Solitude in Tarkarli. Review on Tarkarli

We left Belgaum at 9. 30 am . The route we took was belgaum-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Kudal-Malvan-Tarkarli.

Belagum to Amboli is 65 kms, but thanks to bad roads near belgaum, it took us 2 hours to reach Amboli.

We had some snacks and tea at Vithal Kamat’s restaurant after Amboli.

Enjoyed waterfalls and sunset point view and proceeded towards the sawantwadi.

We reached sawantwadi in one hour. It is approx 100 kms from Belgaum.

Ask for road directions from Sawantwadi towards Kudal. Actually when you reach a junction from sawantwadi you have to turn right towards Kudal which is 20.4 kms from Sawantwadi.

If you are at meal time, the best place to eat is a mess called Mahalaxmi mess which is opposite to Fishland hotel just before you hit this T-junction. There are big grounds on your right near this fishland hotel.

Once you start nearing Kudal, you can again ask for Malvan directions, there are enough direction plates on the way, but you can ask just that you are sure.

We reached Tarkarli amidst palm trees and typical Konkani houses and wadis at 1.30 pm.

Tarkarli Beach is a fresh water beach, which is located at the confluence of Karli River and Arabian Sea. The beach is very popular for its clear water and deep-sea bed of about 20 ft.

We tried to call the hotel guys for lunch, but could not contact due to Vodafone “Not Happy to Help” us connectivity.

Fortunately, the hotel guys were expecting us for lunch so it did not take them long to cook meal.

We had some excellent fish thali with pomfret fry. The Veg thali with solkadi was excellent.

Day 1

After meals we checked in at our rooms..the room was clean, spacious, with clean bedsheet. Bathrooms had gas geysers, and was bigger than normal bathrooms..but the best part was the shower..you will enjoy the bath.

After some rest, we proceeded to see Rock Garden, Ganesh temple and watch sunset at Chivla beach.

The Rock Garden is a garden near the rock formations on the beach. Garden is well maintained but the toy train was closed which had my lil one a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, the kids will enjoy the lawns and swings..

Day 2

We hired a private boat for 5 people for three hours for 1600/- . The deal was to take us through the backwaters of Karli river to see the sangam (confluence), then enter the dolphin point , Nivati enclave and tsunami island.

At 7 am we left our rooms for a boat ride that was to take us to confluence of Karla river and Arabian sea at Devbagh. Dolphins are rarely spotted in this area. They visit this place to catch fishes which are available at a shallow height and are an easy catch for the hungry dolphins.

We weren’t very lucky and could not spot any dolphins.

We continued our boat ride towards Nivati enclave also called the golden rock. When we arrived there in 30 mins of boat ride, we were just in time to catch the sun rays fall on Nivati rock making it golden in color. It was simply magnificent.

On the back side of this golden rock was an unexplored virgin beach of Nivati. We requested our boatman to take us to the beach. Our boat man was skeptical because there was no jetty and the water was also not very deep , so he was scared to anchor it there. He thought the sea bed wasn’t deep enough and it would rupture the boat..it was risky but the risk was worth taking for what lay in front of us was a breathtaking view of this virgin beach waiting to be explored.

With some courage and lot of effort he landed the boat on the beach, we quickly jumped in the beach waters and he quickly maneuvered the boat back to the sea and waited for us there.

We enjoyed this pristine clear beach of white sand and blue water at the max..this could easily beat any Mediterranean beach for its unexplored beauty.

We stayed there for 30 mins but the boatman warned us that we should go back.

We then proceeded back to the Tsunami Island. In 2004 during the Tsunami wrath, a small piece of land got detached from the main land near Nivati and got carried deep in the sea. There it was deposited and when the waves became normal, this piece of land got elevated and today is a tourist attraction. We had some Malvani breakfast there..Coconut water and rice ghavan which is nothing but dosa made from rice. It was awesome..Ronit had a feast.

After some water sports like scooter rides and banana boat rides, we proceeded back.

No luck on dolphins during our return journey although our boatman tried desperately L

Overall, it was one heck of a ride..The boat ride cost us 1600/- but since the boatmen took so much effort to land the boat on the virgin island , we gave him some extra moolahs..so much for effort and risk J

On the third day, we were supposed to do snorkeling.300/- per head with gear, personal guide, et al.

But rains played spoilsport and we curtailed our trip and proceeded back to Belgaum. It was overall a splendid trip to remember and forget your worries somewhere down the creeks of Tarkarli .