Tarkarli and Devbagh
We decided to drive down to Tarkarli beach in pursuit of a destination we hadn't been to before. It was on the spur of the moment and we booked two rooms on the net on someone's recommendation. The Gaganbowra road is in a pitiful condition, broken up and non-existent in places and we made extremely bad time in the Beemer, taking three hours more than the estimated time of travel. Arriving in the evening and after having a look at the rooms we wandered around looking for some others; after a late lunch at Maratha Niwas. Kind lady but not our kind of rooms... Luckily there had been two cancellations in Gajanan hotel in Tarkarli which had a distant sea view to boot. This place had air conditioned rooms and good food, plenty of soda and ice! Devbagh which has the backwaters was bursting at the seams and there was no room to be had for love or money.
This was tourist season and every little homestay was up to its gills with people, 99% maharashtrian families enjoying the almost exclusively malvani cuisine. Inspite of large groups they are well behaved and circumspectly dressed, even in the sea. (I was the only person in a swimsuit. ) Even though there were throngs of tourists the beach is long and clean and large enough to give you space of your own while you wade far out to get to waist high water! A very gentle slope ensures safety for children and the timid. The only other place, beside one cove in Dona paula that has the corkscrew shells on the beach is this one! And that too only along a certain part of it. We collected a lot of these, being careful to leave the ones occupied by a tiny pink multiple legged creature which dug itself point down into the sand when released or rolled along into deeper water! Very clever! the corkscrew lends itself to much better mobility in comparison to the clamshell shape or the crab shell which has to be carried about by its resident.
We had to move into a homestay the next day. In Tarkarli, A/c means a better quality of room,and its best to get one even if you don't need the a/c.. It will have an attached bathroom, maybe a w/c and hot water. this one had a tiny tv under the ceiling! PAndurang Guest house had a sandy back yard with a gazebo for dining and hammocks under coconut trees. Climbing up a steep sandy bank afforded a view of the sea from atop and a couple of benches and a table perched on the other side out of sight of the house, for noisy drunkards who wanted to have a good time! A wonderful place indeed on a moonlit night!
Arrriving in Tarkarli
Hire a house boat...
you can do this
Lovely Maharashtra!
tourist season...
Its best to go in Feb or march and you could have the place to yourself. Definitely worth it. We went back via the Bombay Goa highway, joining up a little before Sawantwadi and to Amboli ghat. Made much better time even though it was much longer...so many places to just while away the hours... and not too many hours to do it in!!! Well worth visiting on the way back from Goa.
