East Vs. The West Coast of India: Which is prettier.

sdsudarsan

Both are really nice! One cannot compare Goa to Vishakapatnam, Sundarbans to Mumbai, Pondy to Kovalam.
All are wonderful!

nikhilsegel

Hey Sd,

Assume your not comparing PLACE to PLACE but the entire coast and had the opportunity to see most of it.

Which direction would you go? East Coast or West Coast?

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aarosh

i was born close to Puri, so i am a lil biased towards the east, but then I went to goa and..well, the three B's take the cake. heart says east, parts of which are way better than what west has to offer but too cut-off to be enjoyed by all folks. Easier accessibility, a more western lifestyle, better connectivity, obviously works for the western side.

Personally, I think it would be a gross injustice to say the west is better, prettier, cooler, etc (and lots of other adjectives) beaches, when someone hasn't seen some of the places in the east.You cant compare both. Your preference would obviously be weighed by your expectations/limitations.

But its a poll, and I say, gimme andamans or lakshadweep...way way way way waaaaaaaaayyyyy ahead...

P.S: Three B's, then its west hands down. Tranquility, serenity, then its east. Unmatched beauty, untouched, exotic, then its the andamans or the lakshadweep islands. What say doc?

nikhilsegel

So Prettiest beach on the East Coast would be ... ???

steven_ber

Places visited on west coast: -

Diu
Mumbai
About 7 beaches in north, central and south Goa
Murudeshwar
Malpe (& St. Mary Island & gorgeous area a few miles north of Malpe)
Mangalore
Cochin
Alleppey beach
Varkala
Kovalam


Places visited on east coast: -

Puri + Konnark (but not the beaches)
Gopalpur
Vizag (well, the beaches a few kms north of Vizag)
Narsapur (well, a famous beach about 12kms SW of Narsapur)
Manginipudi (NE of Machilipatnam)
Voderavu (east of Chirala)
Chennai
Kanyakumari


My choice would depend on what a person is looking for.

Prettiest = West - no competition really.
Ease of travel = West
Spoken English = West
Cultural differences = Both
Getting away from tourists and touts = East
Sense of adventure = East
Food = Both
Tourist infrastructure = West

Sitting here (home) trying to think of great things about the East coast isn't easy (even though I really enjoyed it), it's sort of hard to describe, Bhubaneshwar was a real great find, I really enjoyed the lake area in the south of the city, Rajamundry, well, the river cruise up the Godavari was also wonderful, and Voderavu, a small fishing village that made me feel so welcome, a really great place for meeting the locals.

It's difficult to travel on the east coast, Andhra Pradesh in particular just isn't ready for tourists and it can be a frustrating area to travel around, the people really want to help, but I found it difficult in some places as I only speak English, the food was always amazing though and I always felt totally safe.

But as the main question is about the Prettiest coast, the West wins easily, there are so many perfectly formed (crescent shaped) beaches on the West, where as the East is mostly straight line beaches, I was also lucky enough to find long stretches of beach with backwaters just behind the beaches (north of Malpe), I never found these on the east coast, though I'm sure they exist.

I guess it's all about what each of us experience.

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nikhilsegel

My god Steven, what a wonderful answer.

I think I am going to use it on the wife and win this damn thing with her!

hehehehe

Cheers

capt_mahajan

Ship

Honavar is kind of mid west coast.

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nikhilsegel

Found Honavar, Seems nice.

Sorry to ask you this on a tangent.. were you in the Navy or Merchant Navy?

Cheers

capt_mahajan

me? the merchant of venice.

nikhilsegel

Ahhhh ok !

Cheers

sdsudarsan

I'll do end-to-end trip! start from West Coast, Gujarat, down to Cochin, hop to Lakshadweep and back, continue to Chennai, hop to Andamans and then go all the way to Kolkata.

money and time are needed!

nikhilsegel

Ok thats a pipe dream that even I wouldn't risk smoking!

This is actually an argument between the wife and me using the assumption that you had 1 Month, which coast would you decide to see..

aarosh

havelock..or the far reaches of nicobar or are we only talking about the mainland now?

Steve, agree with you on all counts, except that prettiest tag irks me. The west, for its accessibility, language barrier/ promotions, is a better option. And if you really wanna see some crescent shaped beaches, go south of Vizag.

Nik, personally, since i spent a huge chunk of my life there, my favorite (even though biased) will remain the beaches from chandrabhaga up until puri, to balighai. Why? Simply put, i spent roaming these places with a bunch of friends, crates of B,along beautiful long stretches of beaches, small lagoons in between, where you have warm sand under your feet, huge crashing waves that sing to you (or the hallucingenic affects of 6 bottles of B ), the highway right next to you, shady trees whenever you want to put up your feet...ahh.Ohh, and if you want tranquility, visit Bheemunipatnam Beach or Rishikonda..and I loved those un named beaches south of Vishakhapatnam.

capt_mahajan

I think I am put off by some Western beaches because I know what I will find when I land up there.

Umm, does Ratnagiri count? Not a beach as far as I know, but the view from the hilltop is beautiful.

nikhilsegel

Ratnagiri does .. Havelock doesn't.

The argument with the wife is :

IF I COULD take a month off, it would be great to drive down the west coast. She took off on a tangent and said NO east coast .. and thus began the usual argument that most married couples have.



Thus the Poll