EP 13 Tarkarli to Vengurla | Devbagh Beach |Tsunami Island | Maharashtra Tourism
Namaskar friends! Welcome to Visa2explore! This is your host Harish Bali. We've come 5 KM from MTDC Tarkarli resort towards Devbagh. This is how we started our day. It is 7.30 am right now.
Prasad & I came here about 15 minutes ago. Now, instead of me, it is better if you define what this place is about. I would only say that it feels good to be here. We have already started our boat ride. Sir, this is the backwater of Karli river, which flows... ...down to Deobagh Sangam, before merging into the sea. How far is that point? It is hardly half a KM away.
Half a KM. Yes! And this total backwater is about 10-12 KM long. We are going to explore some 5-6 points on our way to the Sangam.
Oh lovely! Sir, first of all we will go to the Sangam point. Where the river meets the sea. Karli river! Karli river! Great! Bhai Sahab (Brother), it is amazing. From this point, we can look at the Sangam. Those waves are where the Sangam is, right? Yes! How are those people standing in the middle? They are standing on the extended Devbagh beach.
In the middle? Yes! As they say, it is a breathtaking view. So beautiful! So, in a way, you can watch the Sangam while standing on the land. Yes! You can see the Sangam from a beach. Yes! I haven't seen this thing in the past 10-12 days. This is the first time. What is on that side? This is Devbagh under Malvan taluka.
This is the endpoint of Malvan taluka and... ...on that side is the starting point of Vengurla taluka. By the way, we are also going to Vengurla today but... ...not by boat, we will go there by road. Exactly! Can we go to Vengurla by boat? Yes, we go upto Bhogwe by boat and beyond that by road Alright! You don't have to assume how amazing this place is.
You can just look at it and you will come to know... ... how beautiful it is. This is where the river meets the sea. Right in front of us is the sea and on this side is the Karli river.
And we will stand right in the middle of it, on this beach, to watch this Sangam. Since it is high tide right now, it looks like that instead of the river water... ...draining into the sea, the sea is draining into the river! Correct! What a feeling and what an experience! I can see the waves rising clearly. In fact, we can feel the boat rising with the waves. Let me tell you honestly that I haven't had such an experience ever before. This point is called the 'Crocodile Point' sir.
Its shape is like the mouth of a crocodile. Okay! That is why! Alright! Crocodile point. We've reached the Devbagh beach. Uff! The water is so clear.
Yes! I mean I can see right till the bottom. Absolutely crystal clear! Here, you are standing at a point where you have the sea on the right side... ...and the river on the left. The main thing is that you get to see the Sangam during high tide. That helps you see the flow on either side clearly. The sand on this beach looks completely unpolluted. The natural element in this environment is totally awesome! There are shells everywhere on this beach.
Is Devbagh a popular destination or not? It is becoming increasingly popular in the recent years. People are beginning to like it more. Let us go to that side and spend some time there too.
Yesterday, we went to Sindhudurg Fort and there was a beach there. Yes! You had told me that one could walk from that point to here. Yes sir! I am trying to imagine dear! It must at least be 10 KM of distance? Yes! That means when you start walking from that beach to this point...
...you would come face-to-face to this sangam of river and sea. Yes! Marvellous! These backwaters, you told me, were of Karli river. Yes, Karli river. Where does it originate from? This river originates in the Sahyadri, Western Ghats in the Kudal Taluka. From Kudal it flows down to Malwan and then meets the sea here. The overall length of this river is 50-60 KM.
And its backwater measures about 20-30 KM. Oh Wow! How far are we from Goa right now? Sir, Goa border begins about 60 KM from here. One thing that can be said is that... ...if you want to enjoy a wholly satisfactory view of the sea... ...then, this is the point. Yes! The place where we are standing right now has become...
...even better because of today's weather. Beautiful! Wow! Usually people go further into the sea to enjoy the water. Our boatman warned us not to do that because... ...the beach suddenly turns into slope. Yes Sir! Where a river meets the sea, the sediments that come with the river,...
...also are deposited into the sea. Therefore, the beach has more depth. Tell me one thing, there is an island in the distance. Sir that island is called Nevati Rocks. This is a huge mountaininside the sea, with rocks above the water surface.
People are usually taken there for scuba diving by the MTDC Centre Sir. The place is abundant in marine life Sir. The boat that we hired... ...it is standing in the water there... ...its cost is Rs. 2000 for a 2-hour package. In this 2 hour package, they brought us here, took us to the Sangam point... ... and showed us the Crocodile Point as well. We started this boat ride about one and a half hour ago. Now we will be going to the Tsunami Island? Yes Sir. Next destination is Tsunami Island.
Sir, everywhere, people believe that Tsunami brought only destruction. But for the people of Tarkarli, it was a blessing in disguise. The Tsunami that came in 2003-04, the sand of this area flew away... ...and was deposited as an island there. In fact, it became a permanent island, where water sports also takes place.
That area is surrounded by water on all sides. Just like here, but here the water is only on three sides. But that place is surrounded by water.
People do parasailing, boat rides, etc. Really!!! What is the height of that island? It is at the same level. The water doesn't rise too much even during the high tide.
During low tide too, the water recedes very fast. How far is this place? It will take us about 10 minutes Sir. Okay then, we are going to the Tsunami Island. Let us go! This is where water sports take place? Yes Sir! So this is the Tsunami Island.
This is a unique phenomenon. This island came into being due to the Tsunami in 2003-04. Otherwise nobody visited this place before that.
All this sand flew in the air and got deposited here. Yes Sir! This sand here is soft to touch, like this, it presses in. So, does this island get submerged during high tide. Yes, the water rises to the top of it but the sand remains like this. During the rainy seasons, May-June-July-August, do they stop water sports here? Yes, it remains closed from July onwards.
And it resumes in September? Yes! Let us go for banana ride. We enjoyed the banana ride very much. It has started raining now. So we are leaving here on the boat to go now. I also saw a man selling vada-pav here.
So if you come here and feel hungry, you can eat vada-pav here. Okay then, we will join you again on the other end. The rain has intensified. We are back at the point where we began our boat ride. Our car is parked a few steps away. I noticed a shope here, selling shorts, t-shirts, chappals, everything.
I had my shorts with me. But if someone needs shorts to wear... ...you can purchase these shorts for Rs. 150. Prasad Bhai, I am famished now. So tell me where will we eat? Even a vada-pav will do. You will get vada-pav, usal-pav here. You know the place? Yes, I do.
Please come! Okay bhaiya (brother)! To have breakfast, we've stopped our car at a place from where... ...the sea is just 20 m away. And the river is hardly 50 m from here. That is the river. This is where we've come for breakfast. Vitthal Mandir is the local landmark. It is written here "Vitthal Mandir Bus Stop, Deobagh."
Let us go and have some breakfast now. We bought vada-pav for ourselves. They have a seating space inside, as you can see. But the weather is awesome, so we asked them to place some chairs outside... ...so that we could enjoy our food better. Come, let us sit here. No, we don't need the table here.
Usually, the vada-pav that we eat, I think chutney plays the main role. But here, the vada-pav is tasty even without chutney. Correct! Very natural taste! Lovely. The shop's name is "Mumberkar." Mumberkar Nashta Centre. We also asked for an Usal Pav for ourselves.
Okay, when we say Usal, what do we mean by that? Usal means Vatana (Black beans), cooked with onion, tomato, etc. The taste is good but I liked vada-pav slightly better. This usal has mild spices and low salt. Overall, it was a good decision to come here. We got to try some dishes made with local spices. And I would like to highlight this once again that...
...why this location is unique. It has river on one side and sea on the other. That is a unique aspect of this place. Beautiful! Now our programme is to go towards MTDC Tarkarli.
From there we will pick our luggage and continue our journey further. We've picked up our luggage after reaching MTDC Tarkarli. I have had my bath to freshen up and we've checked out as well. Now let me show you where we were staying last night.
This is the room where we were stayed last night. You can sit on a chair outside your room and... ...enjoy the sight and sound of these sea waves. I really liked this place because it offers amazing views.
When we reached here a short while ago, we saw this Bamboo House. So I asked them to show this to me from the inside. When I was shown inside, I saw that the room is bigger. However, you cannot watch the sea from there because its a closed structure.
But I think it would be a nice experience to stay there as well. The current tariff of bamboo house is Rs. 3500. And the tariff of this room, I've already told you, is Rs. 2500. During tourist season in October, the tariff increases.
The tariff changes depending upon season, off-season,... ...weekends, weekdays, happen here as they happen elsewhere too. A lot of my subscribers had suggested to me that while in Sindhudurg,... ...I must visit Tarkarli beach. I came to visit the beach this morning but without camera. So I am not showing you the morning view.
Though it is 11.30 am now but still you will get an idea about the beach. This beach also has water sports activities but not at this moment. The beach is lovely. No doubt! Let us leave now. We will join you back after reaching the next destination. After travelling from Tarkarli for about 20-25 minutes,...
...we've reached Chipi airport. First, take a look at the surroundings. It is ultimate. Where should I start from? You can start from this side.
The tall grass looks like waves due to wind. Isn't it so Prasad? Waves are being created. Yes, it looks as if the grass is flowing in waves. This effect is showing us different shades of green. We can see far in the distance.
Prasad, this region in which we are standing,... ...is it a plateau? Yes, it is a laterite plateau. Yes, it looks like that. And this grass is growing upon this stone surface? Yes, because of the rains.
Right, in the monsoon season. Okay. Anyways, that was about the grass. That is our car. We came in our car from that direction.
We have been here for about 6-7 minutes. During this time, not a single vehicle has passed on this road. The road is completely vacant, as is that road and this side of the road.
Still it feels good to stand here. This Chipi airport is going to become operational in a few days. For starters only flights from Mumbai will land here but gradually...
...flights from other regions of the country will also be started. That, I think, will improve the connectivity of this region. Yes, it will. People can then take a connecting flight from Mumbai to reach here. Even the Goa border isn't that far from here. How far would it be?
Around 50-55 KM from here. Just 55 KM. Yes! That means we've come far from Mumbai. About 525 KM, right?
Yes! Great! It is such a nice experience standing here. So Prasad, we've planned to spend tonight in Vengurla. In Vengurla. Now tell us something about the next 2-3 destinations. What would we do? Sir, there is a Parule village nearby.
It has a sacred forest like place, which I personally like very much. We call it "Devrayi" in local language. We will go and see that forest. After that, we will go to a farm-stay, based on Agro-tourism. We will have our lunch there.
Great! So, shall we go? Yes Sir! As Prasad told us a while ago, we've come to visit a sacred forest. What is it called? Devrayi! Devrayi. First, take a look at the surroundings. We have been standing here for 10 minutes now but... ...we haven't seen a single scooter or car passing by. Just like we showed you tall grass growing upon the plateau after rains..
...it is the same scene here as well. Right since Ratnagiri, where we saw the Petroglyphs,... ...I have seen this plateau region is quite large. Though one cannot see it right now because the surface is blackened... ...due to rains, but underneath, it is laterite stone. Yes! I mean there is red colored stone beneath the surface? Yes, red. Shall we walk? Yes Sir Where from? From this plateau, we will go into that forest in front. Okay! We've entered the forest Sir. You can see a small stream flowing here.
Sir, in Konkan region, freshwater is very precious. That is why you see this stream surrounded by this dense forest... ...which has all those trees around it, as it should be. Hmm! There is one more thing. Trees standing like this over the plateau is an achievement in itself.
Yes Sir! Isn't it? Yes! And all these trees are sturdy ones. This tree gives a flower named "Surangi." This is a rare species available only in the Western Ghats. Only in Sahyadri. Alright! Yes, right now you don't seen any flowers on this tree. It bears flowers during April-May months and at that time...
...this whole forest is filled with a unique fragrance. Really! Yes! A little while ago, we crossed a small puddle of water. But this is a large stream. How will we cross it? Sir, we just have to walk along this stream.
I mean what should I do about these shoes now? What to do? I am really interested in going further. So, where can I make a jump from? About jumping Sir... ...can jump from there? Yeah, you can jump from there. See, the kind of amazing experiences I am enjoying. Now where do we go from here? This is the forest next to this river.
Ohoo! How amazing! I can see at least 2-2.5 feet down into the water. Marvellous! I can even see the leaves that have fallen into the water down under. Crystal clear! And there are fishes as well. Yes, there are smaller fishes here. Now the scene is that it started raining heavily all of a sudden. Although we had thought we would go right upto the pond,...
...while walking through this forest. But my shoes are already wet now. I should have worn sandals, not shoes, but cannot do anything about it. If we proceed further into the forest, it might cause a problem because...
...the forest floor has become wet and slippery. I won't be able to walk properly due to rains. Therefore, we will go back and continue the rest of our journey. From what I've seen so far....
...you must visit this sacred forest if you are in the area. More importantly, you must have a local person with you... ...otherwise you might get lost too. The main highlight of this forest, correct me if I am wrong,... ...is that it isn't easy for trees to grow on top of a plateau. People who first did cultivation here must have wanted these... ...trees to not be cut in the future. This is perhaps why this place is known as the Sacred Forest. You are absolutely correct Sir. If the trees are grown in forests like these,...
...they will help conserve water. Under a canopy of trees, the water doesn't even warm up or evaporate as much. Yes! The water remains conserved. Yes! We had a good time here, no doubt about that.
Now we will walk upto our car and after that to Machili? Yes Machili farms. How far is it? Sir, it must be at least 7-8 KM. Let's go! Our original plan was to visit Machili homestay and have lunch there.
But keeping the timing in mind, we've decided to skip the homestay visit. Now we've come 5 KM further from there, to have lunch here. Tell us something about this place. Where are we? Sir, this is the Mhapan village in Vengurla taluka. This is a small village market. Earlier, we were in the Malvan Taluka.
Yes Sir! Now we are in Vengurla. Okay! So, how many talukas are there in the Coastal Konkan region? There are 3, Devgad, Malvan and this Vengurla. It lasts upto Goa border. We've stopped outside a very famous eatery but when we first parked...
...our car here, I was surprised to see the unassuming appearance ... ...of this place. Isn't it so? Yes! The name of this place is "Bhogate". Bhogate Mess! Bhogate Mess! Let us go inside. We've ordered fish thali for lunch here. Take a look.
There is Solkadi, fish curry... What is the name of this fish? Sondara! Sondara. Any other name? It is also known as "Silver Crocker."
This is cauliflower curry, prawns and salad. Lovely! If you travel through Konkan, it is mandatory to serve Solkadi... ...during lunch and dinner. Not during breakfast though.... (Laughter) But you will definitely get it during lunch & dinner. It is very good for digestion. I have to say, the presence of coconut in this aloo-gobhi (potato-cauliflower)...
....dish is making it more delicious. In the past few days, I've discovered that "Khanaval" is a common name... ...used to describe a roadside eatery, like we say 'dhaba.' So, the name of the owner is added before Khanaval.... ...for example "Harish Bali Khanaval." It would mean Harish Bali's eatery. Yes! That is how it is, right? Yes! Very tasty! These prawns are delicious! I don't need to mention how delicious these prawns are.
Fresh seafood is almost taken for granted in the whole coastal region. The region in which we're eating seafood is already famous for it. What are the spices used with prawns that are making it so delicious? It has kokum, rice flour and Malvani spices. It also has ginger-garlic paste in the margination. So, it is sour because of kokum.
This salad is also very delicious. It has finely chopped green chilies too. Amazing! I haven't tasted such a fish curry even once during the last 12 days. In the past few days, I've noticed that fish curry isn't usually so sour... ... as to give you the feeling of sourness on the palate. It is fully sour.
And it goes without saying that it has coconut too. It is spicy too! It also depends upon the chef who is cooking the dish. The taste is very unique! And this spices are not normal but they have some special recipe. Prasad told me once, is it called Triphal ? Yes! Yes, Schezwan Pepper. Usually everyone uses this ingredient to cook Fish curry but... ....it all depends on Chef's hand. The food is delicious! Very delicious! Please give me one more plate of prawns and this fish curry too.
This fish curry is absolutely lip-smacking. Till the fish curry comes, let us taste this Solkadi. Look at its texture. In the last 12 days, I have had so much Solkadi that I haven't had in my whole life. Imagine, I haven't had so much Solkadi all my life as I've had in the past 12 days.
And I'm enjoying different tastes at different places. I don't have enough words to appreciate the taste of this Solkadhi. The balancing of flavors of ginger-garlic with coconut milk and kokum is marvellous. What is our next programme after we finish our food? We will go straight to Vengurla. How far is Vengurla from here? It will take us at least one hour. One hour! Yes! At all the lighthouses that we've visited so far in this region...
...we couldn't reach the top of any of those. However, Prasad says that during evening time, you are allowed... ...to go to the top of the Vengurla lighthouse. Yes! We will check that out too. It is going to be an experience in itself. I haven't entered a lighthouse in my life. So far, I have seen a lighthosue only on the outside. For some reason or the other, the lighthouses have been closed.
Okay then, we will meet you after reaching Vengurla. After how long? One hour! After one hour. We have reached Vengurla. There are 3 main attractions here. One, you told me, is the lighthouse.
Second is the sea beach and third is the port. Port! First of all we will visit the lighthouse, which is right there. Let's go.
Now look at this sea view from a height. Oh man! What a view! Talking of the view, I can see the Arabian Sea at least... ...in a 210 degree wide angle. The lighthouse is already on a mountain, so it is at a considerable height. The weather is cloudy and it can rain anytime within next 5-10 minutes.
Till then, I will give you some basic information about the lighthouse. Lighthouse's basic purpose, in the past and present, is to guide the ships. There is a unique light inside the lighthouse during the night,... ...which helps the sailors find the way to land. During daytime, it is the unique shape of the lighthouse building... ...in the form of a pentagon or hexagon, etc.... ...which gives away its location to the sailors. Obviously the sailors also use binoculars.
Tourists can visit the lighthouse anytime from 9.30 am to 5 pm. You will need to take the permission of the lighthouse staff to enter. Such a beautiful place! I just remembered, in Chennai too, I enjoyed the sea view... ...from atop a lighthouse. Earlier, I was mistaken that I had never entered the lighthouse... ...but now I suddenly remembered. Now that we've enjoyed this view, let us go to the beach now. After that we will go to visit the Port as well.
This path will take us from lighthouse to the beach. It must be approximately 150-200 steps. Let us go. We climbed down these steps to reach Vengurla Jetty point. We have been talking to this gentleman for the past 5 minutes.
Are you from Vengurla? Yes, I am from Vengurla. Alright. Tell us something about it. When I came here, I had in my mind that we were going to see an active port.
But here, we came to know that jetty point and port are one and the same. Actually... Tell us something about this place. This port used to be active during the Dutch rule, around 17th century.
Dutch people used this port to transport their goods. During those days, huge ships used to arrive at this port. They even got a Dutch factory made behind this port. But this port didn't remain as active after the end of Dutch rule.
Today, this port is mainly used by the fishermen, to sell their fish. That structure looks really old. Yes, it is an old structure though it has been renovated time and again. However, since the port is not that active, its condition remains such. Hmm! One more thing, you must've heard of the Crawford Market? In Mumbai? Yes. Actually all over India, there are 3 Crawford Markets.
One each in Mumbai, Kolkata and Vengurla. Really! Yes. You can visit the Vengurla Crawford market, it is 5 minutes from here. You can visit it. We are staying tonight in Vengurla so we might go there in the morning. Yes sure! One more thing that I've noticed in the last 5 minutes.
Right now, we are standing near the jetty. It is a good experience to watch the sea waves from here. It is for sure! I am sure tourists must come here to spend some time watching the sea! Like it is evening time, the sun has set, and it will be dark in another 10 minutes.
Even now, I can see a lot of tourists here. Though, can't call them tourists. They seem to be locals. Yeah, these are locals. They might look like they've come from far. Nice place! Whenever you visit Vengurla, you must come here during the day time or evening. It was nice meeting you, especially for the information that you shared with us.
So nice! First, let us identify an accommodation to stay here. After that, we will say bye-bye to you. In Vengurla, we've booked an accommodation at Hotel Gajali. A short while ago, we were at the Jetty point.
This hotel is close to that point. At present, they had only one room available for booking. This large room, where we are staying, has tariff Rs. 4000. They have cheaper rooms too but those weren't available today.
Anyways, today was quite happening for us. Some of the activities impressed me very much. So, it was an enjoyable day to sum up. Now tomorrow's plan will start with a visit to Vengurla beach. After that, post local sightseeing, we would try to spend the night at Sawantwadi.
We are left with just 2-3 days of this journey. After that, our Konkan tour would be over. Our Konkan tour will end when we will reach Goa.
I am saying bye-bye to you now. That's it for now. Thanks for your time! Prasad Bhai, where are you? I am here Sir! We've reached the beach and it looks amazing. Prasad Bhai, it is clear that that is the sea.
What is this, the river? Yes, the river and its backwater. Just like we saw in Devbagh. It is a similar Sangam here. That is what I was thinking. It seems those people are playing cricket. Yes! So, it means, you can watch the Sangam of sea with the river...
...right in front of your eyes. Yes, yes!
2022-01-16 14:53
