[dipen]

Does anyone recommend Mumbai-GanpathiPhule (or similar)-SouthGoa-Mumbai.
- doing Nh66 coastal route in one leg with an overnight halt in ganpatiphule like starting 5am from Mumbai
- to south goa next day starting 9 am and settle for a week.
- do return leg using AH47 starting at 10 am direct to Mumbai reaching before mid-night

Intent/idea to get the best all scenic drives. Car intended is an i20 with 2 people and a small child. Any challenges seen with the route or plan.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by dipen

Does anyone recommend Mumbai-GanpathiPhule (or similar)-SouthGoa-Mumbai.
- doing Nh66 coastal route in one leg with an overnight halt in ganpatiphule like starting 5am from Mumbai
- to south goa next day starting 9 am and settle for a week.
- do return leg using AH47 starting at 10 am direct to Mumbai reaching before mid-night

Intent/idea to get the best all scenic drives. Car intended is an i20 with 2 people and a small child. Any challenges seen with the route or plan.

I would suggest making a night halt at a place like Ganapati pule (MTDC has some great rooms), and sticking to the NH66 both ways. Retuen journey you can pick a different point to halt.

This way you will actually enjoy the sea en route. The beaches along the coastal towns are all different. Try to visit them and enjoy them instead of focussing heavily on Goa.

Of course this is just my suggestion.

[Axe77]

Goa (Nerul) to Pune: NH 66 to Sawantwadi, Amboli, Ajara, Kolhapur, Satara Pune: 30th December

We left Goa by Road on 30th morning at 9.15 am. NH 66 had reasonably heavy traffic, never slowing us down too much except some intersections but enough to ensure that one is not blipping it, specially if you are the types who doesn’t make aggressive overtaking manoeuvres.

Google map shows you a slight right which bypasses that mini lake near sawantwadi and connects further up but I tend to avoid that section (don’t know how that road is) and drive via Insuli - maps auto corrects anyway.

Had a flat tyre (front left) about 8-10 kms before Ajara. I filled air in all 4 tyres but the sign kept coming up so drove very slowly till Ajara. Found a solitary tyre shop which was shut (weekly off on Wednesday).

Walked around and asked and found another shop just a 200 min detour in the opposite direction. He fixed the puncture caused by a tiny little screw. Lost a total of almost an hour in this entire process of slow progress and waiting and locating a puncture repair guy.

Continued onwards non stop (except a small loo break) till Hotel Sai International which we reached at 2.30 pm. Made this a long leisurely lunch break and re-topped fuel as well. For reference this was about 235 kms approx from Goa. Left in a little over 1 hour (maybe 70 mins or so)

From here, it was again non stop to Pune - about 205 kms away. Left around 3.40 pm and reached Pune at 6.45 pm. This is again a reasonably busy road with lots of carts of sugarcane, buses / trucks on the right so best to make steadily quick progress without obsessions on close shave type of overtaking.

So basically door to door Goa (Nerul) to Pune was about 9.5 hours. Road conditions are decent for most part except some usual bad patches. Nothing to be concerned about really.

Originally Posted by amrutmhatre90

Guys,
a quick question: Are any covid test results needed to enter or leave Goa?
Planning to do Kokan and North Goa tomorrow or Weekend.

No Covid tests required for entering or leaving Goa assuming you are traveling by Road.

If you are driving via NH 66 to Sawantwadi, they do a temperature check and take your details a little after you turn off right towards Sawantwadi from the main highway.

Took us about 15 mins to get through that point.

[noopster]

Like someone mentioned, we could have done a Team BHP mini-meet along the Pune-Goa route this past week! Moralfibre left the same day I did (26th Dec) and it looks like Axe 77 and myself were travelling within a couple of hours of each other on the 30th return journey.

We took the Amboli ghat route both ways since our booking was in North Goa. The road was very good- hardly any bad sections, including the Sawantwadi bypass. FASTag makes life easier at the toll booths although, Indians being Indians, you will still see some folks stuck or arguing with the toll booth guys. The Pune-Satara road is also quite improved from this time last year, though there is still vast room for improvement.

Onward journey: we left Pune just before 6 am, drove straight to Sai International for breakfast then reached Kamalabai's in Mapusa for a timely lunch around 1:00 pm. Our resort was not far from there so checked in shortly after 3, giving us half the day to relax and enjoy ourselves. The return trip we left a bit later- just before 11 am- stopping for lunch at Green Valley, Amboli (just after descending the ghat) and then stopping at McDonald's for coffee and ice cream. Dinner was already planned at Manas near Satara- yummy mutton thalis!- which we reached by 7:30 pm. The last stretch into Pune took us about 90 minutes.

The main delay was at the Maharashtra checkpost just before Sawantwadi bypass. They made us go through 2 restricted lanes which took nearly half an hour, at the end of which there was no checking of any sort, either for COVID or any smuggled goods!

A nice drive to top off a much-needed vacation- our first in the Kia Seltos, which delivered!

[moralfibre]

Couple of things for regular commuters on this route.

Annoying Kolhapur checks:

After you climb up the rather large slope with McDonalds to your right along Kolhapur bypass, a herd of cops can be spotted jumping in your way. This is right below the ramp that connects to NH48 from Kolhapur city. Their usual traits are to catch out of state cars but have now extended this to non - MH09 cars as well. SOP is to check your car docs and PUC alongwith your DL. Have been keeping my docs up to date and e-copies via mparivahan on digilocker is accepted.

Save yourself the hassle and time.

New checkpost at Uttur:

Just about 6-7km before Uttur as you descend the ghat, a surprise check will greet you. Similar modus operandi as the Kolhapur one.

Occassional one as you cross over to KA from MH between Uttur and KA:

An interceptor vehicle will pull you over and check all docs at this border.


Guess all police agencies are strapped of cashflows and putting up these posts helps add revenue.

[streetfighter]

Planning a trip towards Jan end and would like tips and suggestions. Day wise plan is as following...

1. Set out from Mumbai to Hubli, overnight at hotel Naveen (suggested by fellow Bhpians)
2. Move to Sakrebyle elephant camp (Two nights stay)
3. Move to South Goa (Jog falls enroute), stay 4 nights
4. Back to Mumbai

I'll be travelling with my wife and 2 kids (10 and 4years) and wanted to have a relaxed trip (first one post lockdown), hence the extended stay. My earlier travelogue was featured on team-bhp homepage - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...uth-india.html (10 days of a super drive - Mumbai to South India)

Have been following this thread which has the route updates. I intend to stay in South Goa (preferring south as travel time would be less between Sakrebyle and South Goa). Or should I stick to Gokarna side? Need recommendations please. I'd prefer staying near to the beach and not travel locally (to avoid people to people contact). Also, will Jog falls have any water at this time? Will it still be a good drive even without any water? Let me know if you guys have any other trip recommendations. Attaching a pic of my ride

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by streetfighter

I intend to stay in South Goa (preferring south as travel time would be less between Sakrebyle and South Goa). Or should I stick to Gokarna side? Need recommendations please. I'd prefer staying near to the beach and not travel locally (to avoid people to people contact). Also, will Jog falls have any water at this time? Will it still be a good drive even without any water? Let me know if you guys have any other trip recommendations. Attaching a pic of my ride

Hey! I am driving down to Gokarna this Sunday, staying for 2 nights there and then 4 nights at South Goa. Will be staying at The Bay on Agonda beach as they have cottages right on the beach.

I feel the Sakrebyle camp can be done in a day if you don't want to take a break at Hubli.

P.S. Your car looks stunning!

[streetfighter]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Hey! I am driving down to Gokarna this Sunday, staying for 2 nights there and then 4 nights at South Goa. Will be staying at The Bay on Agonda beach as they have cottages right on the beach.

I feel the Sakrebyle camp can be done in a day if you don't want to take a break at Hubli.

P.S. Your car looks stunning!

Thank you. The Bay looks to be a nice choice. Do update on travel and stay post your trip.

I didn't want to hop multiple places, so planned my stay accordingly. After the long journey from Mumbai, I feel the 2 days at Sakrebyle will give us and the kids enough time to chill amongst the Elephants and nature. The kids have been virtually locked in the apartment since lockdown.

Thank you for the compliments on the car. Completing 12years in July, I wanted to refresh her so got those new decals recently.

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by streetfighter

I didn't want to hop multiple places, so planned my stay accordingly. After the long journey from Mumbai, I feel the 2 days at Sakrebyle will give us and the kids enough time to chill amongst the Elephants and nature. The kids have been virtually locked in the apartment since lockdown.

[/ATTACH]

Of course! I meant you can drive straight to the camp instead of stay at Hubli. Staying at the camp amongst the forest will be a welcome break. I Will update the thread post completing the trip, the car looks stunning for 12 years old!

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by streetfighter

Planning a trip towards Jan end and would like tips and suggestions.
I'd prefer staying near to the beach and not travel locally (to avoid people to people contact).

Originally Posted by streetfighter

Thank you. The Bay looks to be a nice choice.

Hello Streetfighter,

I would recommend stay in Southwest part of the Goa instead of Southern part.

Agonda and Palolem are two most famous beaches down south and are always crowded.

Since you want to avoid crowd, I am assuming you would not mind having a serene beach without any water sport activities.

Recommended stay is Nanu Resort at Betalbatim. You can walk to Betalbatim beach or can drive to couple of nearby beaches. Sunset Beach or Gonsua Beach. These are not commercial beaches and you will comes across very less crowd.

[subuiyer]

Did a Mum - Goa - Murdeshwar/Gokarna - Goa - Mum

Mumbai to Condolim on 6th Jan:
NH48 till Nipani /Hotel Kaveri - Amboli - rural road from Satuli to Banda - N66 till Mapusa then towards Condolim. Start: 5:50 am; Reached: 18:15
Fastags help, behavior at the tolls near Satara hopeless, truck lanes worked best for me as they are most disciplined
2 stops totaling 1 hr

Road condition:
NH48 excellent till Nipani. Hotel Kaveri to N66 superb 2 lane, except a 0.5 KM broken stretch on the Satuli-Banda road (bypassed Sawantwadi). N66 - diversions every 0.5-1 Km till Mapusa

Agonda - Murdeshwar / Gokarna - Agonda via N66 on 11 Jan
Start: 10:15; Reached: 12:05
Road condition:
Beautiful roads with diversions every 1-2 kms with road switching between 4 and 2 lanes. No broken roads/potholes. Some minor hill roads, so one can keep going without slowing down much (the scenery may force you to slow down though). Once the Karwar tunnel is complete, this section will be faster. The last Km to Murdeshwar beach is under construction and is a mess. At Gokarna, I preferred to park at the ST stand and walk through the rustic town, by the temple and to the beach, but one can also park at the beach.

Goa to Mumbai on 13 Jan
Agonda - via Cacora NH748 - Mollem - Anmod - road work forced detour before Belgaum at Desur to join NH48 at Halaga (just opposite Vidhana Soudha) - NH48 all the way to Mumbai.
Start: 6:40; Reached: 20:35
3 stops totaling 1.5 hrs

[sinharishi]

Leaving for Agonda this Saturday, going by the recent posts inclined to take the Amboli route. Google shows Amboli to be slower by an hour as compared to Belgaum-Khanapur-Mollem route.

Any suggestions on which route to take from North to South goa? Not familiar with the route at all.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

...
Any suggestions on which route to take from North to South goa? Not familiar with the route at all.

I think there's just one major road from North Goa to South. Stick to that as much as possible.

It's marked as the Panvel - Kochi - Kanyakumari highway on GMaps.

[subuiyer]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

...Any suggestions on which route to take from North to South goa? ...

If travelling to Agonda from North Goa, then agree with honeybee - recommend sticking to NH66. Most of it was excellent when I took it ten days ago with stretches under construction, and some slowing down when passing through Margoa town.

If you are travelling directly to Agonda from outside Goa, then Belgaum - Mollem route will save time and ideally done in daylight to enjoy view of rural Goa. I took this route returning from Agonda early morning. Mostly 2-lane roads through villages, and except for a potholed 1-2 kms stretch in the forest rest OK. Also, approach to Agonda beach is from south (Canacona/Chaudi) side when in 4-wheeler, not from Canaguinim side.

[Ertigiat]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Leaving for Agonda this Saturday, going by the recent posts inclined to take the Amboli route. Google shows Amboli to be slower by an hour as compared to Belgaum-Khanapur-Mollem route.

Any suggestions on which route to take from North to South goa? Not familiar with the route at all.

I would not recommend Amboli route to go to Agonda. The recommended route will be Belgaum - Hemmadaga - Anmod - Mollem - Dharbandora - Sanvordem - Quepem - Balli - Agonda Beach. This route is faster and hassle free, barring 5-6 kms of bad patch after crossing Hemmadaga.