[StarBoard]

So after lurking around for more than a decade and three years after being admitted as a member, it's time to post my first thread, a photologue of a short but sweet Konkan trip undertaken in May.

Initially planned to take my trusted Dzire but with my sister's family too deciding to join, rented an Ertiga instead.

Day 1:Thane to Guhagar
This day was quite special for me as I turned 40! Started around 7:30 from Thane and took the Expressway till the Khopoli exit. Avoided NH66 as the road condition is not very good. From there on took the road via Imagica and through Pali town. One suggestion to the readers: On reaching near Pali town do not continue straight as Google Maps recommends. Instead enter the town and take SH 98. This road initially passes through the narrow town roads but once past the famous Pali Ballaleshwar temple, it opens up and is just fantastic. It helps one to skip some part of the NH 66 and joins it at Mangaon. Then the route continues straight along NH 66 via Mahad and Chiplun. From Chiplun we took the NH 166E to Guhagar. It took us around 10 hours including breakfast, lunch and tea breaks (you know how things are with toddlers on board). Guhagar is a small town in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. It's highlight is the 6.5 km long beach which is the second longest beach in India. Our stay was booked at Regenta Mango Village, a serene place with villas nestled amidst mango trees and filled with the fragrance of Plumeria flowers. At night ordered a cake to celebrate my entry into the fifth decade of life!

Day 2:Guhagar and Velneshwar
Spent time lazying and strolling around in the huge property. The villas in the property (around 80 odd) are actually owned by private individuals. Those opting in the scheme with the management are allowed to rent out the villas and the revenue is shared. Later in the day we headed to Velneshwar. It is a smaller town around 20 km away, famous for its ancient Velneshwar Shiva temple from which the town gets it's name. The temple is situated just next to the beach. The beach is beautiful but due to the blazing hot sun we just took a few photos and headed to MTDC Velneshwar for lunch. The moment you are at the gates of the MTDC resort, you see one of the most stunning sights of the journey. Situated on a cliff, the resort offers an amazing view of Velneshwar beach and the immense expanse of the Arabian sea. Photos do not do any justice to the actual view. Had some good sea food here before heading to Hedavi Ganesh temple and then back to Guhagar beach. Guhagar beach is one of the best beaches in Maharashtra that I have been to. It is indeed very long but even more beautiful is the fine white sand (finest that I remember seeing) and clear water. Kids really enjoyed frolicking here. After watching a nice sunset we called it a day.

Day 3: Guhagar to Dapoli
The direct distance between Guhagar and Dapoli as the crow flies is not more than 30 km. However due to the presence of a wide river (Vashishthi) in between, there are only two options available. The longer route is around 110 km via Chiplun which takes 3.5 hours. The more convenient option is to drive to Dhopave (around 17 km away) and take a ferry to Dabhol (site of the infamous Enron fiasco). The ferry crosses in just 5 minutes and takes your cars along. From Dabhol, Dapoli is a 30 km drive. Dapoli is a town known for its Krishi Vidyapeeth (Agricultural University) and the multiple beaches on its fringes. Our stop was at one of those beaches (Karde beach) at Hotel Kinara. This simple hotel owned by the Jadhav family is situated bang opposite the Karde beach with just a single lane road separating the two. All rooms have direct sea view. We spent the day relaxing and taking in the views and having some delicious sea food custom-made for us.

Day 4: Dapoli
First stop for the day was to Kadyavarcha Ganpati (translated to Ganpati on the cliff). This is a famous temple situated on a cliff near the town of Anjarle. It is a 30 minute drive from Karde. From atop the cliff we get a panoramic view of the Arabian sea and the deserted Anjarle beach and lighthouse. After lunch we headed back to the hotel and spent evening getting thoroughly soaked in the Arabian sea.

Day 5: Dapoli to Thane
We headed back home in what was a 240 km drive. The route is via SH 96 to Mahad and then via NH 66 to Pali followed by Expessway from Khopoli.

[StarBoard]

Enough of words, now let the photos do the talking:

Day 1:

Regenta Mango Village, Guhagar


Villas with the beautiful and fragrant Plumeria (Chafa in Marathi) flowers




The villas at Mango village


Mangoes Galore!


The restaurant "Aamrai"


Day 2:

Velneshwar Beach




View from MTDC Velneshwar






Day 3:

View from room, Hotel Kinara, Karde Beach









Day 4:

Some more pics of the hotel
























Anjarle Beach


Maharashtra is gifted with a terrific coastline, most of which is quite unexplored. While visitors flock to popular beach towns of Alibaug, Murud-Janjira, Ganpatipule and Tarkarli, the beaches of Ratnagiri district (like the ones pictured above) offer beautiful white sands minus the crowds. In spite of the maddening heat and humidity, the beautiful Konkan coast and the small interior roads of Maharashtra never cease to soothe me and offer respite from the otherwise hectic city life. I know I will keep coming back to these!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[A350]

Fantastic travelogue, heartfelt wishes on entering the Golden decade of your life.

[miheerkp]

Absolutely beautiful! I am planning a trip to the Konkan region in September, when it’s at it’s most beautiful during the monsoon. You’ve inspired me to share my travel stories as well!

[Mustang Sammy]

Lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.
How were the mangoes?

[traveller_riz]

Amazing and very inspiring. Got me thinking when I should make my plan for this very doable and beautiful trip from Mumbai. Thanks and God Bless !

[nithin92]

Really beautiful photos and an interesting trip as well! I never realised Ratnagiri offered so much!! Thanks for sharing. I've added these to my vacation destinations. Can you help by sharing the costs for the stay?

[AltrozGuy]

Great pics.. I just got back from my Dapoli trip this weekend near Karde beach.

I had started from Thane and Maps showed me the Mumbai-Pune Expressway instead of the NH-66 while going to Dapoli.. So it was a smooth 6 hour drive on Friday early morning.

Although, while coming back yesterday, looking at the traffic on Expressway (30 mins+ extra), I opted for the NH66 (Old Mumbai - Goa Highway).. The road is still in the same condition as I had travelled on it 3 years ago during my Goa roadtrip (read: pathetic)

I had to drive slowly keeping my 17 inchers low profile tyres of Ecosport in mind.. Now they are concretising a section of the road near Karnala which was laid fresh 4 years ago, so not sure about the priorities..

Is that highway ever going to be repaired?

[StarBoard]

Originally Posted by A350

Fantastic travelogue, heartfelt wishes on entering the Golden decade of your life.

Originally Posted by miheerkp

Absolutely beautiful! I am planning a trip to the Konkan region in September, when it’s at it’s most beautiful during the monsoon. You’ve inspired me to share my travel stories as well!

Originally Posted by traveller_riz

Amazing and very inspiring. Got me thinking when I should make my plan for this very doable and beautiful trip from Mumbai. Thanks and God Bless !

Thank you @A350, @miheerkp, @traveller_riz for the appreciation.

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.
How were the mangoes?

@Mustang Sammy The mangoes from this part are amazing. Bought dozens of them to relish at home

Originally Posted by nithin92

Really beautiful photos and an interesting trip as well! I never realised Ratnagiri offered so much!! Thanks for sharing. I've added these to my vacation destinations. Can you help by sharing the costs for the stay?

@nithin92 The stay at Mango village was in 2-bedroom villas, costing around 12k per night. Charges at Kinara were around 4k.
Ratnagiri has other beach destinations too which are equally if not more stunning. A drive along the coast gives magnificent views from the cliffs. It is the Indian version of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Originally Posted by AltrozGuy

Great pics.. I just got back from my Dapoli trip this weekend near Karde beach.

Now they are concretising a section of the road near Karnala which was laid fresh 4 years ago, so not sure about the priorities..

@AltrozGuy Which is this place in Karde? Also if I remember correctly from a drive few years back, the Karnala section was the best patch of NH66 prepared after years of digging. What was the need to dig it up again I wonder.

[AltrozGuy]

Originally Posted by StarBoard

@AltrozGuy Which is this place in Karde? Also if I remember correctly from a drive few years back, the Karnala section was the best patch of NH66 prepared after years of digging. What was the need to dig it up again I wonder.

I went to the FERN Samali Resort this time and came to Karde beach for witnessing the sunset..Last year i had stayed at the Surali Sagar Resort at the end of the road at Karde..

Yup, the Karnala part was the best patch as i remembered it as well and now it is turned in to a one way..

[Kar_Om]

Last Week, completed one day stay trip at Dapoli, while travelling back to Mumbai from Guhagar.

Started from Guhagar around 8.30 in the morning and headed to Dhopave jetty point, which is a distance of around 30KM. Took 10AM Jetty to Dabhol, which took only 5 Mins to cross the Vashishti river.

After reaching Dabhol side, first place we visited was " Shri Bhagwan Parshuram Hill" situated in Burondi. This place is at a distance of 18KM from Dabhol Jetty. View of Arabian sea can be seen from this hill.

Parshuram Hill:





After this, we proceeded towards stay of the trip "Pearls Beach Resort" situated in Ladghar, just besides Ladghar beach. Roads in Ladghar area are very narrow and full of frequent turns and bends.

Resort view with my beloved Jazz:



Ladghar Beach:







After having lunch and taking some rest in afternoon at the resort, we started for Anjarle around 3.30PM and first visited "Kadyavaril Ganpati" temple which is at around distance of 30 KM from Ladghar. This temple is based on a hill and hence the name. Route till this temple offers scenic view of Anjarle beach along the way. Again the roads are very narrow and full of turns.

Ganpati Temple:



After the temple, the next place we visited was Anjarle lighthouse which is at a distance of 3 KM from the temple, but unfortunately the lighthouse was not open on the day we visited. So we spent some time around the lighthouse clicking pictures. Timing of the lighthouse is 4 to 5.30 PM.

Anjarle Lighthouse:





After this we started return journey to the resort and took the route through Harnai. While driving through Harnai, for few minutes i got the feeling that i am driving near Uttan beach in Mumbai, which also has road passing near by the beach. After reaching the resort, we spent evening time at the Ladghar beach enjoying the sunset and cool breeze.

After well-deserved night rest, we started for journey to Mumbai next day around 9 in morning and reached Mumbai at around 4PM with 45 mins of lunch break at Nagothane.

[StarBoard]

Originally Posted by Kar_Om

After this we started return journey to the resort and took the route through Harnai. While driving through Harnai, for few minutes i got the feeling that i am driving near Uttan beach in Mumbai, which also has road passing near by the beach. After reaching the resort, we spent evening time at the Ladghar beach enjoying the sunset and cool breeze.

Nice crisp travelogue. The best part of beaches around Dapoli is the fact that they are fairly deserted and one can enjoy some privacy, which is a rarity in Konkan!

[Kar_Om]

Originally Posted by StarBoard

Nice crisp travelogue. The best part of beaches around Dapoli is the fact that they are fairly deserted and one can enjoy some privacy, which is a rarity in Konkan!

Yes, agreed. Beaches in Dapoli offered different experience as compared to Guhagar and Ganpatipule beach which are at prominent locations and are crowded most of times. The fact that Dapoli town is at a distance of around 10KM from Dapoli beaches seems to be the reason that these beaches are deserted.