Looks are deceptive. Review on Harihareshwar Beach, Raigad

This is the fifth beach I've been to in Maharashtra after Bordi, Alibaug, Arnala and Juhu, but by far it is the most clean and beautiful. It took us 5 1/2hours from B'bay to reach hareshwar. The journey from Goregaon (10-15kms from Mangaon) to hareshwar enroute was bumpy.

However, for most of the time you can enjoy the beautiful countryside and the fresh air wherever you go. We stayed at the MTDC resort. The rooms were good, however, the service given at the canteen was awfull. They didnt have any cold drinks on a weekend, and the staff was very rude. Food was good though. The beach invited you the moment you set foot in the resort.

The resort is the closest to the beach, a bit expensive than others. You need to take a left from the resort and walk down some steps downhill to go the beach. We went straight for the water which was clean, however here started the nightmare for me and my friend. It was high tide and we were running on the shore where there was knee deep water when suddenly my friend who was ahead of me fell and after him me too.

I felt something hit my leg and when we came out we saw that our sole was bleeding, so was my left hand. I lost quite a lot of blood and returned to the resort. It was later during low tide when our friends went down and saw what hit us.

There were these sharp ugly rocks which had round pock marked holes in them right in the middle of the shore, you cant see them during high tide, but once the water recedes there are some 4 to 5 rocks like these spread out near the start of the beach (when you come down the steps and walk for about 15 -20 feet). I should also mention that the water has stong undercurrents hence going too far into the water could be dangerous.

The rest of our vacation was spent on the bed resting with bandages on our leg. There were some great moments on this trip, however this incident was a first for me hence I thought of writing this review so that others can avoid the same.