[wanderlustindia]

Far from the hustle-bustle of the city, I and wifey landed up in Diveagar to make good use of the long weekend.

The route taken was Pune-Paud-Mulshi-Tamhini-Vile-Nizampur-Mangaon-Mhasla-Diveagar. Total distance 160 kms one way.

From Pune till Mulshi the road is in excellent condition. Mulshi to Tamhini the roads are not so good and in a stretch of approximately 10-15 kms, one can drive at a top speed of 30-40 kph. This stretch is under repair and will take sometime before its complete. Tamhini ghat as usual is a pleasure to drive with hair-pins and s-curves all the way. The road from Vile to Mangaon via Nizampur is a freshly laid stretch of tarmac passing through the country side.

Mangaon to Diveagar again is a fantastic country road (read State Highway). Surprisingly in this season as well, lots of people flocked to the virgin beaches of Diveagar and Shrivardhan. The climate was pleasant and you could feel the sun only between 12-3 pm. The rest of the day is fabulous. It even rained on Saturday night to make our drive back to Pune on Sunday morning very pleasant.

All in all, a perfect getaway from Pune. Just got back home in time to watch the F1 race on Sunday. With Raikonnen winning and later Man Utd winning against Liverpool made my weekend even sweeter.

[spadival]

Nice travelogue. Post some pics as well.

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Surprisingly in this season as well, lots of people flocked to the virgin beaches of Diveagar and Shrivardhan.

I guess the majority of them were the "Its a long weekend" IT crowd .

[wanderlustindia]

Yes, you are right. Office picnics were the order of the day. Few families as well. Nice weekend getaway if you just want to cool your heels at the beach and in the hotel.

Not a lot of photo-ops, though I clicked a few. Will post them tonight from home.

[moralfibre]

To go from Mangaon to Mhasla do you drive in the direction of Mahad from Mangaon or you do you go North to Pen?

[1000Horses]

HI there,

looks like a nice spot to chill out. any details on staying there? like hotels /booking etc?

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

To go from Mangaon to Mhasla do you drive in the direction of Mahad from Mangaon or you do you go North to Pen?

I think there is a fork just before you hit the Bombay-Goa highway. You take a right at this fork (towards Mumbai, not Mahad). This road goes to Harihareshwar / Shrivardhan / Diveagar

[spadival]

You go down towards Mahad. But the diversion to Mhasla is within Mangaon town itself. There is a board for Shrivardhan/Mhasla at this right turn. Also, its not far (0.5 Kms) from the point where the road from Nizampur joins NH17 at Mangaon.

[hvkumar]

The turn-off is in Managaon town itself. You can also turn off at Goregain which is the next town, from where you can reach Mhasla.

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

To go from Mangaon to Mhasla do you drive in the direction of Mahad from Mangaon or you do you go North to Pen?

You got the answer, I hope.

Originally Posted by 1000Horses

HI there,

looks like a nice spot to chill out. any details on staying there? like hotels /booking etc?

Yes, it certainly is a nice place. Book in advance, I would say. I was made to believe it is off-season. But I was in for a surprise when I reached there and found most places booked to the hilt!

Luckily, for me a resort (Prathmesh) had a few rooms vacant and I got a place to stay. Charged me 1200 bucks per night. I can get you the number of this resort. You must try to book the MTDC resort, if you have the option. Its bang on the beach. I am not aware of the tarriff for the MTDC one.

Localites allow stay at their houses along with good food. The stay might cost you anywhere between 500-700 bucks a night at these places. They are plenty in number. You would not worry about the food if you chose to stay with one of these localites. If you stay in a resort, chances are there is no restaurant there. You will have to find a 'Khanaval' (eating place) to have your meals.

Hope this helps.

[1000Horses]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Yes, it certainly is a nice place. Book in advance, I would say. I was made to believe it is off-season. But I was in for a surprise when I reached there and found most places booked to the hilt!

Luckily, for me a resort (Prathmesh) had a few rooms vacant and I got a place to stay. Charged me 1200 bucks per night. I can get you the number of this resort. You must try to book the MTDC resort, if you have the option. Its bang on the beach. I am not aware of the tarriff for the MTDC one.

Localites allow stay at their houses along with good food. The stay might cost you anywhere between 500-700 bucks a night at these places. They are plenty in number. You would not worry about the food if you chose to stay with one of these localites. If you stay in a resort, chances are there is no restaurant there. You will have to find a 'Khanaval' (eating place) to have your meals.

Hope this helps.

Yeah certainly. Thanks a lot for your reply. Yes contact details will surely help, really appreciate your help. MTDC have resort there? didnt find any details about it on MTDC site. They do have one in harihareshwar.


Regards
Amit

[wanderlustindia]

Originally Posted by 1000Horses

Yeah certainly. Thanks a lot for your reply. Yes contact details will surely help, really appreciate your help. MTDC have resort there? didnt find any details about it on MTDC site. They do have one in harihareshwar.


Regards
Amit

Yes, MTDC resort is named 'Exotica'. Its bang on the beach as I mentioned earlier. I think they have cottages and rooms. I don't have their contacts. I will fetch the 'Prathmesh' contact and write back.

[BunnyPunia]

Been going to diveagar almost every sunday now. We always take the Tamini route : next to no traffic, awesome scenery and good roads too (Expect may be the 15-20km stretch in the hills)
While going, after the ghat ends (tamini), the straights start. You come to a junction, where there is a sharp left. This left goes to mangaon (Goa highway), from where one needs to go to Mhasla and then Diveagar.
If you dont take the sharp left, you end up going to Kolad (Goa highway). I used to take this route for Kashid beach

Diveagar is a lovely beach. Less crowd, and around 2-3km long straight on the beach where you can take your car. The MTDC resort is the best place to stay.
Diveagar is around 155-160km from Pune, dependin on where you stay in Pune. It takes around 3.5hrs including a 10min break enroute.

The Beach

[wanderlustindia]

Exactly the same route I took. The roads are good for most part except the 15-20 kms before Tamhini Ghat starts. It should be laid soon (before the monsoons I'd assume), as I saw road-rollers and other construction equipment doing the rounds.

[spadival]

OT: Bunny, Do you write for a Car magazine? I read your name in one of the mags - cant remember which.

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Exactly the same route I took. The roads are good for most part except the 15-20 kms before Tamhini Ghat starts. It should be laid soon (before the monsoons I'd assume), as I saw road-rollers and other construction equipment doing the rounds.

Some stretch of the road between tamini and the plains has been laid. And the work is going on.

@spadival : Car India and Bike India