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Waves of thrill

Floating restaurant, kayaking, water-scooters… Chunnambar could soon be a favourite destination for tourists

PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU

GAME FOR ADVENTURE? Chunnambar, bubbling with activity

When we landed at the resort on the Cuddalore Road, we realised that it had undergone a sea change since the last time we were there. The children’s play area had been spruced up with swings and slides, and one could see even adults swinging gl eefully. And as we walked up to the waterfront, water-scooters zoomed past, speedboats splashed water, pedal boats zigzagged and the banana boat dunked the foursome seated on it.

The backwaters wore a colourful look with the crisscrossing boats, the festoons and the neon orange vests dotting the waterscape. The occasion was not just the launch of the floating restaurant but also of adventure sports at Chunnambar. Called Adventure Carnival, it was organised by the Puducherry Tourism Department in association with the National Adventure Foundation (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry chapters). Many tourists and locals watched kayaking, jumaring (climbing any tall structure without a hold) and parasailing with excitement.

Josephita, and her colleague Shrey from Chennai, tried their hand at rowing an inflated boat. On the banana boat was Anisha Jayshankar, a 13-year-old, who has been rock climbing since the age of nine and parasailing since she was three. “I know to swim so I have no problem being dunked into the water on a banana boat. The boat is pulled by a speedboat, and as the speeding boat takes a turn, the banana boat turns upside down. To hold on to the boat is the biggest thrill,” said this teenager, who had dried and changed several times over the day.

There was also zorbing — a huge inflated ball inside which people are strapped, and the ball is rolled around. “The tourism department is trying to promote Chunnambar as an adventure tourism destination and are working with NAF, which has been organising adventure carnivals here. We are also willing to teach those interested in adventure sports,” said Jayshankar and Shyamala Jayshankar, who put the show together.

The tourism department wants to reintroduce camping out on the island in Chunnambar. A group of adventure enthusiasts from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry stayed overnight on the island. They slept to the sounds of the sea and woke up to a marvellous sunrise.

At the moment, there are four speedboats, two scooters, about ten pedal boats and also other boats to take visitors to the island. The floating restaurant will take people on a slow ride on the backwaters while they savour what they order from the restaurant.

While munching on the snacks of chicken, prawns, cut fruits and dry fruits in the restaurant, we saw the sun hide behind the clouds, to leave a beautiful silver-gold lining on the sky. And suddenly the tree-lined Chunnambar backwaters and the bridge over the river looked different in the changing light.

DEEPA H. RAMAKRISHNAN

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