advice on planning a trip down the Konkan coast in late April

I am considering trying to make a journey by car down the Konkan coast in late April. As my mother (57 yrs old) is traveling with me this time and she has never been in the developing world before I thought a trip with car and driver may be a good way to get her to see the more off beat areas without subjecting her immediately to state busses and shared taxis.
My budget is realatively large compared to my normal standard but would prefer to keep it under $150 Canadian or about 6000 rs per day if possible.
From going through the forum it seems the MSH 4 the coastal highway maybe the best route, does any one have any experiences recently with this? As well can anyone advise approximate cost to hire a car and driver for 4 days perhaps and where I might do this? Any other advice or tips on this idea would be great.

yes the coastal highway is good, with a few diversions here and there. For a 4 day trip I would suggest 1 day at Kashid, 1 day at harihareshwar, 1 day at paradiase beach (sawantwadi) return 1 day at Ganpitphule and day 5 back to Mumbai. Average 5 hrs or so of in the car every day, if you find it too hectic, drop sawantwadi and return from Ganpatiphule. Hire an AC indica for around 1500-1750 per day (max 200 kms) and the rest 4000 odd should be good enough to cover your other expenses.

Only concern is that the it will be extremely hot and humid in april and with 8-10 hrs of powercuts every day in Konkan region. So start early morning by 7 and reach your destination by 12. rest in the afternoon till 4 or so then enjoy the evenings

thanks spicetrekker
That is great advice! I know it will be hot and humid but I like the heat, how my mother will handle it is yet to be determined and will likely play into our plans.

I imagine that if I choose this option my hotel can arrange a car/driver or should I find a travel agent?

Hi ... Konkan is really nice ...
We just did a 10 day trip along the coast.

Here is the link to our blog - http://10yearitch.com/?tag=konkan
It has reviews - hotel and restaurant. You can even check the itinerary and other posts to get a feel of what you might want to do based on your schedule.

I'd recommend staying at Diveagar instead of Harihareshwar - Nicer beach and more hotel options. You can do Harihareshwar as a day trip - about 16 kms away.

It's getting super warm in Maharastra - April will be very very hot ... not sure if that is the best time to be there.

Anyways ... happy travels!
Cheers!

10 year itch
Also great info - thanks for posting the blog link!
I know it will be hot, but such is life. I was last in Mumbai in early April 2006 and while hot I was fine, but we will have to see. I have never had to have a set itenary when traveling before but with a short period of time and my mom along for the adventure I figured I should kick around a few ideas and make some sort of loose plan.

I agree diveagar is better; only thing is when I went there some 10 yra ago the staying options were far and few. I think you should just take a car and go ahead and book the hotels on the spot.Other than Kashid , that too on a weekend, you will easily get accomodation. Key is to find a good car and driver

May be you can add Sindhudurg fort (Sea fort) or Janjira Sea fort) near Murud. There are some good beaches around these forts as well. As far as Murud is concerned, it is relatively close to Mumbai than Sindhudurg. Murud is around 200 Kms while Sindhudurg is around 350-400 Kms..

@spicetrekker I was at Diveagar a few weeks ago. There were a lot of stay options. Things have changed in the last 10 years. I had stayed at Harihareshwar - I wish I had stayed at Diveagar.

I am not sure your mother will be comfortable in the heat of April (probably not if you are from the Maritime Provinces). I would do train to Kolhapur and then travel by car to Panhala and beaches and then train back from the Konkan to Mumbai.

Thank you for the advice everyone!
I think we are going to put the Konkan coast trip off for another trip. We only have 17 actual days for journeying and it is just not enough! I am still think of getting a car and driver for our journey to Aurangabad. I have never arranged this before, does anyone have any suggestions.

Pontesm : My family is from Saskatchewan (the province right in the middle of Canada) it is not uncommon for it to be -35 or colder in the winter and 35 above in the summer, but it is a dry heat, if anything gets her it will be the humidty I think.

Hi, I'd suggest flying into Aurangabad or a train to Aurangabad and then hiring a car for the local trips.

Check the following link for hiring a cab with driver in
Tips to rent a car taxi for Ajanta/Ellora

In my opinion, you need to spend only 3 days in Aurangabad - 1 for Ajanta, 1 for Ellora and Khuldabad, 1 for Aurangabad Caves, Biwi ka Maqbara (and other stuff if you are interested).

If you need more info, check our blog entries on Aurangabad.
http://10yearitch.com/?s=Aurangabad

Happy Travels!

10yearitch - thank you for the great advice and the blog I have been following it!

Plan's changed (again) when I realised how few days I had alloted to spending time with my friends in Mumbai and importantly how little time we had to go to the NGO project I previously worked with. So new plan is to spend a full week in Mumbai - sight seeing etc in the morning before it gets too hot, with afternoons largely devoted to visiting with friends and spending time at the NGO. Saturday May 1 we will venture off to explore elsewhere. Tentatively I have us off to Haridiwar and Rajaji National Park, Amritstar and Delhi/Agra with the remaining 10 days - plan's may change if the heat proves to much for my dear mom

I may be bit late to this.But on your run to Konkan and coastal areas of it.MSH4 will be the best to travel.But its not connected all the way lets say starting from Alibag till Goa.Many of the creeks dont have any bridge.

I had covered most of the Konkan,via MSH4.Pardon me if they are not in order.

Alibag
Kashid (near by place like korlai fort cant be missed)
Murud janjira
Divegar ( Divegar to shrivardhan MSH4 patch is not in good condition)
Shrivardhan
harihareshwar
Dapoli
Dabhol (can get ferry to cross the creek)
Guhagar
Valneshwar
Ganpatipule
Vijaydurg
Devgad
Malwan
Tarkarli (Very beautiful beach)
Vengurla (via MSH4)
Goa

Tell me if require any help regarding the route.will be happy to help.

Cheers
Biru