Konkan – One of the Best Summer Destinations in Maharashtra

Peaceful Devgad beach

The beautiful Konkan is undoubtedly one of the best places to visit in summer in Maharashtra. As the month of April arrives, the climate is heating up. With the approaching summer, people living in crowded cities like Mumbai, Pune, etc. have started making plans for a cool summer vacation with their families and friends. The beautiful, serene beaches and lush greenery of Konkan is an exciting and inviting option to many.

Konkan - a beautiful place to visit in summer

Extending from Dahanu in North to North Goa in South, Konkan coast covers about 720 km of the length of the Western coast of Maharashtra. Competing with Goa for immense and beautiful seashore, Konkan is fast developing as one of the best tourist destinations to visit in Maharashtra. In fact, many visitors prefer the clean and somewhat secluded Konkan beaches over the over-crowded beaches of Goa.

The warm and colorful culture of Konkan

Konkani people are generally friendly and peace-loving folks with a hospitable nature. They will invite and embrace you into their community with an open heart and an amicable smile. People of this region treat tourists as their guests and offer them due respect. This is a heart-warming experience for most travelers – particularly those foreign tourists who appreciate this very quality of Indian people in general.

Most people in Konkan are financially comfortable as the land is gifted with natural resources like the great coastline and climatic conditions suitable for cultivation of profitable fruits like Mango, cashew, coconut, etc. Fishing and Mango cultivation are two of the main occupations.

People here are sociable and fun-loving and enjoy many festivals throughout the year including Holi, Diwali, Dassehra, Ganesh Chaturthi, Narli Purnima, etc.

The main languages spoken are Marathi and Malvani. Many people, particularly those from the educated younger generation, are well versed with Hindi and English as well.

Things to enjoy while visiting Konkan

Beautiful beaches in Konkan

Enjoy Scuba Diving in Konkan

There are many exciting things you can do to make your visit a fun and memorable experience. Needless to say, the most important activity you can undertake is to visit the many beautiful beaches in this region. There are dozens of excellent beaches which are clean, serene and not too crowded. Some of the most popular ones are Alibaug beach, Ganpatipule beach, Tarkarli beach, Devgad beach, Malvan beach, etc.

Places like Tarkarli in Malvan have facilities for water-sports including scuba diving, parasailing, snorkeling, motor-boat riding, Dolphin sighting boating, etc.

Sightseeing in Konkan

If you love to delve a little into the history of the region, then you can visit some of the many sea-forts in Konkan. While most are built by the great Shivaji Maharaj, there are some like the Vijaydurg Fort near Devgad in Sindhudurg district that was built by Raja Bhoj around 800 years back in the 11th century. Other forts include Arnala Fort, Murud-Janjira Fort, Sindhudurg Fort, Devgad Fort, etc.

There are many temples too including Kunkeshwar temple, Vimleshwar Mandir, Pokharbav Ganesh Mandir, etc. if you like the peace and divine atmosphere of a temple.

Food and drinks to enjoy in Konkan

Good hotels, restaurants and bars are available in the surrounding areas of these beaches where you can enjoy the spicy local Malvani sea-food and other local and Indian dishes. There are good bar facilities to spend relaxing time with friends sipping on your favorite type of alcohol.

Fresh mango smoothie made from Devgad hapus

Summer season is the Mango season. Although there are many types of mangoes available in Konkan, Devgad Alphonso Mango also called Devgad Hapus Aamba is the best and the most popular one. Don’t miss the chance of munching on this delicious fruit. You can also enjoy it in different forms like mango juice, mango pulp, mango shake or different varieties of mango ice-cream. There are some local sweets prepared from mango such as amba poli, amras puri, amrakhand, amba kulfi, kairich panh ( sweet juice prepared from unripe mangoes ), mango jam, etc.

Other local food products are those made from cashew nuts such as roasted cashew nuts, cashew burfi, cashew laddoos, cashew chikki and also those made from jackfruit such as phanaspoli.

Shopping in Konkan

After sight-seeing, one of the most favorite activities of tourists is shopping. You can find most everything you can find in bigger cities nowadays in Konkan. However, buying things to take back with you as souvenirs of your Konkan visit is important.

Shopping in Konkan can be a delightful experience if you know what Konkan is famous for and where to find those things. It is best to have someone from the local folks to help you find the best markets for your shopping.

Besides shopping for local food products as mentioned above you can go for clothes and accessories in the local markets. If it is a taluka place like Devgad, you can usually find products from cheap ones to branded products. If you are looking for a nice souvenir, you can shop for hand-crafted products and cutlery made of coconut husk, coir and shells, bamboo, grass-straws, such as mattresses, brooms, etc. and decorative objects like wall-hangings, ornaments, etc. made of beautiful sea-shells, corals and colored stones.

Reasons why people like to spend summer vacations in Konkan

There are many reasons why many people love visiting Konkan. Some of them are,

• Amazing natural wealth with beautiful beaches, lush green mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and thick forests

• Unlike many other popular destinations, Konkan has many new and unexplored places to visit as it is a newly developing tourist destination, This certainly adds more fun to it.

• Excellent transportation facilities with good roads, good public transport and of course, the great Konkan railway!

• Good quality hotels and lodging facilities ranging from modern luxury hotels to budget hotels, suitable for every budget.

So if you are looking for a peaceful yet fun summer vacation away from the hustle-bustle of daily city life, then visiting Konkan is a great option. Just make sure that you plan your tour well. Make the necessary bookings like bus, train, hotels, etc. in advance to avoid hassle and disappointment later on.

Have you been to Konkan before? What was your experience like? Do share it in the comments section below.

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