Relaxation trip at untouched paradise: Ganeshgule beach

Considering Long weekend in the month of January, We planned trip for Relaxation in Ganeshgule. This untouched place has beautiful Resort named Oceano Pearl home stay resort. This was my first trip which was more focused on relaxation and not to explore nearby area. Travelers for this trip were Me, Renuka, Aditya - Neha, Saurabh – Vrishali and Anannya.

FRIENDS...

About Ganeshgule, Ratnagiri and surrounding places:

             Ganeshgule, a village few kilometers ahead of Pawas offers you a beautiful untouched beach. Not much explored by tourist hence it offers sandy beach with crystal clear water. Ganeshgule beach is 1 km long beach blocked by mountains on both sides. It offers you piece of mind & freedom to stroll and bath in the blue waters whenever you feel.
Ratnagiri city is a port city on Arabian Sea coast of Maharashtra in India. It is a main city from the Konkan region and famous for its Alphonso Mangoes, Birth place of “Lokmanaya” Bal Gangadhar Tilak, prime leader of India’s freedom movement and Shivaji’s Fort. There are many tourist points in Ratnagiri district that are blessed with untouched and beautiful beaches.

The route to reach Ganeshgule from Pune is –
Take National highway 4 – Drive till Karad city on highway – Cross Karad and drive for few km – after Karad, look for the first flyover on the highway – Do not take flyover route – Take right below the flyover – Drive on State highway 144 – Malkapur – Amba – Sakharpa – Pali (Do not confused with Pali from Ashtavinayak locations) – Drive towards south for few km on NH – Take left after crossing Patergaon – Ganeshgule.
Alternate route is Pune – Amba ghat – Sakharpa – Ratnagiri – Pawas – Ganeshgule.

Total distance via this route is around 304km.

Other routes are Tahmini – Mangaon – Mumbai Goa national highway OR Pune – Umbraj – Koyanagar – Chiplun – Ratnagiri - Ganeshgule.

Day 1: 24th Jan 2015 – Pune - Ganeshgule (Total Distance traveled: 324 km):
           We woke up early in the morning and left home at 6 AM with our friends. We wanted to avoid the highway traffic and enjoy the morning breeze. After Wai phata, we took a pit stop for tea and coffee at Virangula hotel. We decided to go by the Amba ghat route. After crossing Karad, we took right from Amba ghat route. Because of smooth and wide road we were able to move faster to reach our destination. We wanted to have lunch in Ratnagiri but because of few pit stops for photos, we were not able to make it. We had our lunch in Hotel Kasturi which is close to Amba ghat. Because of nonstop drive after lunch we could reach our destination by 2.30 PM
           Soon we reached at Oceano Pearl home stay resort. The resort was a mixture of Konkani-modern style with lot of greenery and with a huge farm of different trees (Wadi in Marathi) like Coconuts, Alphonso and many more. They have built nice rooms and one tree house which are very close to the beach. Management and staff from resort welcomed us with a smile. We booked 3 AC rooms which were cleaned with all required amenities. 

Hotel Oceano Pearl Home stay

Room

          We took some rest and then went on beach. Ganeshgule beach is around 1.5-2 km long beach and gives you a feel of a private beach. With white soft sand all over the beach, it was very neat and clean. Water was so clear that we were unable to stop ourselves from going into the water. It was good evening to spend with friends. We had our delicious dinner before our day ends.

Kabbadi Kabbadi

Sunset from Ganeshgule

Day 2: 25th Jan 2015 – Ganeshgule:

            Our day begins by 9 in morning. We had tasty breakfast and then spend some time playing cricket in their Wadi. After our cricket game where our wives enjoyed more than us, we went in water. We enjoyed sea waves a lot. We liked beach and it was one of the cleanest beaches in Konkan. Sea bed is safe to swim but avoid right side of shore. There are few rocky patches in the sea bed. After spending more than 3 hours on the beach, we came back to the resort for lunch.

Ganeshgule beach

Ganeshgule beach

Purnagad (Purna = complete; gad = Fort) is just 19 km from Ganeshgule beach. It is said that Shivaji Maharaj stopped his fort construction after this fort hence the name Purnagad (fort). According to some evidences, the fort was built by Sekhoji Angre, son of Kanhoji Angre. One can view the entire fort premises in a sight. The fort is having two doors, one facing east and the other facing west directions. The fort is very close to the village – Purnagad which is a 10 minutes’ walk. The main entrance door is a very robust structure between the two bastions.

Purnagad (Only this Photo was taken from Google images)

For evening time, we again went on beach. There is Small Mountain on right side of beach. It takes hardly 20 min to reach on the top of hill. Location of rocky plateau on mountain makes this place a perfect location to view Sunset. Location is covered by sea from 3 side and beautiful sunset on horizon. View of the sea from here is breathtaking and this is the best place to witness the sun on horizon spreading orange-red color all over the sky. 

Me and Ocean 

Sunset

Colors and sunset

After spending some time we had some snacks. Today we decided to visit Ratnagiri for dinner. We had our delicious dinner at Mithila. After dinner we went back to the hotel for rest. 

Day 3: 26th Jan 2015 – Ganeshgule:

             We woke up early morning by 7 AM. Ganeshgule has a long, scenic, unexplored beach. Only we were on the beach with only the sea waves for company and it was like we were on our private beach. We spent around one hour and then returned to our room. We just spend entire day on resort. Oceano Pearl resort has sports equipment for cricket, Badminton, Volleyball and cream etc. Constant supply of tea/coffee by staff made us feel fresh. We were the only tourists in resort. Oceano Pearl resort and Ganeshgule village is perfect spot for bird watching. Small trail in nearby forest is good for forest birds.

Paradise Flycatcher

Sea Waves

Ganeshgule Beach

             Pawas is well known for the Ashram of Swami Swaroopanand and is few km from Ganeshgule village. Pawas is a prime spiritual place in Ratnagiri district due to a very long stay of Swami (saint) Swaroopanand. He was born on 15th December 1903 at Pawas. At the age of 20, he had received the initiation (Dikshya) from his Guru Sadguru Babamaharaj Vaidya from Pune. From this point, his journey in the spiritual world had begun. At the age of 70, on 15th August 1974, Swamiji took Samadhi (self-immolation) at Pawas. The temple in Pawas is very clean and well maintained. It is definitely a must visit place if you are in Ratnagiri area.

            Next destination near Ganeshgule was Ganeshgule temple. This temple is older than Ganpatipule. The Ganesh idol in the temple is "Swayambhu" (i.e. formed naturally) idol with its trunk turned towards the west. The statue of the mouse in front of temple is very beautiful and made up of metal alloy. You can see beautiful valley view from the temple.

Ganshgule Ganesh Temple

             We were here for relaxation hence after delicious lunch; we took in noon, swimming in the ocean in evening and witness sunset from sunset point on mountain. For Dinner, we all together decided to have Barbeque in dinner. It was memorable time with friends. We celebrated Aditya – Neha’s wedding anniversary by cutting a cake at midnight on beach. Tomorrow will begin our return journey to Pune. 

Sunset

Color in sky

Tree House

BBQ Dinner by Me, Renuka and Saurabh...Clicked by Anannya

Day 4: 27th Jan 2015 – Ganeshgule - Ratnagiri - Pune:

             We left Ganeshgule via Ratnagiri route by 11 AM. We took our small break at Ratnagiri for Bal Gangadhar Tilak Birth Place. He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities called him "Father of the Indian unrest." He was also conferred with the honorary title of "Lokmanya", which literally means "accepted by the people (as their leader)". You can see the entire house which is maintained very well. You can get a sense of the typical house of a Ratnagiri resident. Some of Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s personal belongings like pagdi, uparna, and pen are there on display along with some old photos too. Unfortunately tourists skip this place but I feel proud and lucky to visit such place where a legend freedom fighter of India was born.

We travelled via Amba Ghat – National highway 4 and reached Pune safely by 9 PM.

FRIENDS

Major Expense:

• Car rent for 4 days: INR 14500/- including all tolls, Parking and night stay chargers
• Room rent at Oceano Pearl home stay resort: INR 3000/- per night including all meals

Contact numbers for your reference:

• Oceano Pearl beach home stay at Ganeshgule: 02352-237800, 02352-219400, 8605599789, 9405340784

Other Travel blog on Konkan:
     Ratnagiri, Ganeshgule and Jaigad

     Guhagar and nearby area
     Malvan - Tarkarli
     Karde-Murud-Dapoli
     Kelshi-Velas-Dapoli
     Nagaon-Kashid
     Rajapur
     Diveagar

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune