you wouldn’t know it. Each time we returned from a hot and humid outing, we were greeted with a smiling “namaste,” a cold towel, and a refreshing mint-lime drink—small acts of care that extended to meals and everything in between.
While the menu offered globally inspired dishes and a decent selection of wines, my favorite meals showcased traditional Odiya cuisine. “Everything is prepared the way our parents did, using local spices like ginger and mustard that are freshly ground into pastes,” Sanghamitra explained. With meat not permitted within the park, recipes revolved around fish—grilled, cooked in butter-garlic sauce, or poached in coconut-milk curry—and vegetables, including surprising preparations of pumpkin and plantain flowers. Breakfasts were served in the lounge, with lunch and dinner moving outdoors as the weather allowed, days closing with candlelit meals accompanied by fireflies.
Each day’s itinerary was a negotiation with the tide. At high water, spotting crocodiles was difficult as the reptiles lay hidden in the mangroves or submerged beneath the surface. When the tide receded, we shifted to a small motorboat better suited to the shallow creeks, allowing for clearer sightings. “Look at that mudflat,” instructed our naturalist guide, Ramesh. On the exposed bank, a crocodile lay sunbathing. “Because they are cold-blooded, they move onto the mudflats at low tide to absorb heat and regulate their body temperature,” he explained, describing a pattern that led to more sightings over the following days.
<figure id="attachment_157183" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157183" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157183" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Birds-in-the-Trees.jpeg" alt="A nesting colony of migratory Asian openbill storks." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Birds-in-the-Trees.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Birds-in-the-Trees-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Birds-in-the-Trees-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Birds-in-the-Trees-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157183" class="wp-caption-text">A nesting colony of migratory Asian openbill storks. (Photo: Sneha Thomas)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_157186" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157186" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157186" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Deck-and-Manager.jpeg" alt="Lunch with a view on the sundeck of the MV Brahmani catamaran; Sanghamitra Jena manages Antara Cruises’ operations in Bhitarkanika." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Deck-and-Manager.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Deck-and-Manager-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Deck-and-Manager-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Deck-and-Manager-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157186" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Lunch with a view on the sundeck of the MV Brahmani catamaran; Sanghamitra Jena manages Antara Cruises’ operations in Bhitarkanika. (Photos: Sneha Thomas)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_157185" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157185" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157185" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Aerial.jpg" alt="The MV Brahmani in the delta of its namesake river." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Aerial.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Aerial-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Aerial-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-Aerial-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157185" class="wp-caption-text">The MV Brahmani in the delta of its namesake river. (Courtesy of Antara Cruises)</figcaption></figure>
Early one morning, we docked at Shikar Kothi, a former hunting lodge dating to the 19th century. Leaving the river behind, we set off on an eight-kilometer forest trek, skirting a lotus pond where a sign cautioned BEWARE OF CROCODILE. “Not to fear,” Sanghamitra said calmly. “Crocodiles don’t see humans as prey. They attack only when they feel threatened.” Beyond its crocs, Bhitarkanika is home to cobras and pythons, fishing cats and mongooses, and more than 200 bird species, a diversity that draws birdwatchers. Soon we passed a herd of spotted deer, their mud-streaked legs hinting at the terrain ahead. The path then narrowed into single-file stretches where slippery mud demanded careful footing. Our trek brought encounters with other forest inhabitants too, from monitor lizards—which feed on crocodile eggs and hatchlings—to nesting colonies of Asian openbill storks, named for the gap in their bills that helps them snatch snails and mollusks from the mudflats.
The next stop on our itinerary brought us back to Dangamal, where the park’s conservation framework is showcased at a recently renovated visitor’s center. Inside, displays traced the ecological significance of saltwater crocodiles, apex predators that occupy the top of the food chain and play a crucial role in regulating and sustaining the mangrove ecosystem. One exhibit featured a six-meter-long croc skeleton, a size seldom documented. In rearing enclosures close by, living examples of the species included Gori and Malli, rare albino crocodiles with near-celebrity status.
A documentary screened at the center charted Bhitarkanika’s long arc from crocodile decline to recovery. Once a hunting ground for rulers of the bygone princely estate of Kanika, the region saw its crocodile populations collapse along- side mangrove degradation. In 1975, when the Indian government launched the Crocodile Conservation Project with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization, Odisha took a lead role. Eggs were collected from the wild, incubated safely, and hatchlings reared away from predators before being released into protected habitats. The enclosures today continue to offer a rare opportunity to observe crocodile hatchlings at different stages of early life.
From the center, a 600-meter wooden canopy bridge carried us into a stretch of India’s second-largest mangrove forest, the backbone of Bhitarkanika, standing guard over this cyclone-prone coast. Built for minimal disturbance, the walkway offered a closer look at the hentala mangroves that cloak the landscape, while crocodiles remained hidden below, perhaps watching us in silence.
On the final day, after disembarking at Gupti, we visited a riverine village near the park boundary where the old ways of life endure. On paths lined with mud-built homes, women strolled by in cotton saris worn without blouses, a reminder of India’s pre-Victorian dressing traditions. A few men huddled around a card game; the rest were presumably tending their fields. With fishing now prohibited, many young people have migrated to cities for work.
During the May–July breeding season, when the park closes, crocodiles range beyond their usual territories in search of nesting grounds, sometimes entering rivers close to settlements like this. At high tide, when the boundary between land and water dissolves and daily life draws people into the river, encounters can turn tragic. “We believe challenges can be turned into possibilities,” Sanghamitra said. This cruise is part of that possibility—supporting conservation and sustaining communities, a model of coexistence in the making.
<figure id="attachment_157184" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157184" style="width: 1616px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157184" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran.jpeg" alt="The MV Brahmani catamaran on a mangrove-lined river in Bhitarkanika National Park." width="1616" height="1080" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran.jpeg 1616w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-768x513.jpeg 768w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-1536x1027.jpeg 1536w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Bhitarkanika-India-Wildlife-Cruise-Catamaran-1568x1048.jpeg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1616px) 100vw, 1616px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157184" class="wp-caption-text">The MV Brahmani on a mangrove-lined river in Bhitarkanika National Park. (Courtesy of Antara Cruises)</figcaption></figure>
Three-day sailings aboard the <a href="https://www.antaracruises.com/mv-baitarani-and-mv-brahmani/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MV Brahmani</a> start at US$1,065 per person.
&nbsp;
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March/May 2026</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Turn of the Tides”). Buy a single issue or subscribe <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

The MV Brahmani catamaran on a mangrove-lined river in Bhitarkanika National Park.

Exploring the Wonders of Bhitarkanika National Park