Continued from Mumbai to Goa via coastal route
This is Part 2 of my journey.
Previously in Part 1: Ipsi and I drove from Mumbai to Ganpatipule via the coastal route using ferries in July 2021.
Continued from there:
Contents
Possible Routes for Ganpatipule to Goa
We had two route options:
NH66
This is the conventional route to reach Goa from Ganpatipule.
It is a four lane highway till Goa border. As of July 2021, there was construction work ongoing after crossing the Goa border.
The road condition on this stretch is good and you can easily maintain a steady speed of 80-100 kmph here.
The total time on this route is about 7hours (to Vasco).
MH-SH4
This is the coastal route and runs parallel to NH66 till Vengurla.
As the road is parallel to NH66, there are various points from where you can switch to NH66.
The roads here are narrow sans dividers but there is hardly any traffic due to which the narrow roads are not much of a bother.
This route is not as popular to reach Goa as it takes more time via this route. On this route you can expect ghats, bridges, glimpses of sea, lush green fields (in monsoons).
I usually prefer this route as I can drive slowly and enjoy the drive with my windows rolled down.
Part 1: Stay at Ganpatipule
We reached Ganpatipule at 20:30 after driving for over 15 hours and nearly 450 kms. Since I was the only driver, I was exhausted.
We had not booked any accommodation in Ganpatipule but had shortlisted a few. Being totally exhausted, we decided to head to the one at the top of our list which was ‘BeachFront Villas’.
The property was on the road itself so it was easy to locate. The reception however, was not that easy. As the property was huge and probably due to the time (past 8PM) and the rains, it took us over 15 minutes to locate the reception. It seemed that the property was really good at one point in time but lacked maintenance.
Maybe the two years of low touristy business during the pandemic added to the wear and tear of the place.
We were too exhausted to look for another place and at INR 2000/night it seemed okay. The good part for us was that the car was parked right next to our villa so it was easier for us to unload stuff from the car.
We bathed, ate dinner, started discussing the route for the next day and before we knew it, we were fast asleep by about 21:30.
The entire night, it rained incessantly with frequent thunders. I woke up at 5AM and the first thing I did was to check the weather forecast. Not good – it showed heavy rain the entire day.
Our initial plan was to walk around Ganpatipule in the morning followed by breakfast and leave at 8AM. The rain spoilt that.
Since I had already woken up, I decided to walk to the beach amidst the heavy rain. I voiced my plan to Ipsi. She rolled her eyes and asked me to shut the door on my way out.
Armed with an umbrella and my go pro, I headed towards the beach.
Walking in the heavy rain was stressing me out. The narrow roads seemed flooded and I was worried about making it to Goa on the same day.
I started having visual images of my car submerged in water and knowing the konkan roads I was worried about the lack of people and in turn the lack of help.
After walking for about an hour, I headed back to the room and woke Ipsi up with my concerns.
“Wow, such heavy rains – Lets get drenched”, she said.
Seize the day. Live in the moment. Carpe Diem. All that jazz
Seeing her enthusiasm, I gave in.
We danced in the rain, jumped in all the small puddles, did some photoshoot (Did I mention that Ipsi is a professional photographer) and before we knew it, it stopped raining!
We quickly dressed up, ate breakfast and headed out at around 10AM.
The good part of all the rain was that my car was now sparkling clean.
Part 2: Ganpatipule to Devgad
On Aarey Waarey road
Our initial plan was to start from Ganpatipule at 8AM and drive till Vengurla along the coast on MH-SH4 and then move to NH66
Since we were running late, we decided to drive on MH-SH4 till where we could and then move to NH66.
I have been on the Ganpatipule-Vengurla route once before so knew more or less what to expect.
Since the stretch is quite scenic I had a feeling that we would make multiple stops and would have to turn towards NH66 much sooner.
That is exactly what happened.
The Aarey-Waarey stretch of the road is absolutely stunning.
On this stretch itself we stopped at least 4 times.
Sometimes to click a few pics, sometimes for coconut water, sometimes to just take in the beauty.
With all these unscheduled stops, we soon realised there was no way we could make it to Malvan let alone Vengurla and hence revised our coastal target to a realistic Devgad.
Soon Aarey Waarey road ended, but our unscheduled stops did not. Moreover, since the weather was nice, I had rolled down my windows and was driving at a meagre 40-50 kmph.
The result was that by 2 PM, we had not even reached Devgad.
Since we wanted to enter Goa prior to sunset, we decided to head towards NH66 which would definitely be the faster route.
We left the SH near Dhartale and headed towards NH66 to meet it at Rajapur.
To read about the complete coastal route from Ganpatipule to Vengurla, click here.
Part 3: Rajapur to Goa Border
NH66 was absolutely stunning. From 50 kmph, we were now cruising at a good 100 kmph.
The entire stretch from Rajapur till the Goa border was in excellent condition – a smooth four lane highway throughout. To add to it, there was hardly any traffic which made it easier for me to take in the scenery.
NH66 near Talere
I believe the stretch from Pen to Chiplun is not the best, but I can certainly vouch for the stretch from Rajapur onwards. It seemed like a newly constructed/widened highway.
It was a good thing that we moved to this highway at Rajapur itself because soon we encountered heavy rains. The kind where you need to keep your wiper at the highest and turn on fog lights. A road with divider is a blessing under such conditions.
It was also more scenic than what I had anticipated. And the beautiful weather added the much needed colours to the sky and the fields.
The highway lacked restaurant options though. It seemed a lot of the restaurants had closed down due to the pandemic.
We finally ate at a small restaurant ‘Shri Swami’ which was on the other side of the road. The food was just about okay but it did prevent Ipsi from reaching her ‘hangry’ state.
Bad road conditions, heavy rains, heavy truck traffic – all these I can handle, but not a ‘hangry Ipsi’!
Part 4: Goa border to Dabolim
We reached Goa border at around 17:00. Since we were travelling in July 2021, it was mandatory for anyone travelling from Mumbai to Goa to have a negative RT PCR test or a double vaccine certificate.
We were carrying our negative reports but had no idea where or how would it be checked. On reaching the border, we were asked to park our car on the side and show our certificates to the police at the checkpost counter.
Thankfully, the entire process only took 20 minutes.
The road near the border was in a very bad condition though. And the rains had aggravated the condition with muddy puddles everywhere.
We started our journey into Goa and were met with extremely bad roads. This was the first bad stretch in our journey from Mumbai. Apparently that patch of NH66 is being widened due to which there were a lot of diversions.
The first thing we did on entering Goa was to fill our car with fuel. There is a difference of nearly 10 INR/litre between Maharashtra and Goa.
Nearly the entire stretch from Goa border till Vasco was either bad due to the road conditions or the traffic.
By the time we reached our accommodation in Dabolim, it was nearly 21:00 and needless to say, we were exhausted.
We were staying at Ipsi’s sister’s house which was a beautiful fully furnished 2BHK apartment.
We had no energy to head out to a restaurant. No patience to wait for home delivery. No energy to cook a full fledged meal. So we did what we used to do on our college trips – Maggi to the rescue.
Read about my Part 3 of the trip here : Stay in Goa and Return to Mumbai via NH4
Possible stops on this route (if taking MH-SH4 till Vengurla)
- Aarey Waarey road
- Ratnagiri beach
- Vijaydurg fort (around 25 mins one way)
- Devgad beach and lighthouse
- Kunkeshwar temple
- Sindhudhurg fort (closed during monsoons)
- Devbag beach in Tarkarli, Tsunami island and Malvani food
- Nivti beach, fort and golden rock
- Drive through Chipi airport road
- Vengurla beach
- Tiracol fort (it is a restaurant with great views of the Tiracol river
To see more pictures from my Mumbai-Goa trip, click here: A Photo Blog