[11mahesh11]

considering the above discussions i feel goa to kolhapur via belgaum will be a better bet, how good is the anmod ghat section is a concern though

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by 11mahesh11

considering the above discussions i feel goa to kolhapur via belgaum will be a better bet, how good is the anmod ghat section is a concern though

NH4A (Ponda-Khanapur) is back to its potholed best.Non-motorable for cars at the moment,huge craeters are back.Goa-Kolhapur is best done via Amboli as the 1st option and via Radhanagari as the second option.

[11mahesh11]

Thanks for your valuable suggestion. you simply rock with your timely advises, god bless.
cheers to you and Team - Bhp.

[godfreydesylva]

Brilliant post.Will be driving tommorrow and taking the Amboli road after turning off at Sangameshwar.Was apprehensive about the road condition but quite reassured after all the updates here.Thanks again to all who posted updates.Viakrant,Ranjit and The bluez.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by godfreydesylva

Brilliant post.Will be driving tommorrow and taking the Amboli road after turning off at Sangameshwar.Was apprehensive about the road condition but quite reassured after all the updates here.Thanks again to all who posted updates.Viakrant,Ranjit and The bluez.

Just a small correction it is sankeshwar.also make sure you cross amboli befpre dark

[Hayek]

Drove down to South Goa yesterday - Bombay - Kolhapur - Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj - Ajara - Amboli. Road is great till Sankeshwar. The concrete NH4 stretches are even better than the expressway. Only dampener is trucks overtaking each other at 30 kmph and near zero relative velocity.

Sankeshwar to Gadhinglaj was rougher than I expected, was surprised people found it good till I saw Sawantwadi to Pernem. Still, one can hit 80 kmph in stretches, and there were Innovas driving at that speed even where I was crawling. Gadhinglaj town is a bit painful, as is about 2 km after it, but then there were fabulous stretches onto Ajara (at least till the point where the Nipani Uttur road merges in.) beyond Ajara, the road is mixed, good stretches followed by broken patches (though not as bad as the Dadar TT flyover post last weekends rains). About 1 km after the junction with Sawantwadi road was really bad. Amboli ghat was great except for about 500 metres near where the landslide had happened, which is a dirt track. (but understandable under the circumstances).

The real shocker was between Sawantwadi and Pernem, it's bad near Sawantwadi town (the worst stretch of the journey till then), and becomes far worse after a kind of check post where the road is being four laned. In Goa, the four lane stretches were delightful, but the two lane stretches were tough, esp as I drove after sunset, and found it tough to manage the high beam lights and aggressive driving from the opposite end. Averaged 62 kmph till Sankeshwar (drive time alone), which dropped to 53 kmph by Margao. Good trip overall-keeping fingers crossed for drive back on Sunday.

One suggestion, if you are slow on single lane stretches and someone faster is behind you, please slow down and give way. Makes it less frustrating for the guy behind, and less dangerous for everyone. I faced both ends of the stick on this - yielded to super fast guys, but was stuck behind someone doing 30 kmph but not yielding space to overtake in Amboli ghat.

[mb_jg]

Got back from Goa yest. Took the Ajra, Amboli, Sawantwadi route. Barring a few pot holed patches, the overall drive was very pleasant. This was the first trip in our brand new 1.6 Fabia, touched 160kmph on the expressway, fabulous roads, not much traffic, neither rains. The drive back however was not pleasant (Kolhapur expressway). People drive like they are against the clock, weaving in & out of lanes, flashing headlamps when there's no place for the car infront to go. Complete disregard for rules, life & everything else. It's a wonder they manage to apply brakes at all.
The view at Amboli ghats are amazing, but the people aren't, specially at the landslides section, where there's a huge waterfall & people just clog that area without any bother for traffic.
We stayed at Colonia Santa Maria (Baga Beach), good rooms, reasonable (2500 per night), nice staff, & the BEST part is you can just walk onto the beach from the hotel :o) highly recommended if visiting with family & kids. It gets very convenient to just walk onto the beach. We are definitely staying with them the next time too.
Chowed at the usual places, Britto's, Infantaria, Lobo's.

[Sudden123]

I had been 6 months back. The route i took was kolhapur-Nipani-Ajara-Amboli-Sawantwadi. Was pretty fine

[Hayek]

Got back last night. Took the Ajra Uttur Nipani route instead of Sankeshwar this time. This route is arguably more scenic, and for most part is in better condition. The problem is in the last 4 km before the junction with NH4 (viz after KA border), where there are foot deep potholes, and one is forced to a crawl. However overall time from Amboli to Kolhapur was about 5 minutes less than time from Kolhapur to Amboli

[ppr]

Thanks for all the info, folks.

Am thinking of taking my A6 from Mumbai to Goa.

I notice that no one is talking of NH17. So I guess that must be in really bad condition.
It seems the NH4A is also in poor shape. So although I need to go to Madgaon, that is probably out. These are the only 2 roads I have drive to Goa (but not for the last 5 years).

There seem to be 2 options other than these.
1) Via Nipani - Uttur - Sawantwadi
2) Via Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj - Sawantwadi
I assume it is not worth turning off at Kolhapur as it is preferable to maximize the use of NH4?

Hayek - You seem to have done both route 1 & 2 in the last week or so. Which one has less potholes? and which one is less likely to have a traffic jam?

Godfrey seems to have had a pretty bad experience. How long did you take?

Thanks

ppr

[suniladhiya]

@ppr: I have driven on all these routes and the really best one I have experienced is via Belgaum-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Goa. You have the advantage of a super fast drive upto Belgaum on NH4, then take the first Belgaum exit onto Bauxite Road which joins the Amboli State Highway after about 7 kms. Drove last on this route last May and was really thrilled at the road conditions. May have gone slightly rough after the rain, but I still feel this is the best option. The few extra kms dont matter when you have a much better surface to drive on.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by ppr

Thanks for all the info, folks.

Am thinking of taking my A6 from Mumbai to Goa

There seem to be 2 options other than these.
1) Via Nipani - Uttur - Sawantwadi
2) Via Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj - Sawantwadi
I assume it is not worth turning off at Kolhapur as it is preferable to maximize the use of NH4?

Hayek - You seem to have done both route 1 & 2 in the last week or so. Which one has less potholes? and which one is less likely to have a traffic jam

ppr

There were no jams on either sankeshwar amboli or amboli uttur. Sankeshwar route is rough but does not have deep potholes. Uttur is smoother for most path but has about 3km full of deep craters, on which you need to crawl. If I had to go again, I'd pick sankeshwar. To sunil's point, parts of belgaum amboli near where ajara road meets it were worse than sankeshwar ajara. While this is not indicative of condition from belgaum, pl take direct feedback from bangalore goa travellers before driving 60 km extra.

[ppr]

Thanks Guys for the prompt response.

Hayek, I guess I should try the road from Sankeshwar.

Sunil, Do you know anyone who has taken that road recently. This monsoon has ruined most roads and that is why I am interested in the latest feedback. If I go to Belgaum, then the distance to Amboli is 110 kms as against 60 kms if I turn off at Sankeshwar. It is worth it if the roads are excellent.
Anyone who has travelled in this road lately? This is not on the Bangalore Goa route.

ppr

[11mahesh11]

Originally Posted by ppr

Thanks Guys for the prompt response.

Hayek, I guess I should try the road from Sankeshwar.

Sunil, Do you know anyone who has taken that road recently. This monsoon has ruined most roads and that is why I am interested in the latest feedback. If I go to Belgaum, then the distance to Amboli is 110 kms as against 60 kms if I turn off at Sankeshwar. It is worth it if the roads are excellent.
Anyone who has travelled in this road lately? This is not on the Bangalore Goa route.

ppr

I travelled from Kolhapur via sankeshwar aazra amboli to Goa on 3rd of this month, quiet safe, most part of the roads are good. took me 4-1/2 hrs from kolhapur to panaji. you can safely take sankeshwar amboli Goa route. lots of dew at amboli though.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by ppr

Hayek, I guess I should try the road from Sankeshwar.
If I go to Belgaum, then the distance to Amboli is 110 kms as against 60 kms if I turn off at Sankeshwar. It is worth it if the roads are excellent.

Arey bhai,
bindhast sankeshwar route se goa ja.

Go via snakeshwar gadhinglaj road and enjoy the Goa.
As your car is A6, take little care while driving after sankeshwar and thats it.