Ganapatipule - A Surprise Treat!

Ganapatipule is a small town located in Ratnagiri district on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra. The Swayambhu Ganpati Temple, on the Ganapatipule beach, is a popular attraction in Ganapatipule for the thousands of devotees who visit the temple every year. 

This trip was a complete surprise for me for my birthday, which had fallen on a weekend, and my hubby wanted to make most out of it. He did all the planning and all I had to do was to pack my bags and sit in the car.

We drove from Mumbai early in the morning. To accompany was my younger sister and our lovely dog Tuffy. As we had left early morning we were lucky enough not to be stuck in the traffic around Panvel and Chiplun. We were treated with scenic views all the way. We drove through picturesque green fields and villages. The drive would occasionally become adventurous when the road was winding and we had to drive through many Ghats.

My hubby ensured that I do not have a slight hint of where were we heading and I kept pestering my hubby all the way with my wild guesses. 

Finally, we reached Ganpatipule beach and enquired for room availability in MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation) resort. MTDC has its resort just on the beach and is preferred by most of the tourists. Unfortunately, there was no room available for us. We decided to have our lunch in the MTDC restaurant on the beach before we could look for other stay options. MTDC Resort serves decent food and definitely good and clean compared to any other restaurant in the vicinity. 

One of the friendly waiters in the restaurant suggested us with contact details of another resort 1 km from the beach. After lunch, we drove looking for the resort and soon found it. The resort had several small houses on either side of a small opening with coconut trees and swing and play area for kids and the path through the park ended up to the beach.

View of Resort from Beach

The beach was neat and clean and well maintained. The beach was a kind of secluded with huge rocks and muddy hills on either end. And to our luck there was no other family in the resort when we visited. So the complete beach was left to ourselves.

We checked into our rooms freshened up and headed towards the beach to spend our evening. Our dog was the one who enjoyed the most playing hide and seek with the waves. To add to his delight, the waves started throwing out many fishes to the beach. Our dog played with the waves and devoured on the fish.

We spent our evening relaxing while swinging in the hammock and just sitting and staring at the beautiful sea and the sunset.

Other than us the only other person on the beach was a fisherman who was collecting the fishes on the beach brought by the waves and after around an hour even he left the beach. We enjoyed the sunset and went out to the same MTDC restaurant for dinner.

At 12 in the midnight, I got a big surprise with lots of gifts, chocolates and an awesome yummy cake. After the cake cutting, my hubby suggested that we all should have a walk on the beach and we instantly agreed. 

To my surprise, my hubby had managed to get some fireworks all the way from Mumbai. I was overjoyed and could not ask for anything more ever. 

This was one of the best birthdays I ever had with the better half.

Next day morning we had our breakfast in the MTDC restaurant. We visited the famous Ganapati temple on the beach and finally left for Mumbai. We reached back Mumbai early evening. 

There is also an option to reach Ganapatipule through the train. Many trains run from Mumbai Ratnagiri station every day. From station, Ganapatipule is around 45 to 50 km. One can either rent a car or an Auto-rickshaw or travel in the MSRTC bus to reach Ganapatipule. 

Ganapatipule with its clean and serene beach is a must visit for a weekend get-away. We had a great time in this wonderful place with lots of lovely memories to cherish for the lifetime.