Weekend Destination For Beach Bums
Weekend holiday to Dapoli & Ganapatiphule.
We had decided to drive down to Ganapatiphule (in konkan) for a holiday. It is very famous for its white sand beach and a ganapati (Ganesh) temple right on the beach. We had only read & heard about this beach and everybody who had been there were of the opinion that it was one of the best beaches not only in Maharashtra but whole of India. So we decided to investigate.
Plans made, friends informed & bookings done and we decided to leave on 1st January 2009. So totally we were 3 families in two cars. I and my wife Namisha her good friend Sangeeta with her children (twins) Shahzad & Shweta all of 11 years old and the third family our very good friend Sachin his wife Rupali and their two year old cute little daughter Ananya. We had decided on taking my car (a maruti 800) and Sachin would get his car (a Honda City). The Itinerary would include a halt at Dapoli, Chiplun & Ganapatiphule on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd night respectively. Idealy we wanted to halt at Chiplun on the last day but due to non-availability of accommodation at Ganapatiphule we had to alter this. I would advice please book in advance.
Day 1
We started off early in the morning at 6 am and met Sachin at Sion and the two car entourage then moved on. An early morning start is important because you can save about an hour of the total time. At the Vashi creek bridge we realized there was a lot of fog & mist and watching the familiar peaks would be difficult. Soon we were on the Mumbai Pune old highway and nearing Panvel. The Karnala fort pinnacle which is also called the thumbs up pinnacle because of its shape could not be seen from here. Normally we can see this peak from Panvel. A little after Panvel we took the right turn for the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH-17) . The spectacular peak of Kalawanti & Prabhalgad (opp Matheran hills) also could not be seen from here. In a short while we passed through Karnala wild life sanctuary and could now seek the thumbs up pinnacle. Drive carefully through this sanctuary because you might have a few primates (monkeys) along the road and even crossing the road. If you are lucky you might be able to spot some langurs also. This highway (NH-17) has no divider so please, please be careful while overtaking. A little before Wadkhal Naka we halted and started having our parceled breakfast. All except poor little Shajju Baba (Shahzad) who has motion sickness so was told to eat as little as possible. At Wadhkal Naka we took a left turn (Do not miss this turn or going straight you will reach Alibag ) that we had been told to watch out for. After that the traffic eased a bit we were zooming on Mumbai-Goa highway. Except for the usual bottle necks of Kolad, Indapur and a bridge near Mangaon we reached the banks of the Savitri river on our right. The highway meanders along this river which is just before Mahad. We reached Mahad at about 10:30 am and halted at Vithal Kamats on the left hand side of the highway. The food is not so good here but the toilets are really clean, making this a mandatory halt. Half an hour later we were on our way and were soon climbing up the Kashedi Ghat. This is supposed to be the highest ghat on the Mumbai-Goa highway. We halted at a board claiming to be “Pratapgarh Darshan” but thanks to the fog & mist we could see everything but the gad of the Shivaji Maharaj-Afzal Khan fame. Soon after winding down the ghats we reached Khed. Here we took a right turn leaving NH-17 for Dapoli. About 45 min. later we were nearing Dapoli bus stand where we saw the sign to Aryawarta (the hotel where we had booked for the first night). The rooms are spacious in this hotel and A/c rooms are really neat & tidy. The Tariffs here are really good. An A/c room cost just Rs. 2200/- per night where the non-a/c cottage with two bedrooms is just Rs. 1500/-. Really your money’s worth. An hour of rest and at 3:30 we left for the fishing village for Harne. We took our cars at the beach where the fishing auction was on at the port. If you can bear the fishy smell then you must see this. There were various types of fish that were being auctioned. Besides Pomphrets & Surmais there were hammer headed sharks about 1 and half meters long. There were eels also. But the biggest surprise for us was the sting ray. It was huge. Incase you do not know, it was this fish that killed “crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin of Animal planet fame. Ofcourse the sting had been removed. After this we had a round of the Kanakdurg fort. A fisherman came up to us and offered to take us to the Suvarnadurg fort which is in the sea for just Rs 400/-. However we were getting late so we left for Murud beach to view the sunset. Fifteen minutes later we had driven our cars right in the sands at Murud beach. There was para-gliding at the beach and everyone enjoyed the paragliding and the sunset at the beach. I and the kids got into the clear waters while the ladies decided to take a stroll and walk all the way to neighbouring Karde beach where we were supposed to have dinner. Namisha, Sangeeta & Rupali ventured out and were soon walking in total darkness. You see it got dark very suddenly after sunset. Sachin was a little worried but I assured him that the ladies will be okay and that this (konkan coast) is the safest part of Maharashtra. Getting the kids out of water was a Herculean task and it is easier to convince a fish to come the water than these kids. Finally with a few stern words I managed to get them out of the water. I and Sachin finally got an SMS to drive to Sagar sawali Beach resort at Karde where the ladies had reached. A much relieved Sachin & I drove the 4 kms to Karde. The food here is excellent and I would recommend that do not miss having food here. Also they serve you food only after 1 hour after you have ordered it. Check out the Solkadi and fish eaters can have a ball here. Then we drove back 11 kms to Dapoli to our hotel and retired early.
Day 2
We got up early moring and left for Murud beach again at 6:30 am for some dolphin watching were a boat was waiting to get filled up. They do not leave till the boat is full, however we were the last to get in. The boat left the shores soon we were in the middle of the sea. I was sitting behind next to the person who was navigating the boat. He had a mobile and was immediately put to good use. A couple of phone calls later he knew exactly where the dolphins were took the boat there and shut off the engine. Soon we got see the dolphins coming out of the water & going in. Dolphins belong to the whale family (mammals) and therefore have to come to the surface to breath every 15-20 minutes. Soon we were seeing a lot of them. After about an hour we were back at the beach satisfied. Back to the hotel for breakfast and soon checked out and were on our way to Guhagar beach via Dhabhol creek. We had decided to take a detour to Panhelkaji caves and the hotwater springs nearby (20 kms off the road to Dabhol) but had to abandon it because of bad road conditions. We reached Dahbhol creek at 3:45 pm where we had to take the car in the ferry to cross the creek and reached Guhagar beach at around 5 pm. This beach is also very beautiful and we enjoyed the sunset here. After a little snack we where on our way to Chiplun. We had a booking at a guest house right next to the river.
Day 3
The day began a little late as we tried to have some coconuts plucked off the tree and consume it. The local people struggled to get down 10 coconuts. Ultimately we left at 10:45 am along the Mumbai-Goa highway NH-17 and headed for Sangameshwar. About 10 kms before Sangameshwar we halted at a place called Rajawadi where there was a natural hot water spring. It is very close to the highway. The water is really hot and there is a beautiful temple beside it. Then at Sangameshwar we filled our fuel tanks as were going to turn off the highway and there are very few petrol pumps beyond the highway so always make sure you tanks are full before you leave the highway. We reached Ganapatiphule at around 2:30 pm. We checked in the mtdc resort were we had a booking in a sea facing room. The resort is right on the beach among the palm trees and a few meters down was a lovely white sand beach basking in the sunshine. "Maharashtra's best beach" claimed Sachin. The water here is clear blue and you could really sit in the balcony for hours enjoying the view. At 3.30 in the afternoon we (except Sachin & family) could not control ourselves and decided to take a dip in the sea. The water was really cool and was so clear that you could view the sea bed even in waist deep water. The kids (Shweta & Shazad) are excellent swimmers and I had already taught them to ride the waves which were about 4-5 feet in height and soon all of us were enjoying ourselves. The correct time to be in sea water is between low tide & high tide when the waters come in with the tide. Please check the high tide timings before you venture out in the waters. Today the high tide was supposed to peak at 5:10 in the evening. Since this was Mumbai tide timings I made a provision for an error margin of 15 mins and I knew we had to get out of the water at about 4:55 pm. If you cannot get hold of the tide table then the best time to be in the water is 6 hrs after moonrise or moonset. Again no amount of coaxing & cajoling could get the kids out the water so I had to issue my ultimate threat. “No more beaches for you” I threatened and the kids reluctantly got out the waters. Poor Sachin came at 5:30 pm and probably missed the best time of the holiday. We had dinner at the “Tarang” restaurant in the resort. We ordered the vegetarian Thali the Solkadi was so excellent we were really amazed by it and in no time we gulped 8 extra helpings of it. Sachin & the kids ordered some fish including prawns which disappeared within seconds of the waiter keeping it on the dinner table. We did some star gazing in the night before retiring.
Day 4
As expected by popular demand we took an early morning dip in the warm waters before checking out at 9:30 am. After having breakfast we left at 10:30 am for Mumbai. We had lunch at Chiplun and visited the Parshuram temple which is just after Chiplun as soon as you climb the Ghat. On the way we halted at Vithal Kamats at Mahad & Ruchi restaurant at Nagathone and reached Mumbai at around 8:30 pm. All of us were of the unanimous view that we must return to Ganapatiphule soon.