Date: 27^th Jan 2010

The persistent memories are blooming in mind. The wonderful 4 days trip from Pune to Kokan has made an impact. It was a blessed time for us to have such wonderful and successful trip.

Day 1:

We started from Pune at 5:45 AM and reached to Kolhapur at 9:30 AM with one break for tea near Satara.

We had Kolhapur’s famous Bawada-Misal in Kasba-Bawda area of Kolhapur. (To get to the Bawada-Misal hotel: After Toap, take left from NH4 at Shiye Fata/Under the NH4/Take a left goes straight to Kasaba-bawada).

I was amazed by the confect service provided by the Misal-Hotel people. Very good taste of misal and can be set as benchmark for the Maharashtrian dish.

Then as usual “Saral Jaa…(Go straight!) Lead us to Kolhapur Laxmi Temple. One complete circular waiting queue of people around temple will allow you to take Darshan within 20-30 minutes. So plan accordingly.

Thereafter, on the way we hit famous Rankala lake in Kolhapur. It is big historic lake in the city with 20+ft wide jogging track.

We started from Kolhapur to Malvan via Gagan-Bawada Road (MH State Highway 115) via Vaibhavwadi-Kankavali-Kasal-Malvan. We reached to Malvan by 2:30-3.00.

Roads were good. At some places road development was in progress. Near Kolhapur we hit presence of Sugar-cane fields along the roads. Near Malvan all roads are covered by the shadow of the trees found to be very scenic all around.

We did check-in in Hotel Sagar-Sangam in Deobag area. Hotel was very clean with neat rooms and furniture. Little costly (Rs. 3300/- per night) compare to others in the area. But worth spending for the views we get on the bank of the Karli River. Refer http://www.saagarsangam.com/

View from My room in the morning: River Karli meets to the sea in the right side:

Beach was 100 mtrs away from the hotel. We had some fun on the beach and back for the snacks at 7:30 PM. Sagar Sangam Hotel was not good option for veggie people, however okay for fishes.

There are multiple options 3km away in Malvan for veggies like Swami and Vittal Kamat in Somwar peth.




Arrange for next day’s plan for dolphins, sangam, island and Nivati, Sindhudurga fort and most amazing and my favorite Snorkeling. Ask your hotel manager for the same.

Day 2:

Next early morning we heads towards Dolphin point which goes via Sangam- the point at which a river meets to Arabian Sea. It was good experience to be seated in the boat and observe sea waves which are pushing off the river water. The tough river stream finally enters into the Arabian water showing her contending efforts.

You must get in early morning at the Dolphin point. Late you are increases the chances of disappointment. We started at 7:50 AM and got to see only a pair of dolphins. Good time is around 6 AM when you may able to see a group of 50-100 dolphins.

Then the next point is Nivati island the most beautiful place to visit with your beloved ones. 

 

After having some fun-time with serene beauty of nature and some foto-session it was high time to get some food to break fast. On the way of return journey there was last point called island where we had some amazingly made “Ghavan-Chatani” with “Kokum Sharbat”. We were back to the hotel by 10:30 AM.

Here we conclude Sangam, Dolphin point, Nivati and Island. Next is the Sindhudurga fort and Snorkling.

At 11:00 AM we took our car and reached to the beach(3 km) at which way to Sindhudurga fort starts. Again the speed-boat took us to the fort. The fort is famous for its presence in the sea. Inside fort there are plenty of wells, Shivaji maharaj temple and many things to see. There were food counters available where we had cold-drinks. I suggest that you hire a tourist guide there. After this we called(phone call) the speed-boat driver to take us to next point ie Snorkeling.

Snorkeling charges are 250-300 per person. The best part is that the non swimmers can also enjoy this activity. The big ring tube around you helps to stay on the surface of water and the pipe and the diving mask helps to take breath though you are looking inside the sea water. The divers here are great helpers and they take all efforts so that tourists can enjoy snorkeling. There were plenty of fishes of different colors, size and variety of sea-algae, corals etc. It is great experience in life which one should not miss to enjoy. Just rely on you diver and enjoy it thoroughly. (In start you may realize that the water still enters into your mouth. Just kiss and hold the pipe to lock it perfectly in the mouth. You are going to inhale air from mouth and not nose!)

The sea water is so clear that under 15 ft you are able to see the nature’s beauty. The sun rays enter the water spreading the shine across making effect of a prism phenomenon. And in that way some small fish comes and goes silently just to say “Welcome” to you. It is so miraculous that you will fall in love with nature.

Then we went to Hotel Swami for lunch and went to 40 km away Vengurla beach for the evening. It is one of the good beaches I have seen. It is less crowded. We played in water till the sun-set and back to the Malvan hotel by 8 PM.

We had dinner at Hotel Ruchira and back to the hotel Sagar-Sangam for the night.

Day 3:

In morning 8:00 AM, we checked-out from Hotel and visited Rock-Garden and Ganesh temple in Malvan followed by journey towards Goa via Sawantwadi. We could have been checked-out on day 2 and stayed in Vengurla since it is on the way to Goa. But we had not planned Goa as part of our tour.

We reached to Goa at around 1 PM. Booked one room in a hotel near Calangute and went to beach. Had fun with banana-ride, water-bike and other stuff. In night there was candle-light dinner facility all across the beach. You can enjoy the same with sound and show-off of waves.

Day 4:

Returned back to Pune via Goa-Sawantwadi-Amboli-Kolhapur-Pune. (Maharshtra State Highway 112). Started journey at 8:30 AM.

We had breakfast at Vitthal Kamat, Sawantwadi and lunch at Hotel Victor Palace Kolhapur.

The tranquil beauty of the nature was along the roads of Sawantwadi to Amboli. Which was around 28 Km from Sawantwadi. The roads are way good and to drive there was like sleeping in heaven. Amboli is famous hill station.

Then the roads we followed as Ajra->Nipani->Kolhapur. Hotel Victor palace is quite near to get. We don’t have to enter in the core Kolhapur city for this hotel. Lunch was good. Jakie Shoroff awed us there. I got a chance to click a foto with Jackie Shroff.

We started journey form Kolhapur at 2:30 and we were in Pune by 5:30 PM.

Factory shop Zantey kaaju is famous in Malvan. There are few shops where wooden toys from Sawantwadi are available in Malvan.

Overall journey was 1100 km from Pune->Kolhapur->Gaganbawada->Kankavali->Malvan->Tarkarli->Malvan->Vengurla->Malvan->Sawantwadi->Goa->Sawantwadi->Amboli->Kolhapur->Pune.

My car Hyundai-i10 was so kind to us that without hitch it brings us to home safely with 20kmpl mileage.

 


Few more fotos: