Beautiful Beaches of Gokarna
When you feel to leave all your worries and go for a vacation. You can think of the Beautiful Beaches of Gokarna located in the north western coastline of Karnataka. About 147 kms south of Goa this holy town has many temples dedicated mainly to Lord Shiva. With its holy destinations this place also has some of the most beautiful beaches in India. Gokarna is a popular choice for foreign travelers and has been a hub for the western hippies. Gokarna is crowded with interesting people during the season from September to January and a great time to be there.
We started our journey by boarding our bus at Bengaluru, which was a 10 hour ride to Gokarna. I like Bengaluru as you can take buses which can drop you to almost every location in Southern India overnight. So you can sleep and wake up in a beautiful town the next day. Which I mostly do on my trips so I can start exploring as I reach there.
We were welcomed by a rainy morning at Gokarna. And on a rainy day and not having a stay already booked can get messy as you won’t be thinking to visit many options and get wet. But although we had no stay we knew where to go. As we reached there a day before the weekend so we thought it won’t be that tough to get one.
The Stay
So we took 2 autorickshaws as they were not allowed 4 of us in an auto. But later, while travelling around we saw some autorickshaws carrying 4 passengers, so yeah, you must try to negotiate if you are group of 4. We went to Namaste Cafe on Om Beach which is one of the best places to stay while at Gokarna. The ride uphill followed by rain and the green forest on both sides was so amazing. Seeing the Kudle Beach from top thrills you of the beauty of nature. May be this is what keeps me going to pursue my dream to see every nature formed view in the world.
We reached the Namaste Cafe and inquired if they had any rooms to accommodate us and we also had options to choose from. We had a look at their cottage and normal rooms. And took the cottage rooms covered with palm trees and plants all over. The rooms were clean with a huge bed with mosquito nets. We read the information chart and the timing when the hot water is available in the bathroom. Namaste Cafe is a spacious property with parking that can host many people daily. They also have a Multi-cuisine beachside restaurant, Spa Center, Tattoo House and Travel Agency to visit the places around or rent cars and bikes.
It stopped raining till we freshened up and were ready. As we were hungry, we went to the restaurant first crossing the beautiful brick pathway after crossing the reception of Namaste Cafe. The Restaurant is a beautiful 2 floored construction with the view of the Om Beach in the side. We went up and ordered some food to kill our hunger and start our journey to explore.
Om Beach
After the meal we went down to the beach which was not crowded. But the cool breeze their gave us chills which comes in the package when visiting a beach in rains. Although the afternoon had people chilling there and also some doing Yoga. Never tried Yoga but maybe with a view like that it might feel great there. Om beach guys get its name from the shape of the beach which looks like the symbol Om which is a sacred sound and spiritual icon.
The beach had tree branches heading towards the sea and boats parked by the fishermen below them. Sea waves hitting the rocks which have been accumulated there for long.
Half Moon Beach
Just to the left of Om beach you will find a forest, crossing which leads you to the Half Moon Beach. We started walking towards the forest and found the rock which says Half Moon Beach indicating to the right. After which you won’t see any such indications and just follow a narrow path into the forest. Crossing some distance we were out of the forest as the path now was the edge of a cliff. And guys the view of the sea from there was just mesmerizing we stopped there for some time to capture that moment. We even saw some cows top of us and thought how they even reach their as we found no tracks to go there. After crossing that cliff we were again in the forest and in some time were able to see the beach.
We trekked down to the beach which had a closed cafe on the left maybe because of the off season. Except us no one was there so we had a whole beach for us. The beach was in middle of the vast forest surrounded by rocks. You can also take boats from Kudle to Half Moon beach and spot even dolphins during the ride.
We had planned to go to the Gokarna Market to rent out some scooters to explore. But instead we thought to spend the evening there and rent the scooters in the morning. So we returned back to Om beach later and headed to the rooms to clean up the sand. And have the awesome dinner at the Namaste Cafe beside the beach.
Gokarna Market
We had our breakfast and immediately headed to the market, which is placed near the bus stop. Most vendors dealing with religious objects which include the daily Pooja ingredients and collectibles of God’s worshipped everywhere. We found a shop with many scooters parked and inquired if they were for rent. So in Gokarna you can ride without helmets, but it’s good to have one for safety. At almost every tourist place people just give away the bikes without such checks and all so you must always have a ride before taking it. We tried our scooters out and paid him advance which would be refunded at the time of return.
Travelling around Gokarna
The weekend made Gokarna more crowded. We took our scooters all around Gokarna and saw the beautiful temples and people offering their prayers. Gokarna beach is surrounded by many temples, of which we went to the Mahabaleshwar Temple. Which was built according to the Dravidian style of architecture. It had a Shiva Linga which faces the city beach of Gokarna. And we also saw a map in the temple which had approx. 200+ temples in it around Gokarna.
After that we headed to the Gokarna beach with a statue of Shiva at the front. You will see many priests out there most of the temples their or from far places who come there to visit the temples.
Gokarna Beach Prema Restaurant
We were hungry and have heard a lot about this place at Gokarna beach the Prema Restaurant. It had great ratings if you check and mostly appreciated for their breakfast section. And situated just before you reach the beach so we went in to try some of their food. Even foreigners there were enjoying the meal as you can hear them appreciating their parathas. We ordered some breakfast items like Fruit Muesli, parathas and Milk Shakes. And the food was served really fast and tasted great. Next it was Kudle Beach of the all beaches i think most people prefer this beach so we headed there.
Kudle Beach
When you head to Om Beach you get a great view of the Kudle Beach from the top. Before reaching Om you have to take a right which leads you through the forest to Kudle. Instead of going to the beach we went to the cliff on the right where people walk to the top. But we went directly on our scooters and you can see in the above photo the beautiful creation of nature.
Heading to the beach you have to park your vehicles in the parking area and walk down to the beach. Not so maintained pathway to walk, but maybe in future it will be constructed as we saw some construction work going on there. You don’t have to walk much to reach the beach as it’s not that far from the parking area. It was crowded with people, but you can have your spot and chill with friends. Play around the beach or just watch the beautiful sunset there.
Gokarna is a great place to go as it’s not yet commercialized like Goa. And the beach treks, water sports, temples and other nearby attractions are amazing. We also visited some of the nearby places from Gokarna which include a fort and cave. Will be sharing that experience soon with you guys so. Stay Tuned!