Why You Will Fall In Love With The Ganapatipule Beach

When in Ganapatipule, we tried not to have an agenda. Instead, with a lot of time in our hands, we did everything to while it away. We tried hitting the beach first thing when we woke up in the morning. And remembered to forget the watch and the mobile at our hotel room. Keeping track of time was a strict No No. Instead, we simply wanted to soak in the sun and the sand and the sea, and wash away our city-life stress. We reasoned, if not now, then when.

We had seen the beach only briefly the previous evening, during the sunset. Extremely clean and expanding up to 3 kms from one end to the other, the southern side was slightly rocky compared to the northern end. I was sure, I’d come for a jog here early the next morning.

Which I did. Bare feet. About an 8km run alongside the sea and along with the rising sun. Needless to say, it was meditation on the run. Only to be broken by a flock of seagulls. Right by the lapping waves, now flying, now sitting, there were hundreds of seagulls, all laying a claim to the beach at that early hour. Since I was out for a run, I wasn’t carrying my camera. So what? Promised that I’d be back the next morning with the husband and the daughter and the Canon with its 30mm lens, just right to shoot the lovelies…

Which we did. The next day. My report was enough to get the two late-risers extremely excited, and get to the beach with the first rays of the sun the next morning, camera and all, just to catch the flight of the seagulls. And what did we see? Not the flight, but the dance of the seagulls. One of the most unusual dance forms, where while flying away upon seeing you advance with your camera, they go swirling up in the sky. Suddenly it feels as if you are caught in the centre of a performance, in the eye of a beautiful storm. Resplendent in the glow of the rising sun and the music of the sea, the seagulls’ dance enthralled us for a long time. We played and laughed with them, until the sun came almost overhead. It was time to hit the sea now…

Which we did. You will be amazed at how pristine the beach is. We had it mostly to ourselves. The regular crowd, keep within a 200m radius of the Ganapati temple that is right on the beach. You can easily avoid by going to either end of the beach. So while the northern end was occupied by the seagulls, we ran up to the southern rocky end to claim it for ourselves. Pity they do not have the sun decks in the beach. Which means, you need to carry your own beach umbrellas should you decide to catch up with a book in the beach. Lest you should be shocked, I belong to that category who‘d much rather read in a beach against the sounds of the lapping waves, while the husband and the daughter will jump into the waves and play run-catch. I was happy to capture the mirth and merriment in my lenses…..

Tip: Try to reach the beach very early. Once the sun is high up in the sky, it gets really hot. And there is no shade around…

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Plan your Ganapatipule holiday with help from our detailed posts at — A Beach-Holiday in Ganapatipule (Maharashtra,India)