Thoughts in Progression: Scuba Diving in Malvan, Maharashtra Mar 2013

“Trip to Tarkarli’got a go ahead when we finalised all the travel plans on 6^th march 2013. I mean we had finally got the bus tickets booked for Kankavli. So the plan was in motion.

Our journey was scheduled for 8^th March from Andheri. Caught the bus around 2115 hrs. The ride was ok I suppose, semi sleeper they say. One does manage to get a semi sleep indeed.

Our bus was headed further towards Goa. From the full bus, we were the only ones who got down at Kankavli. (Hmm…) From there we caught a local bus transport for Malvan (buses available almost every hr) . An hour of ricketiness and clacking the bus reached us safely at Malvan bus depot. Malvan dock was just under a mile from the depot.

Malvan Port:

We met some local boys there and they were offering us water sport deals. We inquired about the scuba diving ofcourse. I mean that was the sole reason for our trip here. Scuba rates were Rs.800 per head + 200 for the underwater pictures (per head). I mean we were totally in for the scuba, but the pictures - Rs 600? For 5 individual pics and a common 2 min video of the 3 of us?Naah.

Later he bargained further and we said ok to an extra Rs 100 per head for the pics. So at 2.7 grand the scuba deal was finalised for the three of us. We actually wanted to head for Tarkarli, but later on made a good decision to stay right here at Malvan. We asked one of them to show us a place to stay.

We went to several places along the streets and shores. Along the Chivla beach there are many rooms available for Rs 1200-1500 . Most of them can be booked online.

We however got a place slightly into the streets but mere 15 mins walk from Malvan port and Chivla beach for Rs 600 a day. (Sun and sand hotel) (and not bad indeed)

So back in our room we changed the title to “Trip to Malvan" .

We headed for the port to meet Parab Gotya (he’s on my fb as acquaintance) . Just as we reached, he had our boat ready nearby. (business was slow in the off seasons he had said )

Scuba:

The boat took us near Sindhudurga Fort. It’s quite nearby. The waters are notably clean. The Aqua Marine coral reef was just adjoining the fort.

We had a crash course on the gear and hand gestures. Just two gestures really,which you may recall from jindagi na milegi dubara, Katrina Kaif making a thumbs up if there’s a problem and you need to surface or an OK sign (if alls OK!)

The gear is a salty mouth piece (which you might wana have a wash if you carried drinking water) which you bite on. The water goggles are nice (way better than the ones we had). The mouthpiece is connected by hose to a compressed air cylinder (though you will need to still suck in air). They have a rubber suit and all but they suggest you wear your own t shirt so the pictures are distinguishable. Also you have a metal balls or plates tied around your waist to keep buoyancy from ruining the fun.

So getting to the actual Scuba, they’ll let you in the water with a float if you are a novice. Then get rid of it to submerge. From the surface it’s nearly impossible to see anything below though the water was at 15 feet (not at all deep, I initially thought).

The guide is always around you for the dive. As soon as we dived, he kept making hand gestures to confirm everything’s all right. I replicated the gesture. We dived fast and soon I could see a whole new world!

I mean the first minutes of it is pure amazement, disbelief, and finally acceptance. Moments later I could feel my ears bursting. I showed him the thumbs up and we surfaced. Well, I guess, he should have taken to shallower depths first and then the deeper ones ( the ears have to get acclimatized to the water pressure which is considerably more in sea water than the swimming pool). We sunk again and things were much fine then on. Breathing from the mouth piece, all the colorful fishes, coral, algae, sea weeds, sea urchins and a bed of sand and sea shells that grab on to your fingers were all unfelt feelings. The sun light that hit the sea bed made see things very clear. The pictures don’t do justice to underwater scenes. The fishes aren’t as scared of you here as one would think, they kept surrounding from everywhere because the divers had got ‘pav’ as bait for them. Exploring apart, we had picture sessions which involve balancing atop corals (they are sharp if you didn’t already know) so be cautious. There’s a 4min stationary video of the three of us where in we were posing thinking he’s clicking a picture on his Nikon cam.

In a boat nearby there were people doing snorkelling (Rs 300 if anyone’s interested), which I feel is super lame (unless you’r uncomfortable with swimming or just a kid). We were underwater for nearly 30 mins I feel. The next gang in the same boat had the second go. Getting bored, we dived back into the water for a casual swim and swam under the hull of the boat to the other side.

Bamboo:

After coming out we were happy we got the pictures taken. It’s around 1300hrs now and growling stomachs led the way to Hotel Atiti Bamboo, locals just call it Bamboo.

The food there was tooo good, proper malwani food. I really recommend it. We went there the next afternoon too. All three of us put together had ordered very seafood on the menu. Squids, crabs, prawns, surmai, pomfret, shark, seashells and two other fishes I don’t recollect and sipped Kokum kadi. If you go here, go hungry and eat like pig to your heart’s content.

Tarkarli:

We rested a while freshened up and left the room to head for Tarkarli. I mean we were meant to go here afterall. The sun was still up and hot, so after a quick stop at Xavier’s beer shop, we headed to MalvanBus depot and from there to Tarkarli (30 mins away).

Tarkarli is a copy paste of Kihim beach Alibaug. I mean the cone trees the shacks, the sand and the beach. The beach was pretty much deserted had it not been for a two motley group of people in the water. We made the best of the sunset and walked around and also strangely jumped around.

Soon caught the last bus to Malvan, picked up refreshments for the night, dined at an adjacent over prized restaurant and we dozed off finally after leaving Mumbai.

DAY 2:

Our stay at Malvan was only for Saturday, we were to leave on Sunday (ie today). We got up and head for the last and the best beach I have ever been to, in my life (so far). Oh we skipped breakfast just to load up on lunch later. So off we went to Chivala Beach.

15 mins of walking and we made it to the crystal clear waters of Chivala. Not exaggerating but the sight was a magnificent blue. A kilometre away right and left stood few boats & few bungalows and the whole beach to ourselves. The beach was clean covered in white sand. We dumped our worldly possessions and jumped into the water. Near to the shore one can see through the sea water. We swam till our foot never touched the sea bed. The sea floor decent is quite quick here but waves are calm and allow comfortable swimming. ( we were told that this beach is safer to swim in than that at Tarkarli)

We returned back to Sun n Sand, checked out. Ate at bamboo. Had all afternoon to kill, till it was time to head for Kankavli for the return buses we booked online on Saturday via mobile after exhausting all other options. (Malvan is not well connected)

We returned back to Chivala, my friends slept on the benches shaded by Bamboo huts I went exploring, I managed to reach where the backwaters met up with the sea. Calculated time constraints made me head back. I reached slightly early so made beach drawings which I might have been able to see the next week too! judging from the crowds here J

We spent the early evening at the bamboo kiosk having beer ,staring into the blue sea and feeling a cool breeze blowing. The perfect ending to an awesome trip.