[mankuthimma]

For majority of us, the default destination for a beach vacation would be Goa. Goa indeed offers a unique vibe and a beach vacation there is not only about beaches. But for those minority of the population who like beach vacation to be "only" about beaches far from the "crowd" and all the "noise", Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka offers some of the idyllic and pristine beaches devoid of any commercialization for a peaceful and well deserved break from urban cacophony.

I call it best kept secrets since most of these beaches were not known to the outside world and the only way we could experience them was with the guidance of the locals. Of course I am talking about pre-pandemic world when the social media influencers were a lesser known breed. Now there is not an inch of space in this world which is not captured by a camera!

Uttara Kannada district literally means northern part of coastal region of Karnataka. Dakshina Kannada being the southern part of coastal region of our state. You can see in the map the major towns abetting the Arabian Sea in this district. Over a period of time, we have visited most of these places right from Bhatkal in the south to Karwar in the northern part of this district.



The usual pattern for a vacation here is to locate a nice homestay closer to a beach, enjoy local delicacies and their warm hospitality, seek their guidance to visit local beaches and have a good beach time. There are several ways to enjoy a beach - you sit on the beach and watch the waves lapping the shores or take a walk on the fresh wet sand or get into the water and enjoy the buoyancy of the water or witness the beautiful sunsets or admire the vastness of the sea and its natural surroundings or just surrender to the One who has created this beautiful life.. the list goes on...

This travelogue is a compilation of several such trips that we have made to these places over a period of time. Every time we have come back with some of the beautiful memories the region has to offer and I hope to put them into few words in this travelogue.

Let me start with most recent trip that we made to Karwar in Dec 2021.

[mankuthimma]

Exploring Karwar - Dec 2021

It was quite sometime that we had been to a beach. The last trip was Malabar coast in Gods own country before pandemic hit the world. This time it was supposed to be cousins only vacation. Call it a revenge tourism or a breather from restrictions, everyone in the extended family had this intense urge and craving for an annual get-together somewhere outside and unanimously decided on a beach vacation, without the usual drama of disagreements, alternate options, unwanted suggestions.. you know the drill.. and aborting the plan altogether at the end. So the beach was calling again and without further contemplation, decided that it has to be one of the beaches in Uttara Kannada district again. All of us quickly zeroed in on a homestay in Karwar, large enough to accommodate the group of our size. The countdown for the December vacation started quite early and all were excited about it.

I started doing the homework scouring through tbhp pages looking for the best route, road conditions and pit stops. There was some anxiety with my own travel plans due to sudden turn of events and I could join the gang only on Day 2. But by the time, the group had extended the vacation to accommodate our late arrival. I must thank the tbhp friends, especially @procrj and @paragsachania who directly and indirectly provided their expert guidance for all my queries.

One of the best decisions that I made was to follow @procrj's excellent suggestion to take the scenic Shimoga route to Karwar on the onward journey. This route is pure drivers bliss for those who enjoy the drive the most rather than just getting to the destination in record time. The beauty of this route is that it offers the best of both malnad (ghats) and karavali(coastal) regions of Karnataka. We quickly get off the 6-lane highway soon after Tumkur at Hiriyur and venture into state highway cutting across rural landscape of the plains, winding roads of malnad region and get down to the coastal roads with sea on one side and hills on the other side of the road. I was so engrossed with the drive, totally missed out taking the customary pictures of the car and the road along the way. Due to lack of my own photos, here I am posting few clicks by co-passengers who are normally averse to clicking, but were so enamored by the beauty, they also did their bit of clicking. Pardon the picture quality of phone camera.

A sleepy village lazily waking up to a glorious sunrise


One stretch of several such awesome locations along the way


Seltos and highways are match made in heaven. Our Seltos reached a significant milestone of 10k during the journey. I wish to join the elite clan of bhpians with an additional zero in the odo reading some day!


Probably the only car picture I took during the entire vacation. Here it is seen parked along with all our other cars at the homestay. The Seltos parked ahead next to Compass is a new addition in the extended family. In total there are already 3 Seltos within our family itself and I continue to see a brand new Seltos rolling into the apartment parking slots every now and then, which shows that it still continues to offer worthy option for new buyers in its category. Once a darling of this forum and gradually losing its appeal for various reasons, the best way to experience it, or any car for that matter, is to just drive it.


Our stay for the vacation was at Ocean Deck Homestay

The USP of this homestay is its scenic location at the confluence of Kali river and the Arabian Sea right behind the famed Devbagh beach. The owner of the homestay is a environmentally conscious person known as Mangrove Man of Karwar. He ensures that every visitor to his homestay plants a mangrove sapling thereby doing our bit of giving back to the nature. He took us on a tour of mangroves explaining the importance of conserving mangroves for the well being of the coastal region and its population. Another highlight would be the food at the homestay, never had such lipsmacking fresh seafood with Karwar Konkani flavour.

I dont miss early mornings especially during a vacation. Like they say early bird gets the best worms, this time period offers the best occasion to explore a new place under new light. Few shots around the homestay











Homestay offered kayaking facilities and it was fun kayaking around


and explore the mangroves


Low tides reveals the underneath landscape



It is easy to wade through the river and reach the Devbagh beach. Notice that tje homestay owner insists on safety gear for all water activities.


Devbagh beach
The homestay owner due to his environment friendly activities has exclusive access to Devbagh beach which is generally restricted only to guests staying at the govt run JLR Devbagh resort.

All of us were in the water and there was no one to click our own pictures! Just a few of them to show how awesome these beaches are -



Majali beach, is a short walk or a drive from the homestay. Just a fishermen village on the beach and nothing else. The entire beach is for us to play. The best time to be at a beach is during sunset. The entire landscape is just divine with a procession of colours charioteered by the Sun as he goes down the horizon.


Tilmati beach is again a short drive from the homestay, literally on the border line of Karwar and Goa. If you miss the turn , the only way to get back is to enter Goa and make a U turn at the checkpost. There is a hillock which one can climb and see the unique black sanded beach here. Again frequented only by locals and we had the entire beach for ourselves without any interference.





The puny cameras just doesnt do justice, the beauty has to be witnessed by all our senses. All in all, all of us had great fun. It was a memorable vacation for everyone - kids, young and young-at-hearts.

[mankuthimma]

Exploring Kumta

In one of the earlier vacations, we had been to Kumta and came back with loads of fun and great memories. Let the pictures do the talking.

Our stay was at Suragi homestay



Kadle beach is just across the road.


And it is a paradise! No crowd, no shacks, no hawkers, no cows. The entire beach is our playground.


I still remember homestay owner saying "if you want to have fun, go to Goa. But if you want great beaches, come to Kumta!" How true it is !



Sunsets are just magical and divine! My favourite time to be at a beach




Early mornings are serene too


One can witness fishermen at work


A short hike over the cliffs leads to some unnamed rustic beach




Vannalli beach We took a long walk to Vannalli beach nearby





Gokarna beaches are a short ride away from the homestay. When we had paradise at the doorstep, Gokarna beaches were not that attractive anymore. We didnt stay for long there.

[mankuthimma]

Aghanashini river flows close to Kumta. It is one of the few rivers which is still in pristine condition as there are no hydel project built around it. This was at the time of our visit few years back. Not sure if it continues to remain the same or not.

We took bicycles from homestay to cycle around the backwater region and oh boy! it was a dream like destination.













Later in the afternoon, homestay owner suggested a boathouse cruise along Aghanashini river where the river meets the sea. It was river cruise cum sea cruise and go towards Gokarna to get a different view of Gokarna beaches from the other side. It was one heck of a ride.


Boat jetty








Rain clouds started looming as we cruised towards Gokarna

[mankuthimma]

Apart from beaches, Kumta had more things to offer.

Trip to Yana caves:




Mirjan Fort:



Kumta town: Being Dasara season, Kumta town was all lit up and it was nice to see the local culture thriving in such small towns.





While in Kumta, never miss this one !


Cant get enough of Kumta, some parting shots of the beaches








Kumta as an offbeat destination was revelation for us and it surprised us in many ways and we devoured it to the max.

[mankuthimma]

Murudeshwara

In an yet another holiday in Uttara Kannada district, we had stayed at RNS Residency and used it as base to go around the nearby places.
Murudeshwara is a popular tourist destination along the coast.The beaches here were crowded and were not to our liking. But it offered some magnificent views during dusk and dawn. Here are few clicks from my camera eyes.

[mankuthimma]

Honnavara
For no specific reason, I just simply love this town!

Kasarkod beach was idyllic at the time of our visit. But I now see that it has fully developed and attracts lot of crowd nowadays.








Apsarakonda Falls is also another attraction in Honnavara town.



We also visited the famous Idagunji temple, which offered a calm and peaceful experience, but couldnt locate photos of it in my archives.

[mankuthimma]

Exploring Bhatkal

If I am not exaggerating, I highly doubt if Bhatkal appears as a tourist destination in any of the bucket lists given the reasons it was known for. No offence meant to any one. But for the same reason, probably Bhatkal offers some of the best untouched beaches if one dares to take the efforts to get inside. Again we were in pleasant surprise here with what it had to offer.
Let the pictures roll !

Jali beach


Bhatkal Lighthouse



Bunder



Huilmudi Beach
Probably the best beach to visit, before we die, in our records!







Sunsets and beaches are my fascination


Well, there are more such beautiful experiences etched in our memories than the digital copies stored in a hard disk. But I stop here. I hope to give a small glimpse of what this region had to offer with this small effort.

On a concluding note,
I heard from the homestay owner that the Karnataka government has brought this part of the coastal region under CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) barring any large scale development which is a right thing to do. I hope with responsible tourism everyone gets an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this region and at the same time do our bit to conserve the nature as-is for everyone's enjoyment.

Whoever coined the tagline for Karnataka tourism - One State, Many Worlds!, +100 to him or her. I am sure this is just a scratch on the surface and there are more things waiting to be explored in this region, in particular and our State in general.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[ampere]

Some really amazing pictures and details! Thanks a lot! And yes the fact that there are some great beaches on the KA coastline is an understatement. Its only when one sees through his own eyes, the weight of the place sinks in!

[arijitkanrar]

Thank you for this thread!
Completely agree with you!

Been to Gokarna many times, recently went to Karwar as well.
The whole region has a beautiful charm! Especially when it rains!

We did visit the Ocean Deck Homestay, but for lunch only.
When we were in Karwar, we wanted to try the local cuisine. So we called up this place and asked about lunch. The owner accepted and asked us to visit after an hour.
The dishes prepared were delicious!
I'm a total sucker for coastal cuisines of India (both west and east coasts) and I was in heaven! The fish was so fresh!

Overall loved the place! Would definitely go back!
Don't want to hijack your thread, so just leaving a pic of one of the dishes.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

I heard from the homestay owner that the Karnataka government has brought this part of the coastal region under CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone)...

Some easily enforceable practices early on (both from tourists and tourism stakeholders) will go a long way towards ensuring sustainable tourism:

*Require tourist stays and restaurants to provide clean, drinking water and ban the sale of plastic bottles.
*A garbage disposal system.
*Sterilize stray dogs.
*Plan for enough parking near beaches. Or even away from beaches and provide shuttles to and from the beach.
*Do not allow bright lights or loud music on the beach.
*Absolutely no drinking on the beach.
*Heavy fines for littering on the beach. But first enough dustbins on the beach and manpower to empty those at least twice a day.

Otherwise this region will go the stereotypical 'Goa-beach-tourism' way.

[Samay]

I'm glad someone throwing light on this hidden gem ,my mother is from Karwar and driving down there every summer was a ritual.the beauty cannot be encapsulated in words or pictures, you did an awesome job at both!

[kiki_13]

Very well written. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for consolidating so many treasures in one place.

True that Karnataka beaches are serene and unexplored and hope they remain so. We were truly delighted during our stay at Gokarana. Until now I have only passed through Murdeshwara and Karwar, looking forward to staying there to explore the region more. Will use the homestay details from your travelogue and try to cover most of the places.

My father started his career in Honnavara, so I have heard many stories of his exploration around the area, of how they used to trek in the thick forest to reach Yana Caves etc.

[mankuthimma]

Originally Posted by ampere

Some really amazing pictures and details! Thanks a lot! And yes the fact that there are some great beaches on the KA coastline is an understatement. Its only when one sees through his own eyes, the weight of the place sinks in!

Thanks for the appreciative words ampere sir ! 'understatement' is the right adjective and we all should wish it remains so and not get all the limelight and attention as our neighboring states !

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

Thank you for this thread!
Completely agree with you!
...

The whole region has a beautiful charm! Especially when it rains!

Thank you for the kind words!
Oh ya! Rainy seasons just elevates the charm of these places completely to another level altogether.

Originally Posted by arijitkanrar

We did visit the Ocean Deck Homestay, but for lunch only.
When we were in Karwar, we wanted to try the local cuisine. So we called up this place and asked about lunch. The owner accepted and asked us to visit after an hour.
The dishes prepared were delicious!
I'm a total sucker for coastal cuisines of India (both west and east coasts) and I was in heaven! The fish was so fresh!

Overall loved the place! Would definitely go back!

Thats right! Ocean deck gets a stream of visitors just for the lunch itself.
One good thing here is that they didnt have a fixed menu, rather the owner and staff were generous enough to ask us what we want and then prepare it afresh. The idea of having home cooked fresh local seafood was so enticing, some of us let go off our self-imposed restriction against non-veg food. We literally savored and licked every bit on the plate.

Originally Posted by am1m

Some easily enforceable practices early on (both from tourists and tourism stakeholders) will go a long way towards ensuring sustainable tourism:

...
Otherwise this region will go the stereotypical 'Goa-beach-tourism' way.

Great thoughts sir ! Sustainable tourism is the need of the hour.
Just to add to your list, we all should own basic moral responsibilities towards leaving no trace behind - small gestures such as carrying our own trash makes a lot of difference.

Originally Posted by Samay

I'm glad someone throwing light on this hidden gem ,my mother is from Karwar and driving down there every summer was a ritual.the beauty cannot be encapsulated in words or pictures, you did an awesome job at both!

I am humbled by your words of appreciation, especially when it comes from a localite from Karwar. I am sure you will have loads of memories from your 'motherland' and it would have been even more beautiful in the past than it is now.

Originally Posted by kiki_13

Very well written. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for consolidating so many treasures in one place.

True that Karnataka beaches are serene and unexplored and hope they remain so. We were truly delighted during our stay at Gokarana. Until now I have only passed through Murdeshwara and Karwar, looking forward to staying there to explore the region more. Will use the homestay details from your travelogue and try to cover most of the places.

Thanks so much for the kind words. Agree! let these places remain hidden beauties.
The idea of a consolidated travelogue originated with the thought that if it inspires atleast one like minded person to visit this region, then the purpose will be served. There is more joy in sharing and letting others enjoy even more. I am glad it has resonated with you!

Originally Posted by kiki_13

My father started his career in Honnavara, so I have heard many stories of his exploration around the area, of how they used to trek in the thick forest to reach Yana Caves etc.

Wow! Such stories are really wonderful to listen and try to recreate the beautiful picture in our minds. Your father might have seen these places in its dense, green and purest form in his days. Thanks for sharing this bit.