Unexplored beaches of Konkan - Raigad District

  When we talk of Konkan beaches, we talk of Alibaug, Harihareshwar, Shriwardhan, Diveagar, Harne, Ratnagiri, Ganpatipule, Malvan, Vengurla etc. Of course these beaches are must visit, but if you have already visited these beaches & want to try some off beat beaches, here are few for you.

 Ashti, Nagav, Kihim, Revdanda, Chaul - 

Kihim Beach

 Near Alibaug there are many beautiful & secluded beaches. If you are travelling in your own vehicle you can cover all of them in a single day. If you visit Alibaug & found the beach too crowded for you, move southwards & you will reach these beaches in few minutes. All these beaches have access to road. In nearby villages you can get delicious, fresh fish varieties. You can enjoy tender coconuts, and except the person behind the wheel all can enjoy Taadi & Maadi. On Kihim beach, you can also enjoy some water sports. There are many forts around these beaches & these forts are worth visiting.

 Kashid and Murud

Janjira Fort

         Situated around 35 kms. southwards from Alibaug this beach is surrounded by Phansad wildlife sanctury. This beach hosts beautiful Kashid Beach resort which provides very good accommodation option. Kashid is a straight and long white sand beach. If you travel 15 kms. southwards from Kashid, you can visit Murud beach. Murud is also very famous fishing town. One can enjoy amazing seafood in small restaurants near Murud. If you are visiting Murud, dont miss the grand sea fort Janjira, home to Siddi kings. Small ferry runs between Murud & Janjira fort.

Walwati Beach - Between Shriwardhan & Diveagar

Walwati (Diveagar - Shriwardhan road)

        If you travel from Shriwardhan to Diveagar, You will pass through this small village. After this village, till Dive agar you will see many amazing unnamed beaches. If you are planning a group picnic or want to spend a day at secluded & pristine beach, just relaxing or reading book or painting landscape, this is a place for you. Dont expect typical tourist amenities like fast food stalls, restaurants, hotels etc. here.. this is a virgin patch with very few number of people halting. but the beaches in this belt are really amazing. If you want to visit these beaches, travel on NH17 till goregaon and take a right turn for Shriwardhan. Just before Shriwardhan take a right turn for Diveagar.

Velas & Kelshi

Turtles on Velas Beach

From Goregaon on NH17, one diversion heads to Mandangad. One has to travel till Mandangad and then can go to both these beaches. Velas beach is smaller comparatively, but it hosts very interesting project of ridley turtles. These turtles are grown here & every year turtle festival is celebrated on Velas Beach. Kelshi is a bigger beach and around 15 kms. from Velas. You can cover Velas & Kelshi with Harihareshwar or with Harne - Anjarle. One can also get Ferry from Bagmandla to Bankot if you are visiting Harihareshwar.

  There are many more beaches in Raigad districts apart from these, but I listed few which came to my mind. I will write few more posts on other districts.. till then, read the blog and give youir valuable feedback to improve it.

  

Rajgad & Torna - A perfect winter trek

  Rains are over & so is October heat.. so my trek lover friends pull out ur sacks.. start forming a group & here is the plan for perfect two days trek...

  Rajgad & Torna, both are very prominent forts of Maratha History, Rajgad was the first capital of Shivaji Maharaj & Torna was the first fort conquered by this great king. Both these hill forts are in Pune Region.

  Here I am giving plan from Mumbai... considering your trek is on saturday & Sunday.. So Start by late night State transport Bus to swargate or by Bijapur passenger / chennai express to Pune station.

  From both the places you will easily get another state transport bus to Velha. But dont go till Velha, get down at village called Sakhar which in 2 Kms away from base of Rajgad. Anybody at Sakhar will guide you to starting point of Rajgad.

  From Sakhar, it is pretty simple trek & you will take 2-3 hours to reach Padmavati Maachi of Rajgad.  There is a padmavati Devi temple & small Dharmashala ( without doors ) where you can put up your base.

Padmavati Devi Temple

After some break you can visit Sanjivani & Suvela Machi and also the Bale Killa. Dont forget to sit in 'Nedha' & click a snap there. The fortified Machi's of Rajgad with dual bastions will take you back to those glorious years of maratha history.

Suvela Machi

  Bale killa of Rajgad is beautiful & its must visit. Enjoy spectacular views of all three machi, main fort & surrouding area, enjoy cool breeze & then descend down to Padmavati, where you have set up your base.

Rajgad Top view - Picture by Mr. Gopal Bidhe

  Next day morning, start as early as possible for Torna, You can see bastion of Torna from Padmavati temple itself, and the ridge that joins Rajgad and Torna. Now go to Sanjivani Machi, and come out of the fort from there.

  There is no confusion point. You will be able to locate a long ridge from Rajgad to Torna. It will take around 6 to 8 hours to reach Buidhla machi of Torna. There are very few water sources enroute, hence carry ample of water.

  After crossing these hills ( around 21 I guess ) you will reach a ruined bastion on Budhla machi of Torna fort. Enter from here & cross all the way till Zunjar machi. After entering from Budhla, Zunjar machi is towards your right. So keep travelling till you reach Zunzar machi. You will see Tornai devi temple here and can rest for a while.

Torna - Bird eye view

  Then start your descend from Zunjar machi. It will take around 2-3 hours to reach base village of Velha. From here you could get MUV or state transport bus etc. for Swargate.

Tips : Carry food, water & sleeping bag ( or at least blanket with you ).
          You need to walk a lot, so wear comfortable cloths & footwear.
          Carry torch with you as you are going to stay overnight at Rajgad.

If you need any further info. You can call me at 9820031162. If you need tent for this or any other trek I can provide it on rent.