On Gujarat’s Gulf of Kutch, the Marine National Park protects an intertidal landscape whose character changes with the water. At high tide, reefs, flats and channels are submerged; as the sea falls, exposed ground reveals a complex coastal ecosystem. The protected area sits along the Jamnagar coast and includes island and shoreline habitats. Gujarat Tourism distinguishes the Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, declared in 1980, from the national park, established in 1982.
The tourism authority lists the sanctuary at about 458 square kilometres and the national park at about 163 square kilometres, with 42 islands along the coast. Those figures describe the protected system, not an area that can be explored freely. The district administration identifies Pirotan as an island reached by boat from Bedi Port, while the tourism authority describes Pirotan and Narala as visitor destinations subject to changing conditions and permission.