This is a review I am writing after a long long time. I thought really hard and long which review should I restart with, which I have not shared with this wonderful community in the past 18-24 months. Let me start reviewing with my recent weekend holiday to Kashid beach.
I was always fascinated with good, clean beaches with white sands. I had earlier passed this place while I booked a holiday in Murud-Janjira. Frankly, I was not very impressed with the beaches in Murud-Janjira. Due to my work schedule etc., I could make it to Kashid in the summer this year, but since I was so desperate to go, I decided to go to Kashid in the first week of June. I knew that the beaches could get messier in monsoons, but I couldn’t care less to see this wonderful place.
When I checked with my friends on the accomodation, the opinion was rather unanimous that Prakruti Resorts in the best place to stay. I booked my accomodation for a stay of 2 nights and 3 days starting Friday noon (Check-in) through Sunday morning 11.30 am (Check-out). I thought these guys were charging a bomb of Rs. 6, 500/- per night per room (including stay and all meals), and kids under 4 years complimentary. I derived some kind of cheap thrill in under-aging my son below 4 years when he had actually completed 5 years and my daughter is anyway under one 1 year.
Kashid is located in Maharashtra in the ever beautiful Konkan region, with thick green stretch, with number of untouched clean beaches and superb roads to reach out. Though the train connectivity is not that good but at least Konkan Railways’ arrival ensured that this area is no more inaccessible. Kashid is one of the best beach in may ratings , in this region. The entire locality has White sand, blue seas, green mountains, paddy fields, and rivulets. Kashid has a 3 km stretch of beach with the cleanest, whitest sand and Casuarina groves that make just the perfect setting for a beach holiday. Kashid beach is about 140 kms away from Mumbai and the best way to reach there is to drive down. Driving down to Kashid itself is a rejuvenating experience. The 140 Km distance from Mumbai / Thane is very rewarding. The road is quite good in condition except for few patches.
Prakruti resort is an amazily beautiful resort with all the facilities one can ask or think of. It is built on a hill, which bunglows, rooms at different levels on the hill. The food is good and filling. The icing on the cake is offcourse the private beach owned by Prakruti resort and the clean/ well maintained swimming pool. There are bullock carts to ferry from the resort to the beach, which is an experience in itself. There is nothing much to do around. This place is meant for resting on weekends , away from crowd. Its an excellent place. We went to the beach in the morning, in the noon time and in the evening. Have a walk on sand under the moonlight. This is what you can do. The beach is excellent, I bet you can never get a beach of this kind with almost no crowd.
If one is bored from this beach, you can hit the road and move towards Murud, Which has got another beach ..... personally I do not like the beach. The difference you will find in the both beaches are, Murud has not very clear water whereas Kashid has crystal clear blue one. Murud beach is quite calm and has got around 4 km stretch. Murud is a town and there are plenty of holiday homes for all budgets. 6 KM ahead of Murud is Rajapuri village from where one can take ferry to Janjira fort. Just when one reaches on the hilltop on the way to Rajapuri, you would be definitely astonished to have a look at the magnificent fort of Janjira standing amidst deep seas. Boats are available to take you to the fort. Normal charges are 250 Rs per boat (with return) which can carry 10-15 people. Bargain for guide as they ask for more. Rs 100 per troupe of 15 people is fine as the fort is not big and there is nothing much inside to see.
*Last but not the least: Word of Caution: Do not take your cars beyond a certain point on the beach. The sands are very soft and the car sinks in, when you try to drive out of the sands. I had this problem with my Honda City and took some 15 people to get the car back on land.
*Please RRC my review.
Cheers
Vijay