[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm, no. I have never been to Turtle bay, nor know the owner. Now you have given me a reason to visit there.

This Saturday we finally decided to checkout Turtle Bay. At around 11AM, I called up to enquire for a room. They said they are full, I found it surprising considering it was off season already. But I didn't give up, I said I want to visit as a day guest. Then the guy said it will cost 50 bucks per head and we have to leave by 7PM. That was fine with us.

An hour later we pulled over at the Turtle Bay parking lot. It was deserted, we saw another car (OHC), but it was parked well inside, didn't strike as a guest car. As we strolled through the resort towards the reception, we only saw locked up cottages, we didn't see a single guest. At the reception (which looked more like the cash counter) I paid the entrance fee. I was asked to order the lunch right there. After ordering the food we started looking around and we were like hmmm. There was lots of open seating with cement table and benches. Hardly any landscaping, just some nice trees. The covered eating area had 4 set of tables. Here we found one couple having lunch, they are the only people we saw at the resort apart from 4-5 staff.

While waiting for the lunch to be delivered, I checked out the beach. It was disappointing small, resort is too close to the water (may be it was high tide, still too close) and there were reefs on either side providing privacy, that again made it look like a very small beach. May be I am used to very big beaches like this.

The food came after a very long time, the taste was unremarkable, neither bad nor good. Their beverage section was badly stocked. They had no juices, just one slice (mango drink) which tasted very old. How can a kitchen be so ill stocked if they are brimming with guests as they claim? And where are all the guests? As we were having lunch, we decided there is nothing to hold us back. My wife commented that my parents home is way more exotic/interesting than this, and that settled the matter. We paid for lunch and turned back, 80Kms later my parents were pleasantly surprised to see us.

I am not sure what happened. May be our expectation was too high, or may be we were spoilt by the beach resort described earlier in this thread. But I didn't take a single photo, didn't even pull out the camera, and that is saying something.

[greatDrive]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I am not sure what happened. May be our expectation was too high, or may be we were spoilt by the beach resort described earlier in this thread. But I didn't take a single photo, didn't even pull out the camera, and that is saying something.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I was planning to visit this resort in near future as my wife & Son enjoyed the last visit to maple beach.
So I better plan for Bekal (costal Kerala).
Cheers

[lancersfx]

Hi Samurai....Thanks for sharing your experience...Was a good travelogue....Really awesome pics of river meeting the ocean.....Simply mindblowing....

[megger]

Turtel bay beach resort is not so bad buddy. I've visited that thrice in last two years. It of course can not be compare with Sai Vishram.

See some pics of both at Picasa Web Albums - Muralisk - Marvanthe - S...

Turtle Bay has nice village kind of a feel and what I enjoy most is the morning walks to the fishing village. May be a person from costal Karnataka will take these things for granted!

Also check out google earth images of the regions near Karwar where river meets the sea. It is really massive.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by megger

Turtel bay beach resort is not so bad buddy. I've visited that thrice in last two years. It of course can not be compare with Sai Vishram.

I was led to believe that they were similar, thanks to the impressive website I suppose. I only described my brief experience, I am not passing bad remarks for the sake of it.

Originally Posted by megger

Turtle Bay has nice village kind of a feel and what I enjoy most is the morning walks to the fishing village. May be a person from costal Karnataka will take these things for granted!

I spent significant time of my childhood in coastal Karnataka and Coorg, even now I live around similar places. So I might take coconut trees and greenery for granted. Check out the Nutty Story.

[megger]

Nutty story is very refreshing! I love your part of world and did Bangalore-Pune-Londa/Dandeli-Karwar-Murudeshwar-Maravanthe-Mangalore-Bangalore during peak monsoon two years back. It is one of my most memorable trips and visiting marvanthe has become a routine now. Took Agumbe route this January which was again a treat.

[Lukeskywalker]

Originally Posted by Samurai

This Saturday we finally decided to checkout Turtle Bay. At around 11AM, I called up to enquire for a room. They said they are full, I found it surprising considering it was off season already. But I didn't give up, I said I want to visit as a day guest. Then the guy said it will cost 50 bucks per head and we have to leave by 7PM. That was fine with us.

An hour later we pulled over at the Turtle Bay parking lot. It was deserted, we saw another car (OHC), but it was parked well inside, didn't strike as a guest car. As we strolled through the resort towards the reception, we only saw locked up cottages, we didn't see a single guest. At the reception (which looked more like the cash counter) I paid the entrance fee. I was asked to order the lunch right there. After ordering the food we started looking around and we were like hmmm. There was lots of open seating with cement table and benches. Hardly any landscaping, just some nice trees. The covered eating area had 4 set of tables. Here we found one couple having lunch, they are the only people we saw at the resort apart from 4-5 staff.

While waiting for the lunch to be delivered, I checked out the beach. It was disappointing small, resort is too close to the water (may be it was high tide, still too close) and there were reefs on either side providing privacy, that again made it look like a very small beach. May be I am used to very big beaches like this.

The food came after a very long time, the taste was unremarkable, neither bad nor good. Their beverage section was badly stocked. They had no juices, just one slice (mango drink) which tasted very old. How can a kitchen be so ill stocked if they are brimming with guests as they claim? And where are all the guests? As we were having lunch, we decided there is nothing to hold us back. My wife commented that my parents home is way more exotic/interesting than this, and that settled the matter. We paid for lunch and turned back, 80Kms later my parents were pleasantly surprised to see us.

I am not sure what happened. May be our expectation was too high, or may be we were spoilt by the beach resort described earlier in this thread. But I didn't take a single photo, didn't even pull out the camera, and that is saying something.

Had the exact experience, the place was deserted and was very ill stocked, food took forever etc. My experiences are also mentioned in my travelogue:
Kamalashile-Atrip with a deference.

[pjay_in]

Amazing pics, Samurai. And the place looks terrific. The beach photos and night photos (of the resort) are just awesome.