The Enchanting Coastline - Karwar

 

Karwar Coast

Traveling is a beautiful experience where your mind synchronizes with the harmony of nature and outdoor. Humans are animals, and Animals really feel happy when they are in Wild. Humans by the virtue of their intellect, recreates and improvises their experiences. Every visit becomes memorable depending on likes and dislikes of a person. Some travelers relates excellence in tourism based on quality of resort they are staying, some find excellence in food that they experience, and some just find their leisure as the fun part far away from the stresses of city. Let's visit a destination that provides an amazing mixture of all these experiences.

Karwar, is a beautiful city in the konkan coast, in the coastal limits of Karnataka state. The region shares its boundaries with state of Goa, which is 20km from Goa border. The town is basically a fishermen town and agricultural base, the economical status of the region in normal, with a laid back feel. The place is known as one of the cleanest and green area in the region, enabling it to be developed as a Eco-tourism zone. Being in the konkan belt, the area offers beautiful natural gifts like backwaters, waterfalls, green valleys, coastal beauties and sea experiences. Let's dive deep into the treasures of this amazing region.

 

 

THINGS TO SEE

Beaches Around the Area: 

1. Rabindranath Tagore Beach: Located at city centre, accessible easily and the most visited place in Karwar. The beach is well developed, with golden sands, children area with miniature games, and water sports. All this makes this place a perfect family point to relax and have a beach fun.   

 

Karwar Beach

2. Devbagh beach:  The beach is bit isolated and lies on the junction of Arabian sea and Kali River, giving the place a tranquil feeling. The beach offers a lot of beach activities and water sports. To reach the place, take a boat from jetty at Kali River Garden.

 

3. Majali Beach: A small beach stretch in Goa-Karwar border. The beach is clean and offers a tranquil feel to all visitors. It is less visited due to its distance from the city. 

City Tour in Karwar:

Sadashivgad Fort: The fort is built on a 200ft hill in 1715 AD by Basavling Raja of Sonda and named after his father Raja Sadashivling. During Portuguese reign, it was named as Forte-de-piro. Presently, the fort is in ruins but provides a great place for photography lovers as it gives a great view of coastline.

Entrance area of Sadashivgad (ruins)

 

INS Chapal Warship Museum: The warship was an active member of Indian Navy during Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, but later decommissioned and converted into museum. The ship is well setup with decoys of captain, sailors, doctors, and ammunition. The setup is placed at a garden near Karwar beach. A do visit to appreciate the role of defense services in our life. The entry is only Rs15 per person and it is open from 10am to 1pm, followed by 4.30pm to 6pm.

 

INS Chapal Warship

Rock Garden: The garden placed near the coast, is well known for its amazing rock cut statues and sculptures. Life size statues depicting cultural happening, lifestyles and local traditions are depicted by the artists. The entry fee is Rs 40 per person. 

Rock Garden Entrance

 

Tree Park: A small tree covered jogging garden near costline for locals and visitors to walk around and relax.

Kali River Garden: A beautiful garden developed by local authority near the Kali river jetty. The garden has beautiful landscaping and the lovely river flowing beside gives a serene experience. There is a small refreshment shop for basic food items.   

 

Kali River Garden

Religious Spots:

Shejjeshwar Temple: A not so grand temple dedicated to Shiva, in lingam form, which is believed to be part of panch (five) athmalingam of Gokarna area, which is close to Karwar. The folklore takes to time of Ravana, King of Lanka, when he was given the Atmalingam and was instructed that it would stay permanently where it is first placed on the land. It is said that Ganesha, came as a boy and placed it at Gokarna while Ravana was performing rituals. As Ravana could not remove it from the ground, but he removed some pieces of the lingam and threw them in four different direction. The Shejjeshwar temple is built on one of those locations. 

 

Shejjeshwar Temple courtyard

  

Kalika Temple on Island: A mangrove forest island in River Kali, which is marked sacred by locals and there is a temple worshiping Goddess Kalika. It can be covered by hiring a boat for visiting all the island destinations in river and sea spots.     

 

Boat ride for Devbagh Beach

Island Visits:

Sea-farers from Arabia called Karwar’s port "Bait-e-kol" in arabic for ‘Bay of Safety’, especially due to many islands that provides the ships a safe stop. In present times, the few notable islands marked important for tourism are:

Oyster Rock Light House: A beautiful construction from British times, which became operational on 25 March, 1864. The place can be reached via 11 km boat ride. Tourist can have the option of climbing the lighthouse or just have some lovely clicks from boat. 

View form Oyster Lighthouse

Kurumgad Island:  A long drive on boat into sea can take you to this island, which is inhabited by few human settlements, with roads and a famous Narsimha Temple. The shape of island is like tortoise back, giving it the name. Apart from that, the island has a good forested area, giving it a beautiful lookout. The island witness an annual festival circled around the island temple. It can be reached via 1 km boat ride from Devbagh beach. The island has a luxury resort, Cintacora Island Resort for adventure seekers, but it is costly on the pocket. 

From the rocks of Kurumgad Island

 

Madhyalingad (Sanyasi) Island: A small forested island beside the Kurumgad island. It can be pictured while having a boat ride from Devbagh beach.

Anjediv Island:Presently, the island is under Navy control so visitors are not allowed to get down on the island, but can be seen via boat ride. The island has a history with Portuguese reign. Though, nearest coastline is of Karnataka, amazingly Anjadiv comes under state of Goa. It is home to Anjadiv fort and a pair of churches.

How to Reach

The city of Karwar has a beautiful railway station in the Konkan railway line. Most trains running in the route from Mumbai or Mangalore stops here. The city is well connected with Goa and other coastal cities via western coastal highway. Nearest major airport is at Dabolin, Goa which is around 90km from here.  

Karwar Railway Station

Who should Visit

The place has something for everyone. It is a preferable coastal destination for those who like tranquil area with a slight touch of city.

Where to Stay

The most sought after stay option is Jungle Lodges Devbagh Beach Resort, but it can be a bit high on the pocket, but provides a good stay experience. The residencies availble in the city provides a cheaper option like Sterling Karwar, Citrus Karwar which can cost you around Rs 2000-3000 per day.

Number of Days Required

A 1 night, 2 day stay is sufficient to cover the place.

A Story Bite:

Karwar Beach was renamed as Rabindranath Tagore Beach. It is said that Rabindranath Tagore stayed here at the age 22 years in year 1882. He lived with his brother Satyendranath Tagore who was the district judge of the city during that time. The interaction with nature inspired him to sort down his first verse drama Prakritir Pratisodh (meaning the Revenge of Nature). The famous socio-cultural festival Karavali Utsav/Tagore Festival is held every year in October. It showcase local cuisine, art and handicrafts, with live musical performances. 

Scenes around the outer zones of Karwar

Every tourist destination stays in the memory of the visitors. But, there are instances and moments that keeps the memory cells charged up for once lifetime. My memory of Karwar visit recalls me the slow moving Kali River merging with the aggressive Arabian sea, the hundreds of Black Kite and Brahminy Kites flying in the clear sky feeding on the fish feast offered by the river and sea. The lush green coastal lands and islands offered  a lasting impact on my touristic mind. A drive from Karwar to Goa takes you through beautiful forested land over a nice four lane route. A perfect drive for road trip lovers.

Keep Traveling ! Keep making Memories !