Recently
we planned a short trip to Tarkarli, one of the konkan beaches in
Malvan district. It was a family trip over a long weekend towards the
end of April 2017. It was very hot in Pune at this time and we were
expecting the same for the weather at Tarkarli, so I was not so keen to
go there but the thought of adventure sports motivated me.
Tarkarli is definitely a place which most of
the adventure sports lovers will like as these sports are quite easy on
pockets here.
The place is around 400 kms from Pune and the
best mode of transport to reach there is via road. However, one can
also take a train till Kudal from where it is around 45 kms. Nearest
airport is Dabolim Airport, Goa from where Tarkarli is around 2 hrs
drive.
We, a group of 5 adults and 2 kids opted to
go by road and hired a chauffeured Tavera. The journey started on Friday
night. It was a pleasant journey and we went via Kolhapur. Since it was
an overnight journey we couldn't witness much of the scenery outside
but towards the dawn we came across the beautiful ghats. As we were
about to reach Tarkarli, we saw mango laden trees on both sides of the
road. It was literally a treat for our eyes to see Alphonso bunches
hanging freely on either side of road. Besides mangoes there were so
many other fruits like Jackfruits, tall trees decorated with maroon
kokams, coconut trees, cashew tress, dates, bananas. The best part was
the trees were fully laden with fruits. It seemed like we were entering
Ram-Rajya with so many fruits hanging freely on their branches. To me,
overall it seemed to be a very fertile land because not just fruits but
the place was full of colorful flowers.
After a journey of 8 hours we reached our
destination. We had booked a little beach home: Blue Sea Beach Resort.
It was a cozy little well maintained property with all basic amenities
at a distance of just 200 meters from the beach.
This place reminded me of "Malgudi Days" picturization by R.K. Narayan.
Soon after, we had some home cooked breakfast
(these holiday homes provide freshly cooked food prepared on the run
time after ordering). Needless to say that the breakfast was delicious
:P
So we had 2 days in hand. Activities to be done in Tarkarli:
1) Water sports in the backwaters of Karli
river on Tsunami island, quite an interesting name. The secret behind
its name is that it got formed after the turbulence of Tsunami storm.
Now all the water sports except scuba are done here.
2) Scuba Diving
3) Enjoying and relaxing at beach
We decided to proceed with water sports first
and then go to beach near resort. Next day was kept for scuba as this
takes time around 3~4 hours.
To reach Tsunami island, we need to go by a
boat and on the way other spots like Karli Devi temple, confluence of
sea and river, mtdc resort, crocodile point (not to be scared, its not
actual crocodile just a trailing end of mountain in river which looks
like a crocodile face), a half sunken ship :) are shown to us by the
boatman. The journey in boat was truly relaxing since we were all tired
and the cool breeze coming from the backwaters made us forget the April
sun. Surprisingly there was nominal humidity which made it more
pleasant.
Tsunami island had a series of small shops
for eatables offering place to sit and water sports were conducted just
beneath them. We kept our belongings in one of the shops and did a
booking for 5 of us for Jet Ski, Sofa ride and banana ride. Compared to
other places the water sports were at much lower prices.
Sofa ride was a new kind of ride for us with
lots of bumps (2~3 people can sit together in sofa and it is pulled
through a rope over the waters) We enjoyed this one a lot. And banana
ride was as usual adventurous one :)
After the water sports we had some snacks at Tsunami island and came back to our resort.
Soon after we left for the nearby beach.
Soon after we left for the nearby beach.
The beach at Tarkarli is quite big with very
soft clean sand. We played a lot in the water. We realized there were
many crabs though (small ones) that were constantly coming up and going
inside the beach sand. We asked one of the locals later on about these
crabs and got to know that they are harmless.
Next day, we got ready and after having
breakfast left for the point of scuba diving. Due to high tides, scuba
diving at nearby beach was not operational so we went to Malvan port and
from there in a boat near Sindhudurg Fort. Sindhudurg fort is an
engineering marvel built by Shivaji Maharaj around 350 years ago. It is
built at the center of the sea. Our point for scuba diving was just
outside that fort.
Due to long weekend there was a huge crowd
for this activity and we had to wait for nearly 3 hours for our turn but
it was worth as the experience was simply one of its kind. I was a
little nervous before but was confident that it can be done.
Even my son(8 yrs) did scuba diving and was
thrilled with the experience. It seems to be an entirely different world
under water. I could see a lot of colorful fishes.
Due to high tide and winds, the water was a
bit turbulent with less visibility. Later we got to know that October
to January is the best time for scuba diving here and the water is
crystal clear during that part of the year.
Tip1: Get some eatables in the boat as we get hungry after waiting for so long.
Tip2: If planning for scuba, go towards the end of year.
Now we were towards the end of the 2nd day.
From here we again went to beach and enjoyed thoroughly. We witnessed
one of the most beautiful sunsets.
Beautiful sunset at Tarkarli Beach |
In dinner, we had sumptuous Malvani Thali.
Next day we left for back home and on the way visited the Dhamapur lake. Its a beautiful place with a temple.
This brought us to the end of this short, fulfilling and adventurous trip.