Malvan Trip

Malvan is one of the best tourist locations in Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is well known for its beaches, forts, temples in surrounding areas, seafood and pleasant weather as it’s part of the coastal belt. The beaches of Malvan are the best destination for Scuba diving and water sports.

At the beginning of the year, I along with my family had planned to visit Malvan in summer vacation. During our recent stay at Shiroda (my in-laws place), we decided to go to Malvan as one day trip. It’s almost 70 km distance from Shiroda. Our journey started at 9.00 am in a private car via Vengurla route. As we moved on, we passed through the Chipi Airport Road which was empty with a beautiful view of clouds hovering and bright sun. I took some pics from the running car. The Chipi Airport is the first airport in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. It was inaugurated in September 2018.

By around 11.30 am we reached at Malvan Beach. As soon as we parked our car, one person from Marine Dive Sports approached us to try Scuba Diving. I was in a dual mind to try it or not. My better half, Varsha and daughter, Ananya both said, lets go for it. My son, Bhargav and Rachit (Varsha’s nephew) too were eager to see the Scuba diving. We paid the charges and went near the pick-up boats. It was going be a new experience for us. There were other families too in the queue to experience this under water sport. I could see the excitement and some fear on faces of people including my family members too. The pick-up boat dropped us near the main boat which is used for Scuba diving area near the Sindhudurg fort.

We all were ready after wearing the Scuba diving custome with eye tight transparent goggle and small oxygen cylinder attached to the jacket. The time arrived to jump and see the under water world. Varsha and Ananya tried it first and they came up with their personal experiences which is difficult for me to express it in words. It was my turn to go next. I being a non-swimmer had some fear in mind. But as soon as I jumped and started floating, the fear was almost gone. The scuba diving coach released the air from my jacket and we both went under water. Wow, it was such a beautiful experience. I saw lots of small fishes and coral reefs. I also touched the coral reefs.

After this wonderful experience of Scuba diving we came back to the shore for lunch. There are lot of Veg and Non-Veg restaurants near the beach area. If you are a Non-Vegetarian, then definitely try seafood dishes. These dishes are prepared using Malvani masala which gives a regional flavour. Post lunch, we headed back to the boating area as we wanted to visit the Sindhudurg fort. The fort is in a midst of the water approx 200 meters from the beach. There was a big queue for the boat again. We bought the required tickets and waited for our turn.

The experience of travelling in boat from the beach to the fort area is different and enjoyable. Kids were so happy in this part of the journey as this was our second round near the fort. The boat dropped us near the fort base and journey began to explore the fort. It’s a huge fort built by the great maratha warrior Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to protect the people and land of Konkan region from invaders such as British, French, Portuguese and Mughals during his regime. The construction of Sindhudurg fort was completed on 29 March 1667.

The fort is built on Kurate Island in front of Malvan Beach. The important structures like palace, water supply wells, temples, residences and stores were built at the center of the fort for safety reasons. The must see places are Mahadarvaja, Shivarajeshwar temple, Ranicha Vela (Queen’s beach), Bhagavati temple and sweet water wells. We came back to the fort base almost after an hour exploring the various fort areas including above mentioned ones. We all were tired but the return boat journey was refreshing and relaxing one. On the way back home, we visited the very famous temple of Shri Bharadi Devi at Angnewadi. As it was becoming dark, we could not spend much time in the temple.

Our day long trip ended with taking darshan of Goddess Bharadi, taking back home great experience of Scuba diving, enjoyable boat journey, detailed information and walkthrough of the Sindhudurg fort. We couldn’t cover other attractive spots in Malvan. However, this one day trip was a memorable one.

There are lot more places to see in Malvan which cannot be covered in one day trip. If you are planning to visit Malvan, then plan your trip for 2-3 days. Try to cover Sindhudurg Fort, Malvan Beach, Tarkali Beach,Bhogwe Beach, Chivla Beach, Devbag, Rameshwar Temple, Ganesh Temple, Angnewadi, Nivati Fort and Beach and Rock Garden.

Enjoy your trip to Malvan ☺

Here are some photos captured by me during this trip.

Scuba Diving Photos Credit – Marine Dive Sports, Malvan

How to reach:

By Road:
Malvan is about 35 km off the NH 17 from Kasal just before reaching Sindhudurg town.
Distance from major cities:
Pune to Malvan – 390 km
Mumbai to Malvan – 533 km
Kolhapur to Malvan – 161 km
Nagpur to Malvan – 1031 km
Bengaluru to Malvan – 648 km
Hyderabad to Malvan – 699 km

By Train:
Kudal and Sindhudurg are the closest railway stations to Malvan.

By Air:
Goa airport (Dabholim), a domestic airport is nearest one. Chipi Airport
in Sindhudurg is ready. However, the flights are yet to be operational.