Karwar is a beautiful coastal town about 15 km south of Karnataka – Goa border. Karwar is a beautiful alternate for the usually crowded beaches of Goa, and it will not disappoint you. There are several places to visit during the day, and several beaches in the area to relax in the evenings. The natural beauty of Karwar is extended as you witness River Kali joining Arabian Sea. In this post, I will introduce you to some of the places you can visit during your next visit to Karwar!

Beautiful Karwar

Rabindranath Tagore Beach, Karwar

Rabindranath Tagore Beach is the one of the popular beaches (and more commercialized than the other beaches) in Karwar. The beach is quite calm, and yet is not visited by too many people. From this beach, you can see the beautiful sunset. Due to this, the beach attracts some crowd towards the evening, and that too mostly by the locals.

The tides at Rabindranath Tagore Beach are mild, due to which you can find most visitors getting into water and playing with it. The beach also has several shelters to aid visitors from the scotching heat of mid-day sun. The beach is also very clean, and is one of the very few beaches that has trash cans placed at fair distances to enforce visitors to maintain the cleanliness. This is very useful as towards the evening, as a lot of food stalls open up at the beach, providing variety of street food options to the visitors.

On one end of the beach, you can see River Kali joining Arabian Sea, and on the other side, you can see a small hill. The walk along this whole stretch of 2-3 kilometers is very refreshing. The beach itself offers views of few islands in the area. On the other side of River Kali, you can see Devbagh Island. You can also get a glimpse of Kurumgad Island at a distance.

Karwar is a very small town, and most people here earn their living through fishing. When you visit Rabindranath Tagore Beach, it is common to find several fishermen trying to catch fish in the sea waters. They go for fishing deep into the sea in groups, and return by the evening. The catch is then shared among the group!

Warship Museum

The Indian Navy operates a naval base at Karwar. Indian Navy has built a warship museum next to Rabindranath Tagore Beach, which introduces the life of Indian Navy to the visitors. The warship museum is located right next to Rabindranath Tagore Beach.

The museum is built over an old and abandoned warship so that visitors could get a feel of the same. With an entry ticket, visitors would be introduced to the Navy world with a short video. After watching the video, visitors can go inside the warship and explore the various parts and sections of it.

The warship has few life-size statues of Navy personnel.  These statues, to some extent, gives an idea about the life within the warship.

Sadashivagad Fort, Karwar

Sadashivagad Fort is ancient hill fort situated at Karwar, right after the River Kali Bridge. The ruins of the fort that was built in 17^th century can be seen today. The fort also offers amazing view of Karwar, River Kali and the beachline. The sunset from this fort is really beautiful. Historically, this fort was taken over by many including Portuguese, Marathas and the British.

The fort has several view points from where you can see natural beauty all around. At one end of the fort, you can see the road bridge over River Kali. At the other end, you can see the beautiful Devbagh Island on Arabian Sea.

There used to be a guest house operated by the Government of Karnataka on this fort. However, the guest house is now closed for public. Few locals say that it is closed due to some paranormal activities observed by some of the guests. While others argue that it is not the case! Perhaps it is due to these stories that the fort always bears a deserted look.

If you are a person interested exploring the old ruins, Sadashivagad Fort is the place for you. Whether it is exploring the ruins of the fort wall, or the various artistic structures built with stones, or getting to the end of the hillock to witness natural beauty, I am sure a visit to Sadashivagad Fort would not disappoint you!

Devbagh Beach

Devbagh beach is a secluded beach which is about 3 km away from Karwar. You can witness River Kali joining Arabian Sea from this beach. You will fall in love with nature at this beautiful beach with golden sands, and clear blue water of Arabian Sea washing the shores. As you walk along the beach, keep an eye on the sea waters, especially at the confluence of River Kali and Arabian Sea. You can spot several Dolphins playing in this area, and watching them is a treat to the eyes.

Kurumgad Island

Kurumgad Island is a tortoise shaped island in the Arabia Sea and is adjacent to Devbagh. The island has a small shrine on a hill dedicated to Narasimha. One of the wonders and specialties of this island is a small pond of sweet water despite being located in the middle of Arabian Sea. You can reach Kurumgad island by taking a ferry/boat from Sadashivagad/Devbagh.

A visit to Kurumgad Island is very refreshing. Clear blue water enhances the beauty of this island. The smooth and slippery rocks of various shapes and sizes around this island will attract the visitors to explore more of this island.

Whether it is just sitting on one of these rocks, or trekking/hiking up to the temple, Kurumgad Island has options to all! Moreover, since the island is slightly away from the mainland of Karwar, there are hardly any visitors. If you want to visit this island, you have two options. You can either talk to some of the fishermen to take you to this island, or talk to the hotel guys if you are staying at Karwar.

Kadra Dam

Kadra Dam is built across River Kali and is located on the route to Dandeli. This dam is built primarily for supply of water to power the turbines of the nearby power station. The entry to the dam is restricted to public. However, you can drive/ride through a road that passes right in front of the dam.

Location

Where to stay?

• Karwar
• Gokarna
• Goa

Distance Chart