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Tarkarli Beach – The Queen of
Sindhudurg Beaches
Getting There
From
Mumbai : (1) By road
Tarkarli is approx 520 kms from Mumbai, go upto panvel and take right turn
to NH17 wihich leads all the way to Kudal, from there take the SH and pass
through Malvan you will reach Tarkarli, from Kudal, Tarkarli is approx 34
kms, from Malvan, Tarkarli is approx 6 kms.
(2) By Train Alight at Kudal Station, there you have 2 choices one is you
could hire an autorickshaw and proceed to Tarkarli the charges are about
Rs 300.00 – 350.00, the second and best option is to hire an autorickshaw
for Rs 20.00 and get down at Kudal Bus Depot, from here there are many ST
buses that ply between Malvan and Kudal the distance is covered in approx
1hour and 20 minutes, once at Kudal Bus Terminal board a bus for Deobaugh,
the conductors know the area and are very helpful.
Advice—if you are traveling by road please keep the digicam at
hand, there are some scenic spots worth taking pictures.
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Accommodation: The
tourist has various options of accommodation, but depending on season one
should opt for a suitable accommodation do not go by hearsay, judge for
yourself, I was told that it was burning hot in October, but to my
surprise the weather was absolutely pleasant, it tends to get hot from mid
afternoon to around 4 in the evening, therefore decide accordingly, yes in
the summer months the entire konkan belt tends to get sticky and hot due
to the proximity of the sea. |
MTDC has a resort adjacent to the Tarkarli beach they have Konkani
houses both AC and Non-Ac their bookings are available online at mtdc.com,
there are various hotels that offer accommodation at Tarkarli, but the
value for money I would recommend SAAGAR Beach Resort run by Ghanshyam
Kubal 9422584154/9420209495, this place is bang near the beach, has a
private access to the beach, he has six rooms to let out all Non AC, but
you could bet your bottom dollar on the hospitality that this guy shows
his customers, probably put a many class hotels to shame, personal
attention is given to each of the guest.
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The
Houseboat : Lesser
known, but MTDC has two houseboats at Tarkarli, anchored in the creek,
about 3 km from the Resort. Excellent for a one-day (overnight) stay. As
expected, you need to make your own arrangements to get there (no
transfers by MTDC).. The houseboat takes you for a 2-hour round of the
creek in the evening, and another in the morning. Overnight, you’re
anchored at the Deobaug Jetty, a nice place with lots of greenery around.
The two rooms of the houseboat (with a viewing deck) costs Rs. 7,100 each
(including taxes) and each extra guest paid Rs. 1,000 extra. Another
option is the houseboat without the deck, at about Rs. 6,300 per room, all
inclusive.
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The other places to stay are Sagar kinara, soham
resorts, manali resorts etc
Caution: Please confirm with the so called beach resorts they tell on
phone its just 2 minutes …but once there the 2 minutes could be by car, to
walk to the beach takes a good 6 – 7 minutes, in my opinion there are only
5 beach resorts that are actually at the beach MTDC, Sagar Kinara, Sagar
Beach resort are few of those.
If you are on a holiday and want to stay at a beach then the best option
would be to stay at Tarkarli, but if the idea is to visit places and just
visit the beach then probably the ideal place to stay is Malvan city.
Eating Out : The
entire konkan region is a fish lovers and non-vegeterian diet zone, so
finding a good place to dine should not be a problem in Tarkarli or Malvan.
During our 3
day stay we kept enquiring with the local people of places where we could
find authentic Malvani cuisine and we would advice to surely try out these
places Hotel Chaitanya, Hotel Ruchira, Hotel Bamboo, Hotel Sunitha, the
last one is for sure the best place to eat, the place is very small but
the food served is delicious home cooked food, of course at Tarkarli all
the hotels and beach resort do serve food. Sorry Vegeterian diet tourists
you may have to do a little bit of hunting to find exclusively vegetarian
hotel, but I guess that too should be surely good, I wonder what makes
this Malvani food so special…I ate, ate, and ate without suffering any
acidity or stomach problems, and remember vegetarian or non-vegetarian no
meal should be complete without a glass of Sol Kadhi.
Places
To See:
Deobaug Beach:
The local villagers
state that this place is special to them, there is a story that this place
was in ancient times had a lot of storm and would be battered by strong
sea waves, however this place survived all the odds and remained intact
that is why Deobaugh (abode of Gods), if you observe very carefully you
will observe that this stretch ends into the open sea or rather the
confluence of River Karli and the Arabian Sea , the locals call it the
sangam.
Tarkarli Beach :
this stretch of pristine beach
rightly called the queen of beaches runs for a few kms with not many
people around, this beach is famous for its white sands, clean waters and
saddled all along with Carijuana (Suru) trees, you will find a few fishing
boats that are anchored on the shore that’s because the local villagers
houses are just away from the beach, it’s a beautiful place to take a walk
around however to go across to the MTDC part of the beach you will have to
cross a small river (the link between River karli and the sea) during low
tide you could easily walk across, I have not seen the place at high tide
so just be on the lookout) however on my enquiry with the local villagers
they told me that the safest place to take a bath is the beach towards
deobaugh, the MTDC beach is not very safe though for children, please
check out with the local villagers there.
Dolphin Point:
There are various boating points along the Karli river where for Rs 800.00
per boat you will be taken about 7 kms into the sea to see the school of
dolphins ( Not all tourists are luck to have spotted them, just in case
you want to see them I would recommend you board the boat at 7:00 am
thereafter it gets crowded and with so much of engine noise you are surely
not going to see any ) we were very lucky to have seen a school of about 8
dolphins feeding on fish, the reason being since this place is a
confluence of the River Karli and the sea the fish coming into the sea
from the river become easy food due to the strong ocean current and that’s
the reason the dolphins are there to feed on them.
Note: Please do not forget to ask your boat operator that you want
to have a bath in the island, they call it the island bhet, very safe
surrounded on all sides with the sea and you could easily wade in knee
deep water and enjoy the caress of the sea waves onto your chest or
shoulder, you will clearly see the seabed here very clear transparent
water.
Ganpati Temple – Malvan:
For those who are familiar
with the kalnirnay magazine will know the editor Mr. Jaywant Salgaonkar he
has built a beautiful temple at Meda, Malvan in honor of Lord Ganesha, the
idol is built of pure gold, the temple is maintained and kept very clean,
highly recommended for those devout hindus, to pay homage to lord Ganesh.
Sindhudurg Fort:
I will not dwelve on the
historical part of the fort, please refer to your encyclopaedias or other
magazine, but what amazed me most was the sheer size of the fort built
into the sea and the farsightedness of the people who built it, there is a
well that has sweet potable water right in the middle of the sea in the
fort, there used to be a coconut tree with two branches which was a
tourist attraction, however due to a bolt of lightning some years back the
tree has now been reduced to only a burnt stump. As soon as you enter the
fort you will come to a temple which has the image of Shivaji and the
sword, if you look at the ceiling just before you enter in you will notice
a beautiful picture of Bal Ganesh in a loving embrace of the Shivling,
this picture is rarely found elsewhere out, so do not forget to take a
picture of this, there are other pictures hung around which are also good.
Within its precincts are temples holding the shrines of Maruti, Bhavani,
Mahadeo, Jarimai, Mahapurush .A co-operative society organizes the boat
trip to the fort from Malvan Jetty, per ticket costs Rs 25.00
Snorkelling :
undoubtedly this should be the
highlight of anyones trip to Malvan, MTDC has of late started snorkeling
trips around sindhudurg fort, for Rs 250.00 per person you will be taken
by a boat just to the left of the sindhudurg fort and the boat will anchor
in about 20 feet of crystal clear water, you will be given a float a mask
and a tube for breathing and will be taken on a 20 minute tour of the
coral reef around the place, this place is rich in coral and marine life,
the guides here are very courteous and a knowledgeable lot they explain to
you the various types of fish found and their survival there, watch out
for different species of angel fish, zebra fish and lobsters, the
beautiful part is fish feeding on the coral reef. Again if you have
children please keep the digicam ready and take pictures of them with the
gear on, again take pictures when they are back in the boat they will be
completely ecstatic of the experience.
Note: Please do not forget to write your feedback and drop it in
the box placed in the boat. MTDC advices that all persons above the age of
45 provide medical fitness certificate if you want to undertake the
snorkeling trip, so go well prepared, and yes….important part you do not
need to be a swimmer to go snorkeling. MTDC are in the process of starting
Scuba Diving, I reckon this will take a few more months as the
infrastructure is being readied at the moment.
Dhamapur Lake:
This place is around 13 kms
from Malvan. And is situated between Are and katta village This is the
biggest lake in the district and has beautiful scenic hill ranges on its
two sides. The water is crystal clear and has dense plantation.MTDC has
made boating facility available in the lake and walk surrounding the lake
the forest depth has also constructed beautiful huts on the bank to enable
the tourist staying here to enjoy the panoramic view from their cottages.
Chivala Beach :
Lovely beach bordering Malvan town from the north – west
Devgad Fort :
Devgad is a natural harbor and
well guarded port town. It derives its name from Devgad fort laying at the
confluence of Arabian
Sea and Devgad Creek.
The great Maratha Admiral Kanoji Angre was instrumental in erecting this
fort. In ancient times Devgad's coast was the center of maritime activity,
naval battles and cultural interaction with foreign countries. Big ships
use to enter directly at the port. Now it has become the hub of
fishermen's. The attraction of Devgad is windmill situated near government
circuit house and small beach at the rear side of the fort.
Shopping:
Make sure you visit the Malvan
market place it is abuzz with life, local villagers selling fresh fruits
and vegetables and spices. Fresh Fish is available at auction in the
evening, you could carry the basket of fish and ask your resort owner to
cook it the way you want.
There are
shops selling cashew nuts in the market place, the zantye’s have their
outlets spread across the area, you could even visit their factory or
visit Mangaonkars cashew factory at Malvan and purchase it from there.
Fresh Kokum is available at very cheap rates and juice too.
Contributed By: Stan
Stan.Dsa@archpharmalabs.com
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