A different sunset each evening. And a different sunrise each morning too – if one is enthusiastic enough to wake up that early – after spending most of the night under a million stars. Make that a few million. Alright, maybe that is an exaggertaion. Blame it on the cool sands and the clear sky.
Four days on the road. My birthday on the third. A newish car. The mango season. MTDC hotels right on the sands. Home made amla juice and sol kadhi. And a surprise around every corner.
And all those road signs to keep away the boredom. And all those beaches to melt away the weariness.
There is a program on Discovery Travel and Living called Top Secret beaches – this is about some of my own. Discovered on the way to our almost holiday in Goa this April. Almost because Goa is where we set out for. And never reached. Because of these fabulous stops on the way.
First Harihareshwar. With the temple by the sea. The peaceful cove by the resort.
The speed boat owners tempting you to take a ride. The home cooked gharghuti Konkan food. All all these dogs on the beach early in the morning.
Then Ganpatiphule – the sand dunes of Ganpati. The tantalising and breath-taking glimpses of the sea in the distance even as you turn the curves on the hills just before hitting the town…
The kitschy colored mouse in front of the temple. And all the devotees looking sneakily and longingly at the inviting waters even while praying to the elephant god inside. The beach crowded just around the temple area but very quiet as you walk away to find your own space…
And Ratnagiri on our way out the next morning – of delicious mangoes and the Burmese connection. The Thibaw palace. And spectacular views of the sea crashing against the rocks – from the ruined fort…
Finally Tarkarli. Maharashtra tourism’s proud discovery – Tarkarli is fine sand, clear waters, lazing on hammocks. And at night, on the cool sands. First one star, then another, and then a few thousand more… And lots of seafood for those so inclined…
And boat rides on the backwaters – coconut trees, enough blues and greens to compete with god’s own colours… and the backwaters leading to more private beaches….
Sindhudurg on the way back to Bombay. Narrow lanes. Fishing nets. And more fresh mango juice. And Chhatrapati Shivaji (for once his own name this, not renamed in his honor) – the floating citadel in the waters just a five minute boat ride from the jetty.
The last sunset of the trip not on the sea but on far off meandering Vashishti river. From our room at the unimaginatively (but aptly) name RiverView resort at Chiplun. With a complimentary head and body massage. And an evening at the Parashuram temple – and lipsmacking kanda poha and sol kadhi at one of the small ‘cafes’ lining the narrow steps leading down to the temple. And enough papad purchases to last us a year.
And then back to Bombay. OUCH.
Oh my god. Those are just incredibly beautiful pictures. Some of them reminded me a little of Karwar and Devbagh!
Incidentally, I have visited all of the above beaches (wasn’t blogging then). Maharashtra has enough beaches to keep one busy for a lifetime. Fortunately (or unfortunately) most of them are still undiscovered. BTW the Riverview Resort in Chiplun is the same as the Taj Gateway Resort, right? Coz when we had stayed there, we had a similar view of the river although you won’t believe it, the river has changed quite a bit.
Mangs, long time! thanks. karwar and Devbagh are just further down the same coast – maybe they all feel similar…
Patrix, yes, maharashtra has some beautiful beaches – definitely fortunately not very popular yet – even uran which is close to where we live is beautiful (except for the crowds. ugh) – have been planning a South of Bombay beaches drive for a while now – Murud, kashid and the lot…
And yes, it used to be a Taj property till recently…
All these deserve to be on the MTDC website or an Incredible India brochure. Did you carry a Outlook Traveller with you ?
Lovely pics Charu…maybe I’ll be more tempted to make that Bombay trip now 🙂
now that…is what I call having a really good time!! Too bad i’m miles from warm sea water (the water in the pacific nw is freezing cold).
The entire Konkan coast (down to Karnataka) is superb…..and the Malabar coast (further south) is just as wonderful. The Arabian sea takes a nice blue color (unlike the Bay of Bengal, which is a greenish-brown)……
But the best sandy beaches are in Orissa…..drive out 50 km from puri’s crowded beaches, and you’re really in paradise.
Or drive out from Chennai, towards Pondy….and you’ll see some fantastic sand along the way.
Great pictures. Sunil is right – the Konkan coast has some great beaches. We did a road trip from Bangalore to Goa in Dec ’91. Unfortunately, my memories of the trip are clouded by the communal violence we witnessed on our way back in Karnataka.
Hi Charu
These pictures are wonderful. I would love to visit these places someday.
It does seem remarkable that in such a remarkable overcrowed country like India, there are many wonderful secluded beaches.
I remember visiting a beach called fisherman’s cove about 20 miles from Chennai. It wasn’t too crowded. Maybe we will have a chance to visit there again in two months.
But I wonder if the water is really safe to swim in. When I was 11, my family made a trip to Italy which was still a bit backward at that time. They dumped raw sewage in their ocean. I got very sick from swimming in that water. I wouldn’t want my son to get sick.
Akshay, thanks 🙂 coming from you, that is high praise (really admire your camera eye).
yup, we had the OT weekend breaks with us
Aparna, yes. you’ve been threatening me with this bombay trip for the last three months atleast!
Sunil, Rahul thanks! the konkan coast definitely has some fantastic beaches… been planning a road trip South of Bombay – both the Konkan beaches and maybe further down to the Kerala coast.
have also done a long Karnataka coastline drive two years ago – some other blog post 🙂
Michael, thanks! I am quite happy these places are secluded – though not all the beaches we visited were – for instance, both harihareshwar and Ganpatiphule are temple towns and attract ‘devotional’ crowds – the worst kinds! guess it has more to do with the season – avoid public holidays and festival times and we shd be good 🙂
I think these waters are quite safe to swim in – where there is danger, there are usually warning boards…
Nice pictures. Did you stay in Malvan when you visited Sindhudurg? Ganpatipule rocks too. Especially the hill, allegedly shaped like an elephant when viewed from above, and the footpath all around it for devotees to walk. And I remember the starfish you could collect, playing in the sea off Ganpatipule.
The only place missing in the photos is Murud Janjira. Although I don’t know if it’s as beautiful as it was when I went there 20 years ago.
Gawker, thanks! Murud janjira is some other weekend – maybe now that the rains have finally stopped. we didnt stay in malvan but in tarkarli… stopped at malvan on our way back…
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Sujatha, thank you ( three times) 🙂
thanks a ton! Now I know where I’m going next week…
Hi
I’m about to set off to explore this area with my kite….does anyone know if there are strong winds on any of these beaches…I need some wind to fly…and if there is, what timeof the day it comes in…
thanks and will post photos once I gt back
ed
Ummm.. I just had been to Tarkarli beach this weekend 7,8 and 9th Jan. and…. I shall say the beach is “Awesome!!”.. i shall post some pics of tarkarli beach at my site soon!
Great Pictures … lovely .. makes me wanna pack my bags now!
These are wonderful pictures.These have increased my curiosity to go there…..
Yes the Tarkarli area is beautiful!! I stayed in this area for 6 weeks.
If you go to Tarkarli, ask for the Tari family guesthouse – it is right next to the pretty expensive resort in front of the main beach, but much cheaper. I stayed there for a few weeks – they should still remember me (Frank) as not many foreign tourists go there.
Go down to the tip of Devbagh for another nice beach, for a fee you can be taken on a boat trip, and if you’re lucky see dolphins. There used to be a computer kiosk with Internet connection, I’m quite curious if it is still there. The kids there were pretty good at surfing the net. Say hi from me to those kids if you ever go there. (I was there for a research project). Maybe you could let me know if you do? My e-mail: frvc@dse.nl
lovely photos.. i was just googling for harihareshwar and u make me quite tempted to be there..thanks for making me more inclined..see my page if u r inclined to photography http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifeiscooldude
Cheers,
Siddharth
good info there…. can anybody gimme a link that will tell in detail abt dapoli and harnai beaches????