A scenic trip to Diveagar








It was a long due trip from our list and also a first trip on this blog. Our main destination was Dive Agar and its surrounding places.


Places Visited


Dive Agar : Known for 6km wide Serene beach, Golden Ganesh Temple,               RupNarayan Temple, Beach Sport Activities 

Shrivardhan : Known for serene beach

Harihareshwar : Known for Lord Shiva Temple, Serene beach

Pali : Lord Ganesh Temple. One of the temple in AshtVinayak Yatra.

 Bonus places : Aaaravi Beach, Bhadarkhol Fish Market


Visiting Date : 19-20 May 2019

Stats :


40 hours
440 kms
2700 - petrol + toll
Car Hyundai I20 Elite


Route : 


Ravet - Wakad - Hinjewadi - Pirungat - Mulshi - river View Resort - Tamhini ghat - Nizampur - Mangav - Mhalsa - Diveagar(White House Residency) - Bharadkhol Fish Market - Aaravi Beach - Shrivardhan - Harihareshwar - Mhalsa - Mangav - Kolad - Pali - Khopoli - Lonavala - Ravet






Day 1 : 

We started our journey at 6am. There  are multiple ways to reach Dive Agar from Pune. We took Tamhini Ghat road. Cruising through cool morning breeze via Wakad, Hinjewadi we reached Pirangut. Just after taking Mulshi road after Pirungut, road was heavily under construction. Once side of the road was under construction till mid of Tamhini Ghat while the other side can take barley 1 vehicle. 
We took pit stop at River View Resort just before Tamhini Ghat. Average speed till mid of tamhini ghat where good road starts is 15km/hr. It was 9.30AM when we passed Tamhini Ghat and realized that we spent 3.5 hours running just around 80kms.
We took some rejuvenating pit stops to pluck Karvand right from its bush in hilly area of Tamhini Ghat. It was good experience to as its been a long time we did that in childhood. Nostalgia.
It was comparatively good road after that. A sigh of relief for us. We passed Nizampur,Mangaon quite quickly. You have to exit from Mumbai-Goa Highway and take right after Mangaon. This is also partly under construction road but work is almost 90% done. Driving further we reached to a junction city Mhasala. We purchased some semi riped Hapus mangoes - The king of mangoes, from roadside. They were good and cheaply priced. You can head towards Harihareshwar or Diveagar or Shrivardhan from here. We had decided to head towards DiveAgar, as options for overnight stay are far better in DiveAgar.

We entered dive agar through a narrow road and a small kaman at 12:30pm. Later we come to know that this is how all kokan roads are. Dont expect grand entry if you are first comer here. 

As we had not booked any hotel prior, we started quest of finding a reasonably priced fully loaded resort. We asked some 5-6 hotels/resorts and got a very good deal with White House Residency Resorts. Prices were already low as it was Sunday and people were moving out of town. We checked-in into resort at 1.30pm. Owner was courteous, kind hearted and welcoming person. Rooms were neat and clean. They have a children playing area and couple of Zopala where you can relax. At backside of resort, there is separate Kitchen, Dining area, and garden of Banana,Supari,Coconut and Jackfruit trees. 

At this time, we were too hungry. As dinner time of resort was over(you have to place order 1-2 hours beforehand), we drove to Famous Patil Khanaval (as told by owner). It was a crowdy place and Food was good and averagely priced. We took Pomphret Thali,Surmai Thali and Dal Khichadi(for our kid). Value for Money, not a must must go place though. There are many more Khanavals in the same lane and in overall town which serves same taste.

We took couple of hour rest and headed towards beach at 5pm. It was 6 km wide off white sand beach. Sea Water is also clean and clear. We enjoyed pocket friendly sports activities like para sailing, horse riding. Details below in expenses section. Enjoyed eye soothing and beautiful sunset. Enjoyed Panipuri and Vadapav while tides of water touching our feet. Our kid, who is first comer to beach, surpisingly didnt want to go back. 

We left beach and went to Golden Ganesh Temple. It is an ancient temple where golden idol of ganesh was placed. It was stolen by thieves few years back. 
Outside temple, we enjoyed Ukdiche Modak(20 rs a piece). They were just awesome. I have ate multiple times multiple types of Modak, but trust me they were the best. The taste still lingers on my tongue. This is the one of the thing which will pull you back to this place. If you ever visit this place, dont miss them. Thank me later. Being a foodie, we also shopped KOkan Meva like God Amsul, Mango Poli, Phanas Poli etc. They are worth the price. I will recommend this to readers.

IF you visit this place in late Summer, There are stalls of mangoes where farmers are sorting mangoes for further selling. They are not riped but You can buy big size mangoes at dirt cheap price. We bought 3 dozen at 600rs.
It was getting dark so we cancelled plans to visit Rup Narayan temple and Barli Fish Market (to get fish both fresh and dried at wholesale price). 

Back in resort, Our dinner, Pomphret fry and Prown Curry was ready at around 9.30. It was epitome of taste which your taste buds will not forget easily. This is the one of the thing which will pull you back to this place in future. Awed with their excellency in food , my wife even entered into their kitchen to understand the magic. We bought some Home made Fish Masala from them. 
After such a superb food, only thing we wanted to do, SWITCH AC ON and SLEEP TIGHT.

Day 1 Expenses :

2500 - petrol
1600 - White House Resort
700 - Patil Khanawal(350 Pomphret Thali, 280 Surmai Thali, 50 Dal Rice, 10 rs Extra Chapati)
20 - Ice Gola
400 - Pomphret fry and Prown Curry Thali at white house residence resort
30 - Milk Chapati for kid
400 - White house resort dinner
15 - Karvand
50 Resort breakfast
50 Horse Cart
50 Pit Stop 1 Tea biscuit
50 bhaji, Vadapav, Panipuri
40 - Ukdiche Modak
100 - Kokan Meva(God aamsul)


Day 2 :


We woke up at 6am and headed towards beach before it gets hot and humid. Walk on the seashore early in the morning was a bliss.
We chose Kshitij Holidays for breakfast (highly recommended). They served Amboli with green Chutney and Pickle, Coconut Water, Kokam Juice made of kokam seeds (Kokam seed juice diffrent than kokam juice. It is way sweeter and healthier. Its available only in May as told by owner). Do visit this place.
Clock was showing 10am and it was our time to bid adeu to Dive Agar.
We took route via seaside towards Shrivardhan. It was an awesome choice. Road was scenic and just pleasure to drive even in such as burning mid may summer. It blew my mind imagining what it would be in Sept-Feb period.
We took pit stop to buy some pomphret and dried fishes(Sode,sukat,bombil) from local Bharadkhol Fish Market. This place ships truckloads of fishes to metro cities every day. Lots of fishing boats on the bank, tells the scale at which fishing is being done.
Took another stop at Aaravi beach. This is also an astonishing site to see. We entered Shrivardhan beach at 1pm and rushed quickly as we are running out of time. It is yet another good beach. Once can easily spend few hours to day here. 

On the route from Shrivardhan to Harihareshawar you can find at least 20 stalls of mangoes where mangoes are being sorted based on size. They were being sorted and put in boxes for further selling. They offer non riped large size mangoes at dirt cheap rate(200 a dozen). 

Road was very good till Harihareshwar. At Lord Shiva temple, we could not complete pradakhina as it was high tide. See seemed more aggressive here than anywhere I visited. We had a lunch at one of the restaurant just outside the town at 2 pm. They offered very delicious Prown Thali and Bangda Thali. We started our return journey at 3pm.

As we had horrible experience coming from Tamhini ghat road, we deiced to take "Mhalsa - Mangav - Kolad - Pali - Khopoli - Lonavala - Ravet" route which is 40 km longer. We took pit stop at Mhasala again to buy few more dozens of riped hapus mangoes.  We got a chance to visit Lord Ganesh temple at Pali by courtesy of fantastic road. We were at Pali at 6.30.
We took pit stop at around 7.30pm somewhere near Khopoli. 

Once we got on Mega highway, it was matter of 1 hour and we reached safely at home around 9pm.

Expenses : 

200 Kshitij Khanaval
60 Mango Chocolate
60 Jackfruit Chocolate
360 Lunch(Prowns Thali, Bangda Thali)
173 Khalapur Toll 
40 Kanda Bhaji at Pali
40 Tea at somewhere on Mumbai-Goa Highway



Personal Expenses : 


300  - Hapus semi riped mangoes 2 dozen
100 - 250 gm fish masala from owner of white house residence
300 Para Sailin single
600 - Hapus Kaccha Mango
500 Pomphret
200 Sode
50 Sukat
100 Bombil
80 Thermacol box with ice for carrying pomphret
400 Hapus Fully Riped Mangoes
200 Kokan Meva by Ashu

General Trip Expenses(Day 1 + Day 2) : 6508

Total Expense : 9338/-


Important Lessons Learned:


  • Check Road condition before taking route.It is general practice in kokan to repair/reconstruct roads before monsoon.
  • Bargain as much as you can - Fish Market
  • Only Vodafone network is available in DiveAgar. Others have dead signals. Plan accordingly.
  • If you want budget resorts/hotels, plan your stay on Sunday or weekdays as people will be moving out of town.
  • There are plenty of home stays available in DiveAgar. Decide location of stay and search manually, don't book online if you want to go light on your pocket.
  • If you are visiting these places in late summer, you can get more stalls of non riped hapus mangoes on Shrivardhan to Harihareshwar road. Don't buy anywhere else. Bargain more.


Note : Our schedule was not aggressive as we are with our 1.5 year old kid. You can plan accordingly.


Links:
Map Link : https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Ravet,+Pimpri-Chinchwad,+Maharashtra/Tamhini+Ghat,+Tamhini+Ghat+Road,+Gonawadi,+Dhamale+Wadi,+Maharashtra/Mhasala,+Maharashtra/Diveagar+Beach,+Maharashtra/Aravi+Beach,+Aravi,+Maharashtra/Shrivardhan+beach,+Shrivardhan,+Maharashtra/Harihareshwar,+Maharashtra/Mangaon,+Maharashtra/Pali,+Maharashtra/Ravet,+Pimpri-Chinchwad,+Maharashtra/@18.3795482,73.3105394,10.25z/data=!4m62!4m61!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc2b9f949f91c45:0xd75c57f09a936dc9!2m2!1d73.7321585!2d18.6606495!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc2a04eda05dac3:0x31e65346d136a786!2m2!1d73.5038626!2d18.4822208!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be835dd7d575c6b:0xdb103e0c90e709d3!2m2!1d73.1098806!2d18.1346122!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be84f285dbf2d27:0xbe74c084605ce9c5!2m2!1d72.9789044!2d18.1919703!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be84c778fe00d81:0xd9f62d7eb78d8faa!2m2!1d72.9911722!2d18.0973921!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be84b4c8b085749:0x772f18f634ec684f!2m2!1d73.0106315!2d18.0414632!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be9b4f4181bb987:0x12993c0b14a237f7!2m2!1d73.0257994!2d17.9942351!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be82ffcdca8ec95:0xfd47c16c1f75f495!2m2!1d73.281696!2d18.2382428!1m5!1m1!1s0x3be81123b52bc5d9:0xd60945cf4eff958e!2m2!1d73.2219811!2d18.5380483!1m5!1m1!1s0x3bc2b9f949f91c45:0xd75c57f09a936dc9!2m2!1d73.7321585!2d18.6606495!3e0

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