Beaches in Maharashtra

The 700 mile long stretch of coastline with the blue waters of Arabian Sea and more than 330 days of bright sunshine every year make Maharashtra the any-day-sun-bathing place. There are several lovely beaches and beach resorts in the state. The beaches of Mumbai though crowded to some extent are very safe and visited by families from all over India. The latest trend of providing wholesome entertainment opportunity to the beach goers has brought many water sports to these beaches. The Mumbai beaches are the favorite of many newly married especially from Maharashtra for a romantic time together. The Konkan region in the South has beaches for the connoisseur with exquisite settings and essential seclusion.

Marine Drive. The Marine Drive is the Bay Area of Mumbai. Chowpatty is another famous name by which it is generally known. The beach located in the city center also figured in many movies and been associated with the freedom movement of India. The Marine Drive is a semi-elliptical road and driving on it on a Sunday morning is a pleasurable experience. The night time, one can see the whole of Mumbai, with glittering neon signs and sparkling lights in multi-storied business and apartment blocks.

The old Mumbai folks come to Marine Drive for the special charm of feeding pigeons and it is a lovely sight. The Ganesh Chaturthy festival brings Lord Ganesha to the beach and thousands of clay idols of the Lord are immersed here. The devout are generally unaware of the massive cleaning effort needed to restore the beach later.

Juhu Beach. The Juhu Beach is about 12 miles from the Mumbai City center. It is one of the posh beaches of Mumbai. The Juhu area has plush mansions of many Bollywood stars. The name itself is a qualification. The South side of the beach has luxury hotels and been the favorite site of movie makers in the eighties and nineties before they migrated to locales abroad.

The beach is famous for everything else except swimming. The Mumbaikers come here for snacking, chit chatting or a stroll along the water line. The famous snacks of the place are Gola Ice-cream and Bhel. The Centaur Hotel has a sea facing all night long coffee-shop too. The weekends are the days of madding crowd here with vendors selling curious stuff. One can find cute handmade seashell dolls but guard against the glib talking vendors fleecing you. This is also the most visited beach of Mumbai.

The Beach at Madh Island. The beach at Madh Island is singularly famous for beach parties. The fad of theme beach parties has caught on with the rich and famous of Mumbai and this is the place for that. The beach with a treacherous sea is not suitable for swimming or other water based activities. These beaches are also not very crowded as the other Mumbai beaches, so you can find that peace that you look for after the grind of the week.

Marve Beach. The creek of Marve, just a short boat ride from Madh Island, offers a small but very popular Mumbai beach. The beach is generally very crowded and again not fit for swimming. The creek creates treacherous currents and one can be easily washed away to the open sea. The Versova beach a few miles away is famous for the Koli fishing community. The prawns are available in plenty. Try your luck for a cooked meal in the traditional Koli style with any villager; well, it depends on your social skills.

Ganapatiphule. The Konkan coast, 300 miles south of Mumbai, is the land of laid back, hospitable and always friendly Konkani people. The fishing village of Ganapatiphule is popular for its picture perfect and serene beaches. The village itself looks like a bygone era with narrow gullies, houses with red mud roof, neat hand swept courtyards and rows of extra green large trees of jackfruit, mango, banana etc.

The beaches here are clean and unsullied probably because Ganapatiphule is a major pilgrimage center. The Ganapati temple here is more than four centuries old and located at the base of a small hill. The traditional pilgrimage is a slow walk around the temple hill, paying your obeisance to the deity. It is a must visit location in Maharashtra and can be reached via Ratnagiri airport / railhead just 35 miles away. Now many new beach resorts have also opened up to cater to the needs of beach tourists. However it is advisable to be dressed decently while visiting the villages or the temple areas.

Alibaug Beaches. The famous weekend retreat for Puneites and Mubaikers is Alibaug. It takes an hour of boat ride from the famous Gateway of India or two hours drive via Panvel. Puneites can reach in three hours of excellent drive on the Mumbai Pune super-highway.

The climate is highly pleasant all through the year with monsoons being extremely torrential. The hotel industry is wooing the professionals during the week days for organizing business conferences in the salubrious environs. The famous beaches in the area are Alibaug, Kihim, Akshi, Mandava, Kashid and Naogaon. These are separated by five to seven kilometers. The Kashid is the farthest at 20 miles from Alibaug on the Murud highway. The area of Murud Janjira also has some fine beaches with picture perfect palm trees and is the Caribbean of Maharashtra.

Vijaydurg – Sindhudurg. The South most areas of coastal Maharashtra were the naval bases of Maratha Supremo Shivaji. The coastline is un-spoiled and carries the pristine beauty with forts and old structures in the background. The views of the sea are just breathtaking. Though about 350 miles from Mumbai it does deserve a visit. The few other places of interest to beach lovers in the Konkan region would be Velneshwar, Vengurla, Takrali and Malvan. The natural untainted beauty of these largely Konkan villages with the vastness of the Arabian Sea in the backdrop can not be described by mere words.