Daman is a good place to visit. daman is hot in summers but cool in evenings at sea side!!!Have u ever owned the sea at goa? the ans must be NO.
Here in daman you really own the sea cos there is not much of the crowd. Very safe place with family.we went to daman in summer vacation of 2007. me, my wife, 7 yrs old son and 2 yrs old daughter.
For staying in daman its better to locate the phone nos and make a booking first. citade daman, or something like that is a good hotel, in range of 1500-2500 per d/n. however we could not get a room there, as our preference was to get a sea facing room.
We are from delhi, and as u know sea is a luxury to watch for most north indians, who dont have a sea near. best is to go by air till bombay. book morning. morning means- no rushing- book the 11 am flight. now you have option to go to daman by road- taxi (qualis etc) or by train. I wanted to give the pleasure of train to my kids. I have done all the bookings on net for 1st class train travel.
I had also made another booking in 2nd class train travel by another train from bombay to daman. (this was because- we all know the strict timings of private airlines!!!) but we went lucky and reached in time to catch the first train. the second train was some 2 hrs later. actually the amount of rail tickets is not much but gives a sense of satisfaction to a man traveling with family. we didnt bother to cancel the other ticket, not that I m very rich, just cos kids were to happy to be in the train and I didnt want to miss that. more over money wasted was some 500-700 rs.
traveling in 1st class by train was the worst experience. it doesnt have ac, but the price is more that ac chair car. then at every station people were pouring in as if it was a gen. compartment. the regular travelers invited other regular ones so we didnt had much space to sit. however kids were looking out from the window and enjoying!!!.
it was at 8 pm we reached vapi. mistake we did here was- we booked the taxi from hotel to receive us. he charged a whooping rs 1000 or maybe 800. later on I discovered- had I got the taxi myself it would have been for 300-400/-
hotel- jazira- was the one we had booked. well- room was sea facing.room was spacious, but ill maintained. kitchen/room service was not upto the mark. but we were happy as we got the room for some 1200-1500. the food was also not expensive.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF HOLIDAYS- ONE- STAY IN A 5* HOTEL AND ENJOY THE PROPERTY, SERVICES AND BIT OF SURROUNDINGS.
SECOND- THE ONE WE WERE ON- SPENT MORE ON TRAVELLING, SIGHT SEEING, SHOPPING. The front desk of the hotel is ok types, while the rest of the staff was really a big pain at wrong place!.
most important here- the place was safe!!.
tips:-
Book ur taxi urself. visit mira water park- its good. silvassa is nearby and has a good wildlife park- make sure you start early in the morning as the park closes at 4.00 pm. (infact we got late and missed the entry in park). DO GO TO JAMPUR BEACH- ITS GR8. they say if some one has a skin problem- just bath once in jampur beach, it will go away. MY LIL DAUGHTER HAD SOME SKIN PROBLEMS- SHE PLAYED AT JUMPUR, THX GOD ITS ONE YEAR- SHE HAS NOT GONE TO HER DOCTOR FOR THE LAST ONE YEAR. LET ME TELL YOU EARLIER IT WAS 2 VISITS A MONTH BTO THE DOC.
as I said above- we were here to see the second dimension of holidays, rather than sipping the hotel property with a straw. we stayed some 5 days in Daman, saw church and the light house, dam at silvassa. then we went to pune by taxi- qualis- he charged some 4000/-. we stayed in pune at a friend place- rahul & smita, then we went to shirdi. its a must go place. Then to shani shingnapur. WONDERFULL VIBES!!!. if u r near pune/nashik/shirdi- do vist shani mandir. Finally we went to mahablashwer, before to flew back to delhi from pune.
IF U HAVE BOOKED UR AIR TICKETS WITH SPICEJET- DONT FORGET TO CARRY SOME FOOD IN THE CABIN, THEY DONT SUPPLY ANY EATABLES EVEN PAID ONES. BUT REAT ASSURED- YOU WILL HAVE A FIXED SEAT NUMBER. THE AIRCRAFTS ARE GOOD. HENCE THERE’S NO SUCH RUSH WHILE ENTERING THE PLANE.
IF YOU HAVE BOOKED IN DECCAN- MY GOD- IT DOESNT GIVE U THE SEAT NOS. ITS LIKE "MIGHT IS RIGHT". PEOPLE PUSH EACH OTHER TO GET THE BEST SUITED SEATS. LOL EVEN WE TOLD OUR SON TO START RUNNING SOON AS THE AIRPORT DOOR OPENS!!. there was this lady whose lil baby fell due to the mad rush. horrible. however when we entered the air craft i was happy to c my son shouting- "papa I have got the window wali seat"