Ullal is a small coastal town about 10 km south of Mangalore, where the Netravathi and Gurpur rivers meet the Arabian Sea. It is still primarily a fishing village — boats go out at night, the catch comes in at dawn — but it sits close enough to Mangalore to draw visitors looking for a quieter stretch of coast.
The town carries the memory of Abbakka Rani, a 16th-century Jain queen who resisted Portuguese expansion along the Konkan coast with remarkable tenacity. She repulsed multiple Portuguese expeditions, once surrounding a frigate at night with her Mogaveera warriors and routing the crew. When a larger armada was finally sent under the Portuguese Governor himself, she was betrayed — legend says for a casket of silver. The ruins of her temple still stand, and locals speak of her with genuine pride. A small moat to the south marks what may have been her palace.
Ullal Beach runs south from the town for several kilometres, backed by casuarina trees. The river bar — where the rivers meet the sea, with Mangalore visible across the water and the Western Ghats in the distance — is one of the better views in the region. Cycling along the backwaters and joining fishermen on their trips out to sea are the main reasons to linger.