Honnemaralu island near Talaguppa, Sagar

Honne maralu is a nice some 25kms off Sagara, near Talaguppa, on the way to Jog falls.

 

The name appears to be formed using two kannada words- Honnu (Gold) and Maralu(Sand). Often spelt has honnemaradu.

Honne mardu is much better place to explore than Jog falls (except few months of the year when Jog falls will be flowing full). However Honnemaradu is much less promoted and is often ignored by tourists visiting this area.

What is there in Honne maralu?

Honne maradu is a catchment area for Linganamakki dam (River Sharavati) and has water all around, with an island in between. I read on internet that sand here gets golden colour during sunset. However during our visit we hardly spotted any sand there. Not sure if everyone is referring to the tiny rocks and red soil.

Water levels vary depending on what time of the year you visit. Island is accessible by foot when water levels are low.

We couldn’t go there for sunset. We reached there during sunrise time. I read that there’re few organizations arranging adventure sports around this area. We didn’t spot any-may be because we went there very early or we took a different entrance

 

How to go to Honnemaralu?

Get to Sagar/Thalaguppa from Blr/Shimoga or other towns in Karnataka. From Talaguppa, drive towards jog falls for about 2-3 kms (you’ll cross a lake on your left, called Gowri Kere). Take left at a junction which points towards  Kargal. Couple of kms further, you need to take another left. The sign boards which mention the name Honnemaradu are in Kannada and is at a highly deteriorated state, so you may miss it. There’re two other turns you need to take (both left) at intersections. Last 8 kms have bad roads. Drivable with ordinary cars, but MPV/SUV preferred.

As said earlier, Honnemaradu is heavily underpromoted. It doesn’t get a mention on any of the tourist location display boards set up by Karnataka Tourism, there’re absolutely no signboard on main road mentioning Honemardu, there’s no facilities (road, food etc) near Honemaradu. But then, places like this is best left untouched. Too much attention will flood this place with plastics, visitors will be charged entry fee, parking fee, camera fee and so on

We only explored one part of Honnemaralu. It is a vast location. If we'd driven few kms further or trekked around, may be there's something better to see. This place deserves another visit.

Adventure activities near Honnemaralu:
Internet literature says some adventure activities are being organized near Honnemaradu. We didn't see any sign board on that nor any one doing adventure activities. May be we had to drive further or it was too early for adventure activities to start.

What are the other nearby places close to Honnemaradu?

Jog Falls (25kms), Keladi, Ikkeri, Holebagilu, Nagara Fort * Thyavareker tiger-lion safari * Sakrebailu * Gajanur Dam * Shivappa Naik Palace, Shimoga * Mathur *