Trip to Coastal Karnataka - Advice needed.

[chandras1]

Hi All,

I am thinking of a long trip (5- 6 days) to coastal karnataka from Bangalore and would like some advice on where to go. I understand I am being vague here, but dont know much about the area. So please suggest some good places. I read good things about Karwar, any inputs on the same ? If so, whats the best place to stay there ? What about the road conditions, is it
doable from Bangalore (With family, one kid and an infant)

Chandra

[akroy]

Read my Travelogue of Coastal Karnataka.... We stayed in Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Kundapur...
Some excellent places to stay are:
1) Summer Sands Resort, Ullal (10km left from Pumpwell circle, Mglr)
2) Turtle Bay, Kundapur
3) Karwar Beach Resort

Pls let us know ur interests...I mean there is hills, beaches, falls etc..How do u want to spend them?

Abhi

[chandras1]

Abhi, thanks for the info. Will check your travelogue. Actually I did search before posting this, what was the title of your travelogue ?

Interests wise, nothing specific, shouldn't be too crowded, thats one big criteria. Anyways never been in those areas, so the novelty factor wuld be there. Also I have heard that its as good as Goa, so I believe wouldn't be disappointed much.

[theMAG]

Chandra,

Lot of places to see along the Karnataka coast. If it helps, you could go thru my travelogue there last December here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...mangalore.html (My weekend getaway to Mangalore)

[ravibhat]

Hi Chandra,

Best time to visit Costal area is after rainy season thats after 3rd week of September, very very pleasant weather and very nice scenary as well.

I can help you to plan your 5 to 6 days stay there. Email me any time.

Start from Bangalore -> Visit couple of places around Mangalore -> Udupi (temple/beach) -> Kundapur (beach)-> Murdeshwara (temple/beach)-> Gokarna (temple/beach)-> Karwar (beach/sadashivgada)-> Sirsi (Unchalli falls)-> Optional place on the way Shimoga (Animal Safari)-> Bangalore.

You can add more places as well.

Regards,

Ravi.

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by akroy

Read my Travelogue of Coastal Karnataka.... We stayed in Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Kundapur...
Some excellent places to stay are:
1) Summer Sands Resort, Ullal (10km left from Pumpwell circle, Mglr)
2) Turtle Bay, Kundapur
3) Karwar Beach Resort

Pls let us know ur interests...I mean there is hills, beaches, falls etc..How do u want to spend them?

Abhi

Turtle Bay is a fabulous place. In fact it was one of the best beaches in the area (I felt). But this was way back during my college days in Manipal. lol... we didn't take any rooms... slept on the beach. was a really cool experience sleeping under the stars.

Anyway, if NH-17 has been maintained, then that stretch of road around Turtle Bay is one of the best you can drive on. Keep an eye out for this part where there is the sea on one side, and a lagoon on the other. Beautiful.

You could think about making a trip from Mangalore to Goa (or the other way round depending on where u start from). And yea, Abhi's travelogue should serve you well.
Enjoy

[akroy]

Originally Posted by razor4077

Turtle Bay is a fabulous place. In fact it was one of the best beaches in the area (I felt). But this was way back during my college days in Manipal. lol... we didn't take any rooms... slept on the beach. was a really cool experience sleeping under the stars.

Anyway, if NH-17 has been maintained, then that stretch of road around Turtle Bay is one of the best you can drive on. Keep an eye out for this part where there is the sea on one side, and a lagoon on the other. Beautiful.

You could think about making a trip from Mangalore to Goa (or the other way round depending on where u start from). And yea, Abhi's travelogue should serve you well.
Enjoy

The sea on one side of NH17


and the river on the other side...



More of the Suparnika river


Abhi

[akroy]

Originally Posted by chandras1

Abhi, thanks for the info. Will check your travelogue. Actually I did search before posting this, what was the title of your travelogue ?

Interests wise, nothing specific, shouldn't be too crowded, thats one big criteria. Anyways never been in those areas, so the novelty factor wuld be there. Also I have heard that its as good as Goa, so I believe wouldn't be disappointed much.

My thread titles "Travelogue: Coastal Karnataka"
Pls dont compare Goa with any of these. No doubt these are beautiful places naturally but Goa is a diferent ambience or experience altogether.

I am apprehensive of your decision to do coastal karnataka at this point of time, I think post monsoon should be the best time. Still if u want a small plan, here I can suggest that:

Day1: 3AM start, reach Summer Sands for lunch, enjoy the drive of NH48, Shiradi ghats etc...Enjoy the private beach there
A pic of Summer sands private beach


Day2: Start after breakfast, Take NH17, have a visit to Malpe beach, reach Turtle Bay for lunch, put up there...
A pic of Turtle Bay


Day3: Start after breakfast, Take NH17, have a stop of 15-20min at the Maravanthe stretch and then move on, turn to Murudeshwar, if u want to stay there fine otherwise move on after having lunch at Naveen beach restaurant. Go further North reach Gokarna. Stay at Gokarna International, visit OM-Kundle beach (I have never been there, others can guide you which is the best place to stay)
A pic of Naveen Beach restaurant, Murudeshwar (for more pics you can also Samurai's travelogue)


Day4: Start after breakfast, further North, reach Karwar, enjoy the Rabindra Nath Tagore beach at Karwar and a nice point of Kali bridge where river Kali meets Sea. After some pics move towards Devbagh Beach Resort. Spend Day5 there.
A pic of Kali point


Day6: Start return journey at 6AM. Breakfast at Kamat Upachar, Ankola. It is just 2km after the NH63 (Ankola-Hubli) takes left. You can return either via Sirsi or via Shimoga. Take your call. You can also visit Jog Falls if you are taking Shimoga route. You should be in Bangalore by dinner or you can have dinner at Kamat or A1 plaza, TUmkur and enter Blr by 10PM to avoid traffic after Neelamangala.

Hope this helps
Abhi

[chandras1]

Thanks all for the pictures and pointers to travelogues. Will go through them in detail today. One question that stands out is "Is the weather going to be extremely hot" ? I was under the impression that west coast usually fares better in Summer than the east [I am from Chennai :-) ]. I am scary of anything close to 40's. Is that going to be the case ?

Can this be a possible route, Bangalore - Hassan - Chikmagalur - Sringeri -karkala - Udupi - Way upto Gokarna (How far is Goa from here ?) - Honavar - Jog - Sagar- Shimoga - Kadu - Tumkur - Bangalore

I just map read from http://www.saivishram.com/images/Kar...%20website.jpg
no idea about these places and the road conditions though...

Suggestions and corrections most welcome.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by chandras1

One question that stands out is "Is the weather going to be extremely hot" ? I was under the impression that west coast usually fares better in Summer than the east [I am from Chennai :-) ]. I am scary of anything close to 40's. Is that going to be the case ?

If you are from proper chennai, you will laugh at the heat here, like the old Tamil movie villains , seriously, when I travel to Chennai from here, I dread the heat and humidity in Chennai. So you get the point.

The roads, currently they are in good shape and will last until say early July. They are designed not to last more than one month of monsoon rains. But the rains will be very heavy in Late May, June and July. It kind of tapers off after mid august and again picks up in september for some time. If you have a car/suv which can handle bad roads really well, try coming in August or later. The place will be amazingly beautiful with greenery. But if your car can't handle bad roads, make it before July or wait till Nov-Dec.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by Samurai

If you are from proper chennai, you will laugh at the heat here, like the old Tamil movie villains , seriously, when I travel to Chennai from here, I dread the heat and humidity in Chennai. So you get the point.

I used to think so as well until I visited Shirali 2 weeks ago. The heat was oppressive. The reason being I am used to sweating a lot and when I encounter just the heat minus the same level of humidity, I feel uncomfortable.

[greatDrive]

Originally Posted by chandras1

One question that stands out is "Is the weather going to be extremely hot" ? .

I visited Malpe beach (Udupi) this winter ( Jan26th weekend) and I must tell you that it was really hot in afternoon. So it will definelty be worse in summers unless its raining. Better try to cover distances/Drive in afternnoon and enjoy the beaches in Late evenings and early mornings.
For places like turtle bay, devbagh etc .. make sure you book your rooms before you reach, else you may not get acccmodation after getting there.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by chandras1

Can this be a possible route, Bangalore - Hassan - Chikmagalur - Sringeri -karkala - Udupi - Way upto Gokarna (How far is Goa from here ?) - Honavar - Jog - Sagar- Shimoga - Kadu - Tumkur - Bangalore

Ohh yes this can be a good show as well...
In this case u can stay in Kudremukh, Silver Vallery Resort is excellent in Day1
Day2 can start via Karkala to Malpe and then to Turtle bay...

Instead of taking Gokarna, you can rest in Devbagh beach resort...
Now dont think of Goa, although Goa border is just a few km from Kali bridge...make it as a separate trip...

Still If u r hell bent to touch Goa...u can go to Palolem beach which is about 30min drive from Goa border and come back....It is one of the better beaches of goa....For more info. Pls go through my Goa travelogue..

You can return by Honnavar Jog Sagar....

Abhi

[chandras1]

Actually I would have preferred a trip post monsoon, but getting leave is an issue. So its going to be next week, no matter where I go :-)

I would like to know if I can reach Udupi from Bangalore bypassing Mangalore, via Sringeri. Any inputs on the roads to take and their conditions, I will be taking my Baleno, not an SUV.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by hrag

I used to think so as well until I visited Shirali 2 weeks ago. The heat was oppressive. The reason being I am used to sweating a lot and when I encounter just the heat minus the same level of humidity, I feel uncomfortable.

Originally Posted by greatDrive

I visited Malpe beach (Udupi) this winter ( Jan26th weekend) and I must tell you that it was really hot in afternoon. So it will definelty be worse in summers unless its raining.

Ok, Please don't stand under the afternoon sun and expect it to be cool. Sun here is really harsh. Also if you are in crowded towns, it is going to feel very hot because of lack of wind. If you want to enjoy the beach in the afternoon, sit under shade, but in the open. It can almost feel air-conditioned. Shade makes enormous difference when you are in open areas.

When akroy was here, I took him to couple of places in the afternoon sun, no shade anywhere. So let's ask him how he felt the heat then.