India Travel Info
Beaches & Islands of India
Whatever
your specific preference, a visit to the Indian isles can satiate both varieties-though
your return back to civilization is by no means guaranteed, if you prefer
encounters of the second kind. It is a kind of journey back in time to the
era of great discoverers- Drake, Cook, Columbus, Vasco-da-gama and others.
Beaches of Goa
Many people tend to think of Goa infact as a single large beach. Goa surprisingly
for them comes as a state albeit a small one with a large number of beaches
but equally with many towns and network of roads, seven rivers and their estuaries,
hills with lush vegetation and large distances to be covered. Its a selfish
way of looking at Goa, but for those ona holiday, it is also the most appropriate.
The coast runs almost interrupted in a straight line, and faces Arabian Sea.
the edging of sandy beaches is broken by spill of the seven rivers into the
sea and by rocky outcrops that demarcate one beach from another.
The Goa's northern most beaches in the
Peranem District are the least
developed. These include
Keri (visit an ancient
Portugese Fort
across from the
Tiracol River),
Arambol (now being discovered
by beach tourist who want to getaway from the madding crowds),
Mandrem
and
Morji (small, basic beach).
Venturing south, the beaches include
Vagator, one of Goa's prettiest
beach with steep slopes running down to a bay. Amongst other popular beaches
of Goa are
Baga,
Calangute,
Candoil,
Sinquerim,
Gaspar Dais,
Miramar etc.
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Backwaters of Kerala
Kerala's
history has been shaped on its 550 KM. of palm-fringed coastline, superb
harbors, intricate system of backwaters, canals, and lagoons and over 40
mountain-born rivers.
At Thiruvanathapuram, the
Shankmugham beach is ideal for an evening stroll.
Facilities here include, an indoor recreation club, children's traffic training
park and restaurant. The most picturesque and better known part of Kerala is
the stretch between Ernakulam and Kochi, south of Allepey and on to Kollam.
Kerala's backwaters present a fascinating way of life. The term 'backwaters'
actually refers to the extensive network of rivers, lakes, canals, and lagoons
which lays the interior coastline southwards from Cochin almost down to Thiruvanathapuram.
The Kerala landscape is a gift of sea and the mountains. Overwhelmed by its
scenic splendour, a tourist once exclaimed, "The god that made Kerala had
green thumbs!" it is in this tranquil land embellished with green that
one can find an ideal getaway - an escape to unwinding miles of fine golden
sands with the boundless blue of the Arabian sea.
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Beaches of Maharashtra
The dominant feature of the Maharahstrian coastline is the state capital, Mumbai
with its huge population, its industries and its sprawling suburbs. However,
if you travel just a short distance outside the city, there are amazingly quiet,
undisturbed sections of beach where you can swim, walk or jog, or just laze
the weekend away.
The popular beach,
Juhu, now an affluent suburb, is now very crowded.
However, you can jog along the beach or take a camel, pony or horse ride, or
go for a spin in a tiny rented boat.
Versova, is a long clean , pleasant
and relatively empty stretch of beach. From
Madh Island, the beach stretches
north to
Marve and
Manori and
Gorai-wide and sandy, lined
by palm trees and during the week virtually empty.
If you enjoy exploring flea markets, you can easily combine the trip to Marve
with a visit to the suburb of
Jogeshwari, which is enroute. There you
will find antique shops galore selling furniture, old fashioned lamps, pictures,
ornaments, and the usual bric-a-brac that makes flea markets so much fun!
South of Mumbai are many good beaches, which are becoming increasingly popular
getaway places. Former tiny villages such as
Alibag,
Rewas and
Kihim now sport weekend houses and the Maharashtra Toursim Developmemt
Corporation has a tent resort at Kihim, a pleasant wide beach.
Further south down the Mahashtrian coast is
Murud, formally the capital
of Janjira state, with a wide palm tree bedecked beach.
Harihareshwar
has good beaches as well as a major temple, that of Hari hareshwar. While further
south is
Ganapatipule, a place of pilgrimage with the four hundred year
old temple,
Swayambhu Ganesha.
Just a few kilometres down south is
Vengurla, with beaches shaded by
grooves of cashew, coconut, jackfruit and mango trees.
Ubhadanda beach
is the last of Maharashtra's beaches before the coastline becomes that of Goa.
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Coral Islands of Lakshadweep
We
all know how difficult it is to reach beauty; so with Lakshadweep too. Though
only a few hundred kilometres from the Kerala coastal city of Kochi, the
problems of getting there are such as could easily put off anybody but the
most adventurous. The journey of 200 to 300 kilometres by itsekf may not
be that much of a hindrance, but the moody (especially during monsoons)
Arabian Sea could be quite rough at times. Tickets on the not too frequent
services may not be easy (there is also a private flight too, to one of
the inhabited islands, is costly). But is all this trouble to the tiniest
of Indian territories worth it?
You bet it is! And Lakshadweep is not as tiny as may be told to you by geologists.
As you stand on the sugar white beach washing your feet in the waters of the
emerald lagoon, enjoying th fishing boats go out to sea against the backdrop
of the crimson sun. It is impossible not to realize that their is more to the
archipelago than the few hectares of beaches and few square kilometres of emerald
lagoons.
Out of the 12 atolls with 35 islands, only one island on each of them is inhabited.
All the islands are shaped like boats with their backs resting on the reef in
the east and lagoons washing their shores on the west side. The creator of all
the underwater beauty is the polyp who is truly the engineer and architect of
the coral reef.
The islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago are a photographer's dream: from
the time that the ship approaches the island early in the morning till fatigue
and exhaustion numb the mind and force the body to hit the bed, there is no
time when he is not clicking the camera.
Beaches by the miles at Andamans
A
love affair with the Andaman isles is not really uncommon with those who
have stumbled across them-accidentally or purposely. Of course, you could
get infatuated with them for very different reasons. May be you don't prefer
the sun, sand and sea in all its virginal glory. May be instead you prefer
stone age tribals raining poisonous arrows at you while making those spine
tingling noises right out of a hoodoo ritual.
The Andaman group of islands - more than 200 of them and many of them never
set foot upon-have more beach length than you could possibly enjoy in a lifetime.
Andaman isles are considered to be one of the most pristine beaches of the world.
Seen above, is a picture of a boat (actually floating on sea) which seems to
levitate in air due to the crystal clear water.
The most important fact that one has to bear in mind is that the Andaman islands
are not coral islands. In contrast these islands are just parts of a great submarine
mountain range which appears as islands wherever they surface above the sea
level. On the more positive side is the fact that the coastline of the most
of the islands in this group are highly fissured and thus gives rise to thos
wonders special only to the tropical sea - the lagoons and creeks. There is
a coral wonder quite close to Port Blair, your point of arrival and departure
to these islands. To enjoy a sojourn to these pristine islands, visitors have
to head for Wondoor on the west coast of south Andaman islands. Grub, Red skins
and Jolly Buoy are ideal places for observing tropical marine life and amazing
maze of corals. If water sports is your forte, you can go to Cinque island,
25 km south of Port Blair. This place offers good opportunities for scuba diving,
snorkeling, and wind surfing.
A day at each of these islands will suffice to quench the appetite of most for
the sea. Byut the experience always leaves the visitors with a queazy feeling
- the feeling to long for more and more for the same.
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