Chikamangalur Travel Guide
Escape from the world to this paradise on earth that will touch your soul. Set your heart a-flutter. An oasis of peace with sparkling azure waters and ivory beaches. Natural beauty that brings peace to your mind and love to your heart.

Let the sea transform you. Bring tranquillity to your soul, as waves of blue bring beauty to its sun-kiss'd beaches. Water sports are being organised to give you the holiday of a lifetime.

Karwar is the north - west point in Karnataka, just couple of KMs away from Goa. The most obvious route to Karwar is via NH4 (Bengaluru - Tumakuru), NH206 (Tumakuru - Shivamogga - Sagar - Honnavar) and NH17 (Honnavar, Gokarna, Karwar) with a total distance of about 521 KMs. And we had grand plans ... 7 of us in 5 bikes - 5 forcians (now motorolans) and 2 ex-forcians (still, ex forcians).

We had some initial plans to take an off-beat road to Karwar, instead of the NHs. Actually, I had gone on a malanadu / jog falls trip couple of weeks back. Via Hassan => Belur => Mudigere => Balehonnur => Koppa => Thirthahalli => Sagar. So did Prabul, Adarsh, Ravi and Champak - to Sringeri via a similar route. These two were obviously a much more scenic route but the roads were bad. In the end, we decided on a safer / lesser travel time route through the NHs.

All of us took a friday off from the office. The plan was to start as early as 4' O clock and make it to Honnavar by night, till Karwar if the time permits. But the delay started from the first hour of the journey. It was almost 6' O clock by the time we got out of city limits.

Excursions (Distances and directions from Karwar)
Gokarna
60 kms south of Karwar, this coastal town has, among other things, an ancient temple with the Atmalinga. Gokarna is also a famous center for Sanskrit learning. The Om Beach and the Kutle Beach nearby, are also worth a visit. 60 kms from here is Yana - a deserted township with unique rock formations. Yana is also a popular rock climber's haunt.

Bhatkal
135 kms south, is a historical township: The ancient port town has temples of Vijayanagar times and many interesting Jain monuments. 16 kms away is the scenic holy place of Murdeshwar. The temple here attracts a lot of devotees and tourists. The Pigeon Island is off the Murdeshwar coast. The beaches at Gokarna, Bhatkal and Murdeshwar are undiscovered and thankfully unspoiled.

Murdeshwar temple
Banavasi 140 kms from Karwar, is a temple town mentioned in the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Shivganga Falls
140 kms away, amidst scenic surroundings, the River Souda falls into a deep valley from a height of 74 m to form the falls.

Dandeli
93 kms from Karwar, is a popular holiday resort. The wildlife sanctuary here abounds with a variety of rare animals. The cave with Shivalinga-like laterite formations is also well worth a visit.

Magod Falls
A few kms from Karwar, is a scenic delight. The Bedti River plunges into a 180 m rocky valley in two leaps.

Lalguli Falls
Itis a picturesque waterfall formed by the river Kali. The Mailmane Falls also deserve a visit.

Access
Karwar is well connected by road to Goa, Belgaum, Hubli-Dharwar, Mangalore and Mysore.

Coastal Food Specialties
Spicy sea food and vegetarian meals garnished with coconut.

Climate
The monsoon in the coast is from June to October.