A trip to Daman should strictly be restricted to a week-end get-away from Mumbai/Surat/Baroda and that too it is not the most idyllic of places for one.What draws the crowd in droves to Daman is the cheap booze.Where else can you sip chilled beer under the shade of a sunny winter sun for Rs 40 in a restaurant?In Mumbai you will be lucky to get a bottle below 100 bucks.
The highway from Mumbai to Ahmedabad is a full stretch one ie there are no diversions or narrowing down of the road or any ’kindly bear with us signs’ and you can zoom all the way to Vapi on your car with maybe a brief stop in between at Manor.It is advisable to go by car as the train trip to Vapi and then onto Daman will involve the extra expenditure for all the local trips and these don’t come cheap in Daman.Daman is neatly divided into two parts, Nani Daman and Moti Daman separated by the Damanganga river.The bridge across the river has been in the news recently because of the tragedy that took place in Aug 2003 which effectively broke down the communication between the two parts of Daman.You can still go across from Nani Daman to Moti Daman but you have to take a long detour via Vapi town if you want to go via road.The Devka beach on Nani Daman was a washout-what you expect on a beach is sand and the sea, what you get instead is a rocky coastline with no sign of the sand.You even have signboards all over which states that swimming is dangerous. Why this part of the sea is the most popular stretch in Daman is difficult to fathom.If you want to hit the sand and the beach you have to hop across to Moti Daman and Jampore beach at the southernmost tip of Daman where there is only one place worth the name to stay over.
What strikes you in Daman is the absence of the Portuguese influence which is so visible in Goa.This is strictly Gujju territory, possibly it goes to show how strong the Gujarati culture is (that even 300 years of Portugese rule could not subdue their culture) There are a few churches in Moti Daman which still bear the hallmark of Portuguese influence but that is about all.
On Devka beach there are few good places to stay but they are certainly not cheap on weekends.However weekdays is an altogether different matter.Right toward the northern end of the Devka beach is a Parsi joint nicely tucked into the sea call Dukes.Try the Parsi food out there.It is authentic, delicious and cheap and tastes yummy with the whiskey that they recommend(don’t remember the brand but it is certainly a local one)
So what do you do in Daman?
Club it along with a trip to Silvassa which is about 60 odd kms away from Daman.But be warned , there is nothing much to seen in Silvassa except the Lion sanctuary which is in fact some 25 odd kms away from Silvassa.But it is a real sanctuary it the sense that you get to see the lions in the wild though there are only two of them when in we went in December, 2005.
So to sum up , Daman is a place you might try if you don’t have anywhere to go this weekend but if you really want a better holiday , better look for some other place.Even Bordi just south of this place on the Arabian Sea is a better choice.