This paradise called Konkan
- Shweta Sable
- Dec 27, 2022
- 7 min read
Behold as this compilation talks about a coastal road trip, traversing through bountiful mountains, river crossings & of course palm trees, good food & pristine beaches. Konkan is everything you have ever heard of & so much more.
We decided to drive down to Ratnagiri from Alibaug but ditching the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH66) we customized the route by manually selecting places on our route. This allowed us to travel adjacent to the sea for the most part. And not only was that a scenic drive but it also came with the perks of avoiding long distances & saving time by hopping on ferries with my car, crossing rivers & backwaters. I would call this trip part 1.0 as this only covers a part of the entire Konkan belt.
Day -1 :
From Alibaug we started towards Agardanda port covering the beaches of Akshi, Nagaon, Revdanda, Kashid & Murud on our way. Murud is renowed for its fort in the sea - Janjira. When passing through Murud, avoid paying the fare at the checkpost, tell them you are headed further to Diveagar as the ticket is only for Janjira fort. The roads are narrow post Murud uptil Agardanda port but they are good. However being a narrow single lane, it keeps a check on the speed inspite of good quality roads. From Agardanda the ferry takes you to Dighi port. You can load your vehicles & it is a 15 min ferry ride. The road from Dighi port is smooth for a few miles until you turn right into Diveagar.
Agardanda Port
Our next stop was Diveagar beach. This place is quiet with little hustle bustle around the beach. As opposed to chowpatties, you will find this to be a quaint beachside with small stalls & mostly cottages & homestays in the town for a peaceful vacation. The water was clear & the sand was white. We hit this trip right after monsoons, the skies were bright blue & the water reflected the colour of the skies as the base sand was white. The beaches were also quite deserted on this entire trip for us. I guess we just got lucky with the weather & the timing!
Diveagar Beach
From Diveagar, we were headed to Shrivardhan. Aravi beach lies between Diveagar & Shrivardhan & the route is over mountains traversing by the sea. The mountains were just starting to show beautiful Autumn colours after a long monsoon this year. There is a Parnkuti Dhaba off this route a few kilometers from Aravi in a small village called Dandguri. It is the cutest little nest in the middle of nowhere in the lap of nature. They serve food and have an open garden restaurant with beautiful blanket of flowers with panaromic views of mountains. Recommended for their Chicken Thali & Sol kadhi. 10/10 will visit again.
Parnkuti Dhaba, Dandguri
The State highway road from Diveagar to Shrivardhan is not so well maintained & even though the distance is short it could take longer due to the condition of the roads to cover this route. It is recommended to take the coastal route by adding a pitstop at Aravi. Shrivardhan is a city. Once you leave Alibaug until Shrivardhan you will only find small towns and villages along the way. So anything you want to stock up, it would have to be at Shrivardhan. Shrivardhan has a tourist tax of 50 bucks on entering the city. Shrivardhan beach is more like a chowpatty & it has pavements and seating areas built around the beachfront for visitors.
Shrivardhan Beach
Our next stop was Harihareshwar. This place is known for Harihareshwar temple on the beach. On maps when you navigate to Harihareshwar beach, the road takes you through a narrow alley almost to a point where it feels like a car cannot go in any further. But this is the correct route so keep following the maps because it takes you to a secluded spot right at the beach with plenty of space for parking & turning around. Just when you are heading beachwards, there is a small restaurant (Purva restauarant). You are likely to miss it because it is a house that just serves you food outside on chairs & table in their yard. They serve amazing food for extremely affordable prices & the best part is they make it in their own kitchen at home so it is not only hygienic it is also home cooked. They don't pre-prepare anything so allow them some time as you will be served fresh cooked food. As this is someone's home request anyone who visits to respect their privacy. P. S. Do not miss their Sol kadhi.
Harihareshwar
We visited the temple & headed to Bagmandla for next ferry to Veshvi. This ferry takes you across the mighty Savitri River. This ferry alone saves you an additional hour of travelling and about 40kms on your route. We were headed to Dapoli & once we landed on the Veshvi side we again added stops on our route such that we would stay on the coastal route. We went through the town of Anjarle. This route runs real close & parallel to the sea & is a great place to halt at for pictures. From Anjarle the route is tricky & even maps can mislead. It is best to ask the locals for directions to Dapoli.
Crossing the small coastal town of Harnai/Harne which boasts of the beautiful Suvarnadurg fort in the sea we took a halt between Harnai & Dapoli somewhere near Murud (not the Murud mentioned earlier). We stayed at this place - S.S. Residency which was about 1.5 kms from the beach but the room had an astounding view of farms & mountains. It was harvesting season & the weather & view was glorious. The stay was amazing & pocket friendly & I would recommend it.
Day - 2 :
We started from Harnai towards Dapoli. The plan was to reach Dabhol ferry port to get across Vashisthi river. There are two routes to reach Dabhol, one covers Ladghar, Murud & Kolthare beaches, another is through Dapoli city. The latter is a good road & takes you through hills & the weather is cool around this place. You will come across a lot of small villages in remote places on this route, in valleys settled by tiny streams & hidden under a dense palm tree cover. From Dabhol the ferry took us to Anjanwel. If you have enough time on your hand, you can visit Anjanwel lighthouse as well as Gopalgad fort. It takes a bit of a hike & as we were around this place during noon we skipped this and headed to Guhagar beach instead. There are some unique flavoured sodas at Guhagar beach & if you are there you must try Kaju & Jambhul (Jamun) soda. Strongly recommended. On our way out from Guhagar, we spotted an alligator crossing the state highway. This was apparently a pretty common sight in the area & I felt was an excellent example of peaceful co-existence. No matter what you expect, Konkan will be above & beyond.
From Guhagar beach we started towards Velneshwar beach. Velneshwar is a small coastal town. If you follow the State highway from Guhagar to Velneshwar, it is a mountain road & around Velneshwar while it descends into the town you will see the MTDC Velneshwar resort standing on a cliff overlooking the sea. While I didn't stay at the resort, the location & the view was a 10.
Velneshwar is a laid back town with little population compared to other beach towns along the route. There are merely two food joints at the beach and they both serve good food. We halted for lunch here & it was a good place as any for lunch by the sea with a view of tides under a shed of palm trees.
From Velneshwar we had to reach Tavsal to take the next ferry through to Jaigad over the Jaigad river. The alternate route that avoids ferries is about 71km from Velneshwar to Ganpatipule however via the ferry the distance is cut down to a mere 38km. Clearly our next stop was Ganpatipule.
Ganpatipule, as most Maharashtrians would know, is famous for the Ganpati temple on the beach. Ganpatipule beach is a beautiful assortment of both golden and white sands. It is said to be one of the cleanest beaches in Maharashtra. Our stay was a bit further from Ganpatipule and it was on the top of a hill with a commanding view of the untouched Bhandarpule beach. This beach idly sits between two hills making its location a secluded one as it is surrounded by hills on both sides. This isolates the beach from Ganpatipule beach on the right & Aare Ware beach on its left. The shore on this side of Ratnagiri is lined up with Casuarina trees. The sand here is coarse and the sea a bit rough at Bhandarpule. However, as Ganpatipule masks the popularity of this beach, it remains one of the virgin beaches of Maharashtra steeped in solitude. This makes the place ideal for a quiet vacation.
We stayed at the Nakshatra O'nest resort and this has been one of the best stays I have ever stayed at on a vacation. They have beautiful sea-facing rooms. We stayed in a small villa with our own little yard outside. Ideal for small parties. Soak in their infinity pool from where you can witness magical sunsets over sea, drink their Alphonso wine because hey you are in Ratnagiri or just lay down in the lawn outside your room watching the sky listening to the sea below. They have the perfect location and a good service. You can travel further uphill from this resort. There is a sunset point and a small cliff above the sea allowing you a view of Aare Ware beach in the distance. When you descend this road, it feels like driving down the slope right into the sea. Highly recommend this place for stay & a visit to a lesser known, more private Bhandarpule beach.
We took the Mumbai-Goa highway back home. The road from Ganpatipule to Chiplun is amazingly well maintained. As there are no ferries on this route whatsoever, you'll come across bridges built over rivers & dams. Bhatgaon bridge enroute Chiplun is a beautiful location. Post Chiplun we connected the highway and I instantly missed the coastal road because no matter how narrow, it was definitely a better road. This highway is currently under construction so it will slow your journey down immensely. The road is well-constructed in a few patches around Mahad & Poladpur but for majority part the National highway is a huge disappointment.
Alternate route -
For Alibaug - From Kolad turn left into Roha and travel to Alibaug OR take the Pezari Nagothane road post Kolad.
For Pune - Too many options, take your favourite ghat back home Tamhini/Varandha/Bhor.
For Mumbai - You people are doomed. It is called Goa - MUMBAI highway for a reason. It travels upto Mumbai so no other way out unless you want to take a whole detour through Poladpur-Mahableshwar-Satara-Pune.
P. S. Halt at Neelkamal hotel at Mahad on the highway. The food is amazing and they have a beautiful seating by the river Savitri. Just the kind of perfect serene end to an eventful trip.
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