If I may say, the coastal belt of Maharashtra (the Konkan region) lies vastly unseen & undiscovered. The hype & publicity surrounding the ’’popular’’ beach destination Goa, has left the rest of the Konkan coastline grossly unexplored & underestimated.
Well, on the flip-side, the advantage of going to lesser known beaches is the complete privacy they have to offer. This is something one wishes if you want to get away from crowded (& commercialised) places to enjoy all by yourself undisturbed.
Kashid, in Raigadh district, is one such place. Although it is close to somewhat city-friendly places like Alibag as well as Murud-Janjira, it is still quite secluded & peaceful. By ’’city friendly’’, I mean favorite haunts of sea-lovers from Bombay & Pune planning a quick & close getaway from the city traffic...
The first thing that strikes you as you reach Kashid is that the place seems to suddenly come up out of nowhere. The sole reason for this is the route. But wait, there’s more to the place than just a grand entrance!
The sands are clean (thanks to the smaller crowd) & the water is cool & refreshing. The waters are not muddy at all & when you do make up your mind to come out of the water, you don’t get the irritating feel of mud, sand & salt on your body (which is quite common in other beaches).
If you don’t fancy the water, you can always stay back in the shade under the tall & gentle Casuarinas & just lose yourself in the solitude as the trees sway with the breeze. All this, considering that the stretch of Casuarinas is all that separates the beach from the road (which also happens to be the state highway!!!!) that runs parallel to it.
This is one place that works like magic when it rains & also when it doesn’t! There’s no right time to go to Kashid - it’s always beautiful! There is an obvious absence of restaurants in the stretch - save for the sole shack that sells tea, snack & yes - fresh coconut water!!!
Most people confuse Murud Beach for Kashid Beach. But while the former is a ’proper’ tourist spot with hotels everywhere your eyes can see, Kashid offers a refreshingly different experience!
By, the way, Kashid is just about 10 kms from Murud-Janjira.
Getting there from Bombay is quite easy, just take the highway to Goa. Exit the highway to enter Alibag & as you come out of Alibag, it’s just a 30 minutes drive along the coast.
Getting there from Pune is better - head towards Mulshi & take the road on the left towards power-station complex (near Mulshi Dam). After crossing Tamhini & Dongarwadi, you come down via the ghats to Vile. From Vile it’s a pretty straight road to the Bombay-Goa Highway where you can ask for directions to Murud-Janjira.
To sum it up, if you don’t have the time to go to Goa, but wish to go to a clean beach (with friends or family) for a quick getaway, head to Kashid.
Sometimes it’s good to get away from commercialization....
Pros : visual treat, clean sands & water, wonderful shade
Cons: no restaurants ’’on the beach’’ (but this might just be a good point!)