Hidden Treasure of Malvan: Tondavali Peninsula

 

Into the tranquility - Tondavali

For many travelers, Tourism is just sight seeing, but there are many for whom Travel is a way to escape out of a place in search of discovering themselves. In today's fast world, where your value depends on the sacrifices you make, and Traveling is a way to recover your lost part the soul.You may Travel solo or you may travel in family, the ultimate outcome of a trip is to find the lost part of yourself. When your travel objective is to discover tranquility of mind, then we need a place that is tranquil enough to satisfy the inner soul. In this journey, I will take you to a secluded place, and will explore the beauties of this amazing area, which is devoid of proper mobile network as well.

 

Tondavali-Talashil is a beautiful coastal destination on the Konkan coast in western India, close to the popular tourist destination of Malvan, Maharashtra. The place is geographically a peninsular area formed by Gad River on eastern boundary and Arabian Sea on the western border. This place is for those tourists who can survive a day without their digital identity. You know what i mean !

Being less visited, the beaches are very clean and resides good amount of marine life, so the place is pilgrimage for wildlife lovers too. The area is known for shells lying on beaches and dolphins greeting you near your resort backyards. For bird lovers, the area is clean and green with densely forested areas, making it a suitable home for multiple bird species, but spotting the birds in forest needs patience. Sea side birds are easy to photograph. The place is paradise for travelers who want to replenish their senses amidst calmness. 

Things to Do 

1.  Wagheshwar Temple

A beautiful temple dedicated to Goddess Shakti. It is said that the complete village is looked after by the goddess. So, every person pays their respect to the power and wish for well being of the people. Being a small village, every person here comforts each other as family member, so all festivals and celebrations are centered around this temple. Do visit while you enter the village. 

Wagheshwar Temple

2. Relaxing on Beach-side and if you are lucky, Dolphins may visit you near your couch

The area is famous for pristine beaches. Tondavali beach on the western part of peninsula is good for basic beach activities and most resorts have their own share of beach for visitors to access anytime. Most resorts provide night camping facility on their respective beach area. Many times group of Dolphins swim around the area during morning hours, and they come very close to the beaches which makes it easy for visitors to get a beautiful glimpse of these amazing creatures. In the evening, you can opt to sit near beach, spread your legs, have some tea and let all your stresses evaporate.

Night Illumination at private beach area

 3. Silent Boat ride on Gad River

The east side of peninsula is washed by Gad river giving it a more silent lookout. You can hire a boat with the help of your resort owners as most residents have their own boats which is basically used for small scale fishing. You can certainly enjoy the drive in the river with amazing bird sights, lush green surroundings, scenery of coconut palms. If that does not satisfy you, then just relax and feel the cool breeze over the river. 

Gad River views early in the morining

4. Talashel Beach and Amalgamation of Sea and River

The beach can be accessed either by a difficult walk through coconut palm jungle or by a river ride through boats. The beach witness the merging of Gad river and Arabian sea. You can witness lot of marine life in this area.

Tip of Talashil Peninsula

5. Boat ride to Simpla Island and Kawada Rock Island

You can have a boat ride to the Simpla Island which basically looks like a graveyard with shells all around. Going a bit deeper into sea, you will reach Kawada Rock Island. You can land on the island for some clicks. You will feel completely isolated. 

Simpla Island

6. Walk through the homes of Locals 

The visit to the area will not be complete if you don't communicate with the locals. Have a candid talk with the boat driver, your caretaker at resort and he will open up a beautiful picture of the area. If you can connect with them, they will take you around their home and you can explore their culture in a deeper ways. 

During my visit, I got the chance to interact with a craftsman who was making decorative artifacts using sea shells collected from the area. The shells were collected from small islands around the area and they sell them in Malvan markets. 

7. Have some fishing experience

The place can offer you variety in fishing experience. You can have your fishing time at Gad river, or you may experience the fishing net collection procedures during evening hours on the Tondavali beach. Now it is upto you, how you want to have this fun.

Fishing Activity at Tondavali Beach

8. Get to Taste Home made Konkan food

There are no hotels in the area. You will be served with lovely tasty food with great love and care. Like most households, the food is cooked by the lady of the house and that shows you why the simple food tastes so much. Another lovely affair is that there are no menu cards here. Like your home, the host will discuss the food arrangements with you based on available eatables and fishes well in advance, that is, your breakfast and lunch will be discussed during previous night dinner. After a proper discussion, required fresh raw materials are brought home so that the home-maker can cook them for you. Again, if you can connect with them, you can share a space in their kitchen to witness the home style cooking.

Optional: Experience Water Sports

Sarjekot Jetty has many service providers who offers you an option to have all sea sports activity like Sea Sailing, Para-gliding, different boat rides, and special activity like Scuba diving. But I would suggest all to experience all this in Malvan or Tarkarli area. 

How to Reach

The nearest railway station is Kankavali, which is 40 Km away on the Konkan Railways which is very well connected to various parts of India via Mumbai. The other option is Kudal, which is 46 Km away, but it has less trains with scheduled stops. For Airways lovers, Sindhudurg Chipi Airport may get operational soon for domestic flights from Mumbai. The nearest International airport is Dabolin, Goa, which is 145  Km away. Do hire a cab while visiting Tondavali because there is no facility of public transport there.

Where to Stay

There are many home-stay type options around the beach area. Most resorts are of similar levels. I opted for Redstone Resort. It has options for small 1 room setup and beach side camps. It has a in-house kitchen, a music area where you can enjoy at night playing your own music using blue-tooth music systems. If you are interested in bird photography, book the resort on the river sides as birds can be seen having their flights on rivers but you will miss the beach stay charms.

Tent Camp area of Red Stone resort

Who Should Visit

Anyone who wants to go far from office boss and mobile network. Hahaa..

No. of Days

1 Night, 2 Days for all visit. You can extend to 2 nights for relaxing visit.

Our host of the visit who helped with all our needs

Every time you think of a Travel, you can opt for the conventional popular tourist options, or you may travel far from the normal to a divergent destination. The choice is completely on you. But while selecting, always keep in mind the objective of your travel, the reason why you are investing your time and money to reach out to a destination which should rejuvenate you and turn you into a new person. 

Enjoy traveling !!