Gokarna – A Perfect Weekend Destination

Gokarna is often described as Goa without cheap booze. But one visit to the place and we knew Gokarna is much more than that. The beaches here were much cleaner as compared to the beaches in Goa, especially the ones in North Goa. Alcohol at Karnataka prices is much costlier as compared to the Goa prices and hence there were of less drunk tourists and hence less nuisance. The beaches were less crowded even on a long weekend and the place seemed to be more frequented by foreigners.

Nirvana Beach

We started from Goa on late Friday evening of what was a four day long weekend and hence could not find a hotel in the main Gokarna and had to stay at Kumta a nearby city. This became a blessing in disguise as we visited 2 secluded beaches. The first was Nirvana beach, it was a pretty long beach, about 3 KMs, and the whole stretch was clean and there were birds around. This was the day I decided that I am buying a better camera soon (did not buy it for long even after this). We chatted with some villagers and asked them where can we buy water, they pointed to the rock formations at the north-end of the beach and said there is fresh water over there, we can climb and fill our bottles that is the only source of drinking water they have in the village.

Nirvana Beach Fresh Water Rocks

From here we moved to Heaven Beach, this was quite different form the Nirvana beach. We had to trek for almost 1 KM and climb a hillock and get down on the other side to reach this beach. If the natural setting of the beach is to be seen this would be mesmerizing but unfortunately since it does not get much tourists it is never cleaned it seems. Facing this beach exactly opposite across the water towards north is more famous God’s Own Beach near the Om Beach and hence it seemed all the waste from there was washed away to this side. Though it was beautiful we could not stay there for long (you can give this a miss if they do not clean or develop this place) as there was not much to do and headed to the main Gokarna.

Heaven Beach

First up we went to the famous Om Beach. There are auto rickshaws to reach the place easily from other parts of Gokarna, we were on our car so it was a little easier to reach, and it had to be parked on the side of the road as there is no dedicated parking. We started climbing down the stairs and could see why it is called Om Beach, you can see beach (coastline) is in the shape of OM. The water is clean the tides are safe to play in water is clean and there are benches for you to sit. There is just one restaurant Namaste Café and some vendors selling buttermilk and coconut water. You can stroll on the beach or sit in the shade of the trees.

Om Beach GoKarna

We spent around 2 hours here and headed for Murudeshwar temple, after a quick visit of the temple we headed to the Gokarna beach. This beach is mostly frequented by the devotees who can be seen performing perform Pinda Pradanam, rituals for offering food to their ancestors. Even with high number of tourists this beach is clean and maintained well. You can give this a miss in case you are not interested in visiting the temple. Also there was a rooftop restaurant I cannot remember the name of (The name had “rooftop café” in its name) which served amazing local food and fresh fruit ice-cream.

Chariot Wheel In Murudeshwar Temple Complex

All in all Gokarna is a place you should visit if you are looking for a more peaceful experience as compared to Goa.

Once you are done with South, try North India. North India also has a lot of offer, especially Ladakh and various places of Himachal pradesh.

Also read: 5 Signs Clearly Show That You Are A Real Traveler