Trip Report: Pune to Deobag/Tarkarli/Malvan

Hi,

Did a trip to Deobag in dist. Sindhudurg this weekend. What a lovely journey. Since I did not find a lot of information on the route, thought of sharing this with you all. Dividing it into sections:
(a) Route
(b) Deobag and around
(c) Stay
(d) Photos

(a) Route
In a nutshell, it is Pune -NH4-> Kolhapur --> Gagan Bawdaa --> Ghat section --> Talere Naka -NH17-> exit at Kasal --> Malvan --> Tarkarli --> Deobag.

(1) Started from Pune at 5am, reached Kolhapur at 9am, entire road is amazingly good. A couple of kms. within Kolhapur to reach Rankala lake and Hotel Shanti Palace onwards to Gagan Baawdaa village. This distance is ~50 kms.
(2) At Gagan Baawdaa, you descend the Karul ghat and then travel to Talere Naka. The ghat roads have been freshly made, and are buttery smooth. From the base of the ghat to Talere naka is another 18 kms.
(3) At Talere naka, you joing NH17 towards Goa (take a left). Travel on NH17 upto Kasal, which is another 20 kms or so.
(4) Take the exit at Kasal on right, and continue towards Malvan. This is another 15 kms or so. At Malvan, cross the bus stop on left, and immediately after the bus stop, take the Tarkarli road on left again.
(5) Travel for about 7 kms, to reach Tarkarli, continue towards Deobag, which is another 2 kms.

Total travel time required was 8 hrs., 4 to Kolhapur and another 4 to Deobag. Distance from Kolhapur to Deobag/Malvan is ~160 kms.

(b) Deobag and around
Deobag is the place where river Karli meets the Arabian sea. The confluence is a must visit place, and has a marvelous beach on both sides, to the left on the river, and to the right on the sea. Pristine waters, and you can actually see 10 feet deep. Also visit the tsunami island in river Karli which was formed during the tsunami.

Visit the Sindhudurg fort (travel to Malvan, and take a boat ride to the fort), and experience snorkeling near the fort. Lovely marine life awaits you, and the water here is pristine - cleanest I've seen till date.

At Malvan, have Malvani food - for fish eaters, this is a paradise. The food prices reflect that day's market price for the fish, which is funny! Have "sol kadhi" (made of kokum, coconut milk) for vegetarians. Shop for Malvani masala, cashew, and various chutneys and pickles in Malvan market.

All beaches have clean water, be it Malvan, Tarkarli, Deobag, or any beaches around. They are also not crowded, since most folks prefer going down South to Goa, which is just another 100 kms from here.

(c) Stay
We stayed at Saagar Sangam, costliest resort, but had a pathetic experience (see the other thread). Best places are homestays, which are affordable, and most of them are on the beach. Tripadvisor has some great recommendations.

(d) Photos
Enjoy some lovely photos of the area

River Karli


Deobag beach


Pristine water


Tsunami island in river Karli (on right)


The Majestic Sindhudurg Fort


-Amarendra

Thanks for the report!
Can you add up more details on Snorkeling?

Sure. The overall process is very simple, and straightforward.
(1) from Malvan jetty, catch hold of any snorkeling folks (they are roaming all around the jetty). Charges are Rs. 350 per person for a 20 minute snorkeling dip. Typical snorkeling time is from 11am through 3pm when the sun is overhead (helps see into the water clearly).
(2) Carry swimming trunk/costume, and travel on their boat to backside of Sindhudurg fort (very close to the wall, water depth is ~6-10 feet, and very clear).
(3) The boat itself has a rectangular dress change room, so women can also do snorkeling. They give you the gear (goggles and nose cover, and the breathing pipe to be held in mouth).
(4) get into water with an orange circular floating tube, and the instructor will take you along. Typically they carry a biscuit or toast to attract fish. The float is very strong, so it does not matter if you cannot swim. He will guide you to places within ~30-50 ft. radius from the boat where there is lot of fish.
(5) Enjoy the amazing marine life by dipping your head inside the water - the goggles allow you to see clearly. Live corals, colorful fish, large fish, and so on. It will last for about 20 minutes, and then return back to the boat.

There are a cluster of people in that snorkeling zone - all dipping their head. It is very comfortable, safe, and fun. The water is not deep here, and the current it also minimal.

-Amarendra

Thank you for the details Amarendra!
That's going to help!

Very useful Info ... Being in Pune for 6yrs, I never knew about snorkelling options. Thanks a ton !!

thank's Its very useful information.

well , can i get more detail about Sindhudurg Fort

What information you need exactly?

Hi
Would be ok to visit these places in monsoons - July/Aug...also can this be adequately covered in 3 to 4 days...ex mumbai

Konkan ranges from Raigad till Sindhudurg. So it depends on which all places you want to visit whether the time would suffice.

Thank you Armendra for the info. Quite informative.
We are planning a similar trip to Malvan tarkarli from 14th to 16th Nov.
The plan is ; 14th Nov : Early morning departure by Janashatabdi express. Reach malvan till 2:30pm. Evening sunset at Tarkarli/Deobag.
15th ; Visit to Sindhudurg fort & Snorkelling.
16th Morning : Dolphin watching and Karli backwaters. Departure for mumbai at 3:00pm.

Any recommendations for above plan? Please suggest corrections.

I hope you know that you will have to get down at Kudal and from take a public transport to Malvan.

As I suggested in another thread try going to Tondavali beach around 20 kms from Malvan on Achara road. There is also Dhamapur lake which has got some sport activities.

Thanks aarosh.
I'll be using public transport. Does tondivali beach have local transport? If i can hire an auto for whole day, what are the spots other than tondivali and sindhudurg that i can cover on day 2?

It would be better to hire an auto for the day. Tondavali, Chivla and Dhamapur lake can be covered in a day by auto. If you want a longer day you can also go to Achara Bundar, Gajbadevi beach and temple, Kunkeshwar beach and temple. I recollect taking an auto from Mithbav for Malvan, Tarkarli and Devbag. It cost me around Rs 300 around 8 years back.

Also have lunch at Chaitanya one of the days.