HOW TO REACH this clean white sand beach village( its a small peaceful village!) called ganpatipule.
Simplest way to travel from Mumbai is;
-> Thane to Ratnagiri - By Jan Shatabdi( About Rs 150 for Second Sitting, About Rs 550 for AC CC), leaves Thane at about 5:50AM and reaches Ratnagiri by 10:30 AM(usually the train reaches 30 min late).
-> Ratnagiri RS to Ratnagiri ST Stand- By Auto( Rs 60-80).about 20-30 min journey mostly thru Mumbai Goa NH. City buses whose timing matches with train arrival are also available, but crowded, and kills your holiday mood!
-> Ratnagiti ST Stand to Ganpatipule- By Good Old "Laal Dabba" (45 kms, 1 to 1 1/2 hour thru narrow but good ghat roads-About Rs 25 per ticket. Rickshaws chage Rs 350 for the journey, but I feel its not worth as the road is not fit for such small vehicle).
Alternately, take a private taxi, which, trust me, adds no value.
*So, if one starts at say, 5:50 From Thane, one should reach Ganpatipule well before lunch.
THE PLACE
*Very few times in our lives we find a place to be more prettier than the Tourism brouchres. Ganpatipule is one such place, where the place is prettier than the MTDC snaps.The beach and the water is marvellous. The beach is Almost white and very clean, and the sea - crystal clear. One can see almost 1-2 mtrs below water!
Undisturbed by crowd, untouched by college couples cooing behind the coconut and other trees that line the beach, its a great getaway for peole like me who wanted to unwind and purge the Mumbai grime and stress!
THE STAY*
The best place to stay is the MTDC Resort, which is
1] Bang opp the ST Stand
2] All the rooms open directly onto the beach, and we get a feel that its a private beach for us!
MTDC property is huge, and you have lots of options to choose from. The Rooms are big, clean and well maintained. They also rent out camps, which is located a bit away into a coconut orchard, and this whole setting is very relaxing.
They have a relatively OK inhouse restaurant-Tarang. Though I feel there is big scope for improvement.price wise, its moderate. Didnt really enjoy the food, but manageable.and only beer is available in drinks.
Its wise to book in advance, which can be done at their various MTDC outlets, one is at CST.
Lot of other options for lodging are also available, like budget hotels and resorts, but none can beat the location and size of MTDC.
Address and tel no. is available online, so is room availability and online booking .
*WHAT TO DO
Eat, sleep, relax, splash, have a candlelite dinner, more splash in the sea.*
There is nothing much to do other than unwind yourself on the beach. You may take a short river crusie and boating during the day-courtesy MTDC.
You can visit the Ganpatipule temple on the beach.
Again sit on your balcony and hear the sea sing, and smell the saline and clean breeze.
Sit under the moonlit sky night with a platter of snacks and some beer( if you enjoy that) and unwind again.During the day, take a long bath in the sea throwing all the cautions on wind, as the water is very gentle-and sea not very deep.
COMING BACK
Two days and I realised that I have unwound enough, and wanted to once again get a feel of Mumbai locals at 830AM!
So out I went and took Mandovi Exp( Mandovi Exp is more convinient while returning than Jan Shatabdi, as Mandovi starts early reaches Thane by 9 PM, while Jan Shatabtdi leaves Ratnagiri late in the afternoon & reaches Thane well after 10) from Ratnagiri in the afternoon, and was home by 10 PM-ready for the rat race!
Bon Voyage!
A must visit for people who are brought up on staple diet of Gorai, Aksa, Arnala and Madh! And Matheran! Never believed that the sea could be so blue, and water crystal clear till I saw Ganpatipule!