Diving in Tarkarli

Tarkarli is a beautiful laid back coastal town in Malvan, Sindhudurg with amazing weather and natural flora and fauna. Malvan and Konkan belt in Maharashta has some of the beautiful beaches, forest, fishes and pure people with mellowing culture that is in complete contrast with its cuisine. Some day I plan to do a trip of complete Konkan belt, so let know if you have any suggestions on that.

This post is reminiscence of old trip taken with my girls and I do plan to refresh my memory someday with my man. We ended up doing a quick 3 day weekend trip and that was enough time to soak up in this town.

How to reach there

Tarkarli is 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Malvan and 546 km (339 mi) from Mumbai on the west coast of India, at the confluence of the Karli River and the Arabian Sea. Overnight train journey is best way to reach this place if you travelling from any of the Konkan towns or Mumbai as you can enjoy early morning waterfall drizzles straight on your face while standing at the doorstep of the train. Alternately, Goa is the nearest airport from where its a 2 hour car drive to Tarkarli.

SEE/ DO

Dive in the beautiful waters of Arabian Sea. The Sindhudurg belt boast to have one of 6 coral reefs of India. In the survey done by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) covering 180km of the Sindhudurg coast many species have been found. They include the species of Turbinaria mesenterina, Goniatsrea pectinata, Porites lichen, Porites lutea, Siderastrea savignvana, Coscinarea monile, Cyphastera serialia, Pleasiastrea versipora, Leptastrea sp, Cyphastrea sp and Goniopora sp.

Some of the certified agencies and divers to take you through the diving/ snorkeling experience are Samarth, Joshua’s, and Zalzul.

Water sports is one of the best recreation consisting of dolphin safari, water surfing, Jet skiing, Bumper Ride, Banana Ride, Water Scooter, Back water ride, parasailing, kayaking

Trek to Sindhudurg Fort is an amazing way to learn some history about this place especially if you are accompanied by a learned local person.

Sunset at Devbagh beach is an amazing way to unwind your day. This super clean beach that is yet not quiet commercialised left us with some amazing memories and calm mind.

Laze in hammocks. Most of the homestays and resorts have many hammocks and i believe its an amazing thing to do. Word.

Dip feet in sangam (meet) of Karli river and Arabian sea. Any Indian would tell you how any ‘Sangam’ plays an important role in ritualistic activities mainly because of their soothing effect.

Fish auction market is quiet an upbeat place to visit if you like to do out of the box thing. Malvan is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the Sindhudurg district and also one of the largest retail fish market of various kind of fishes. The market is located at the southern border of Malvan city, near Malvan beach. While the inner fish market has restricted access to locals.

EAT

This place is a seafood lovers paradise. Dont even bother eating anything else apart from it. The Malvan belt has a peculiar taste when it comes to cuisine which has brilliant curries with right blend of spices mellowed with coconut in various forms and are cooked in earthen pots on chulha (mud stove). Malvan also has ‘Konkanastha Brahmin’ style of vegetarian food which is bit bland yet very tasty and had me drooling.

Some of the local fishes that are a must try are Mori (shark), Bangda (king mackerel), Bombil (Bombay duck), Paplet (Pomfret), Khekda (crab), and kolami (prawn).

You may ask for special catch of the day to enjoy little surprise. Dishes to try are Komdi Vade (chicken curry with fluffed multigrain bread), Mori Masala (shark curry), Bangda fry, Malvani mutton curry, and Paplet saar (Pomfret cooked in distinct malvani curry).

In vegetarian also I have a must try list: Phanasachi Bhaji (the exotic jacfruit cooked in malbani curry), Kaju chi Amti (Cashew cooked in curry) and Ras poli (thick mango juice with indian flat bread).

In sweet try Dhondas/ Sandan (cucumber cake) and shevaya (sweet vermicelli).

Just to give a quick understanding of what a local dish would consist of normally:

• Solkadhi (Kokam & coconut milk drink) to start with that cleanses the palate and fuels the digestive fire
• Thaali (staple food dish) consisting of bowl of curry with meat/ seafood, dry vegetable cooked with coconut or alike, chapati/ amboli/ vade (local variesties of bread) and steamed rice
• Thaali may also have a sweet if its a special celebratory day.

Our homestay served us freshly cooked seafood and i didn’t bother go any restaurant because when it comes to home cook taste, no restaurants can ever replicate it.

STAY

Homestay are best way to experience this place which are usually run by local people who fish for living. Or rather almost everybody near the beach is involved in fishing. Check some of the amazing homestays on the Tarkarli tourism website as its an amazing way to boost income to locals, i believe. We stayed at Laukik niwas and the host were just amazing. Airbnb also has some good options such as Lone’s beach house (budget place) and Malvan homestay is a crazy budget place. Incase you want some luxury then you may check out this.

Check out our other adventure trips here.

A visual tour of my Tarkarli trip: