gujarat off the beaten trail'

himadventures

Shark ! Although never heard such a thing about DIU as this place is little portugal but as you have gone through a scene- so we will takecare when going there but I was talking about GOA.

You can have fun without any problem and if wants to avoid public eyes...just walk to a corner of the beach....this is where you will find guys like me with wives and kids.

machadinha

When me and my friend stayed there some 10 years ago she got on fine in a bathing suit, which she found generally more relaxed in India anyway, although you'll certainly see bikinis on various beaches. You might want to don a sarong or so when not swimming for good measure.

However this was during the week, and those beaches aren't very central. Gujarat is a dry state with Diu the exception owing to the Portuguese past, and drinks are very cheap to boot. This means that over the weekend hordes of mainland Indians flock there to get stonkered, a pastime that some like to combine with watching Western tourists on the beach, preferably the female kind. This gets incredibly annoying indeed. A good time to retreat to your room to finish that book you were reading, or do some cycling around the island.

While I don't know about today I hear the situation remains pretty much the same.

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lou_lou_belle

I was in Diu in October and I really wouldn't recommend wearing a bikini there.

We went in Diwali time so it was really busy. The beaches were full of Indian males, and Nagoa beach was way too busy to swim.

We went to a quiter beach, and even though I was wearing leggings to my ankles, and a swimsuit that just exposed my arms, I still attracted a crowd.

I was with my Indian bf and his family swimming in the sea, and crowds of boys literally gathered and stopped directly at the spot where we were swimming and playing on the beach, with their mouths open, taking a spot to sit down and watch us.

Its quite annoying to have boys staring at you like that. My bf had to go up to them and ask them what they were looking at & tell them to go home & stare at their own sisters.

I would say definately avoid a bikini if you want to avoid being leered at by groups of men. This experience would only have been worse if we swam at Nagoa beach.

mineja

thanks for everybody for answehrs.lou lou belle didnt enjoy not too much Diu.well, i´m gonna cancel my plans.

machadinha

I really don't know but it might still be cool out of the festival season or the weekends. Anyone? Shark, was it holidays or festival when you were there?

lou_lou_belle

Outside of that incident we had a great time to be honest. Diu is a beautiful place, & I wouldn't let that one incident turn me off.

We went in Diwali so it was bad timing, outside of holidays it's supposed to be a great place.

My point was more to warn off the wearing of bikinis, not the whole place itself

mineja

diu seems to be nice place for sure...but all what i wanna do on the end of my trip is swimming and relaxing ,feeling free on the beach. i really dont wanna be surrounded by local male attention.i´m solo traveller and situation in DIU it´s not what i´m looking for.
so, good old GOA again.i´ve been there before, also in gokarna and in varkala.

beach_comber

lou_lou_belle

Am really sorry to hear that u were ogled by the men on Diu. All Indian beachs are really crowded and a score of men visiting them do so only to have a good old ogle.

Goa is a fun place but if one is really looking for privacy and solitude then the best beach would be in Gijarat of the Kutch coast. One of them is Mandv beach which in reallty is a private 2km long beach of the Maharao of kutch and access is conditionaly granted. Hence there is not a soul on this beach till the eye can see. NOW WHERE IS THAT POSSIBLE IN INDIA

lou_lou_belle

Sounds great, beach comber, i'll have ot check it out on my next trip.

I guess being blonde doesn't help my situation either!!!

mineja

i´m still thinking about Diu. heading from Rajasthan to Ahmedabad and then to Junagadh ,coz a five day festival of Bhavnath is held on this hallowed ground during the Mahashivratri celebrations.after this to Diu and we´ll see whats going on.
I´v got american friends working in Ahmedabad and probably they will travel with me to the beaches of Diu.
i´m not lonely anymore.

anilkhare

Hi mineja ..

well if u want to enjoy the beach in a bikini u could do that in the more moderate and non touristy places like UDWADA hardly one and a half hour from DIU and DAMAN... it is a quaint parsi town ..it is a holy place cos the holy fire brought by the first zoroastrians is still kept burning in the temple there...it has a neat and unpolluted beaches and hardly any tourist... u could enjoy your swim and no one would even notice.. except the tide breakers..

It is a lovely place which is perfect to unwind as in this town u feel like the time stopped in the colonial era with the those old bungalows few deserted few still brimming with pride..

cyberhippie

Thanks Anilkhare, duly noted, are there any Parsi cafes like those I've heard about in Mumbai???

anilkhare

sir,

What u find in mumbai are IRANI CAFES..

well in UDWADA u wont find IRANI CAFES..but delicious PARSI delicacies like .. DHANSAK.. and others..

BOY we pigged out the last time I had an outing with two other CS guys..

I forgot to mention that beer is dirt cheap cos it is smuggled from daman due to proximity ( THERE IS NO DUTY ON BEER IN DAMAN being a union territory)

cyberhippie

Cheers for putting me straight!! Sounds great, now if I just make it to India!!!

anilkhare

U R Welcome