By road- there are several buses that leave Canacona bus station for Gokarna. Verify the bus timing from Canacona bus stand a day in advance to be sure.
Things to do in Gokarna
Mahabaleshwar temple
Is a 4th-century ancient temple built by king Mayurasharma of the Kadamba dynasty (reign 345 CE – 365 CE). It is a Shiva temple that is considered almost as sacred as the Vishwanath Shiva Temple in Varanasi.
The ritual suggests that the correct way to worship in the temple is to first take a dip in the sea and then worship a shivling, made out of the sand. Only after this should a devotee head over to the Mahabaleshwar temple to offer prayers.
The temple is one of the seven sacred Mukti Kshetras or Muktistala ("places of salvation") in the state of Karnataka. Meaning this is where Hindus come to perform the obligatory rites for their departed.
It was almost evening when I reached Gokarna. As the journey so far. proved quite fruitful; I was looking forward to visiting the temple. So after settling in my hotel, and some evening snacks and tea- I wore a nice long skirt, bindi and gajra in my hair and headed to the temple.
dress code : traditional. Women need to wear saris, but salwar kameez is also fine.
Men need to wear mundu or dhoti. In case you do not have one, there are shops outside the temple that sell one for 100 rs. Also men need to be bare chested before entering the temple ( no shirts allowed)
After dinner we called it a day!
< Day 2 >
Kudle beach
So the idea was to head to Kudle beach, and guided by some locals - we took the trekking trail that leads from Gokarna to Kudle beach.
The craggy trail took us over a hillock, which offers some awesome panoramic views of the sea, before climbing down to the beach below. I’m sure it would be fun; if I wasn’t carrying a heavy backpack.
One look at the beach and it was ‘love at first sight’, I eagerly longed to see a beachfront stay option- like the one I had on Shiroda beach, Maharashtra. But later I settled for another further away from the sea.
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| kudle beach, gokarna |
There are some shacks here similar to Goa; I headed there right away to find my comfort zone and ordered a breakfast. The nice thing about Gokarna, is that there’s always someone like you around…given the number of travel enthusiasts that visit this place. I met a few guys from Bangalore who were like; "why don’t you join us for the trek this weekend." And I said : "why not!"
FYI : There are many hostels in Gokarna that conduct beach treks, led by a volunteer from the hostel and usually takes the whole day.
Besides; reading a book, clicking photos, listening to music and playing beach volleyball, I spent the next 2 days (until the weekend) by :
Taking a boat ride from Kudle beach to Gokarna. Gokarna has some inexpensive local restaurants that serve unlimited fish thali (meals) which is a refreshing change, compared to the expensive beachside shacks at Kudle. I later explored a few more temples in the quieter areas of Gokarna. Bought some eatables and daily needs, and trekked the same trail on my return- which I found more rewarding this time.
< Day 3 >
Beach trek : God’s own beach → Paradise beach → Half-moon beach → Dolphin’s view point → Om beach → Kudle
The trek start point was God’s own beach, which is accessible by road (a bus dropped us here)
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| god's own beach, start point for gokarna beach trek |
It seemed more than an hour’s trek ahead to Paradise beach. It was a well-tread trail and sometimes not so, but with an experienced trek lead it's easy not to worry so much.
Finally we could spot the beach!
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| a glimpse of Paradise beach (Gokarna) below |
True to its name Paradise beach looked exotic, and we lost no time to let loose our inhibitions, as we ran into the sea.
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| running towards Pardise beach (Gokarna) |
Time flew by, as we played beach volleyball and climbed the rock. The rocks here are really really slimy and tricky, so be cautious.
The next stop was Half-moon beach. Part of the trail is along Hell’s cliff, which makes the trek interesting.
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| the trail from Paradise to Half-moon beach (Gokarna trek) |
Half-Moon beach is much quieter with hardly any people. We ordered breakfast to keep us going further, and tried out some rock climbing as well. The water was so clean and cool we relaxed in the sea for a while...
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| at half-moon beach (gokarna trek trail) |
Later the trail got us to a promontory called Dolphin's view point. Here too we spent considerable time in the hope of spotting dolphins, but all we got to see were coast guard boats doing their rounds.
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| dolphins view point, gokarna trek trail |
It was almost sunset, and trek lead had better ideas, so we hurried to the next destination- Om Beach.
Just as every beach on this trek has its own characteristics; ‘Om’ seemed to have its own dedicated backpacker crowd having a really good time here. The sunset was an added bonus.
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| sunset at Om beach, Gokarna |
We sat a while drank a beer, ate a meal and then moved on to Kudle beach.
Friends, I do hope you enjoyed this blog. If you have any questions, then comment below. Do subscribe for more blogs like this.
Bye for now!
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