Next morning we went back to Malpe Beach to take a 30-minute boat ride out to St. Mary's Island. There is a ferry that goes to the island several times a day, we decided to hire our own boat so that we could go/leave to our own schedule.
The island is deserted and small -- it's claim to fame are the basalt rocks that have crystallized into columns and split into vertical hexagonal blocks. The beaches are strewn with the basalt rocks and billions of shells -- so not a place for swimming or sunbathing -- but definitely a cool place to visit for a couple of hours.
According to legend, Vasco de Gama landed at St. Mary's Island on his voyage from Portugal to India in 1498. He supposedly fixed a cross on the island and named it El Padron de Santa Maria before proceeding to Kerala. Whether or not the legend is completely true -- the name stuck.
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