Diu: The Isle of Tranquility

Day 1: Church, Museum, Hanuman Temple & Jalandhar Beach, Old Fort, Fudam Bird Sanctuary & Dinosaur Park.

I took an overnight bus from Rajkot which dropped me Diu at 6 am in the morning. Hotels here have mostly check-In time of around 11-12 am. So I had no choice but to wander around the city till I can check-in to my hotel.

Diu gradually came to life around 8-9 am. The shops were starting to open, locals & tourists flocking around, some arriving while others leaving. The fisherman's are the only person you will see around before 8 am, coming with small fishing nets & catching fish from nearby areas while others going in the sea to check & collect the fishes which get caught in the nets laid by them the previous night.

I witnessed the sunrise from the jetty area where I mostly spent my morning roaming around empty stomach waiting for shops to open.

I checked in at the guest house around 11:45 am after having some breakfast at fort road. Dream vision is located slightly off the main road near the petrol-pump at bunder chowk. I had booked non-ac rooms for 600 bucks a night which I immediately regretted the following day because I underestimated the humidity levels of Diu during summers. Besides the AC rooms were out of my budget as the prices were very high due to the last weekend of season. oh and yes, Diu has season during winters i.e., from Oct-Mar, but there is also another prime season during the summer holidays which is mostly flocked by families.

By 2 pm I was ready to kick start my day. So I took a bicycle from the guest-house itself which was available on rental basis for 100 bucks a day compared to 400 bucks a day for a rental moped/bike. Another bad decision by me as I thought Diu would be easy to cover in bicycle & would add to experience, it was & it did too but the heat during daytime will make you sweat a lot, making your legs numb & body tired by the end of the day which exactly happened to me. Hence I suggest again, Opt for AC room only if you are planning to visit Diu during summers & also opt for rental vehicle over bicycle. If you are visiting in winter then there wouldn't be any problem.

St. Paul's Church:

Dedicated to Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, The Church's baroque style architecture and curiously treated volutes make it a delightful colonial demeanor. St. Mary image at the altar was carved out from a single log of Burmese teak. Stately and intricately done facades, stain glass work, balconies, high chandeliers are simply stunning & beautiful. The holy place with white spires reaching out to the skies, proclaims peace & divinity in itself.

Diu Museum:

The next place which is just near to the St. Paul's church is Diu Museum. Built in 1598 it was called St. Thomas Church before it was abandoned in 1998 & eventually got converted into museum. Boasting a Gothic style architecture, the museum has wooden artifacts aging 400-500 years. The exterior paint has been washed out giving it a faded worn out look. The guard here makes sure that no one takes photograph of the sculptures & artifacts. The way towards the museum is long with escalated stairways along with a water fountains in the middle giving it a monumental look.

Hanuman Temple & Caves:

This place is a bit dicey, the temple is located close to main road but there is a rough path through which one can go to Jalandhar beach through a small forest trek of half a mile or so I was told by a local passing by. I took the risk & went on the trail path which can be seen just behind the temple. Soon after few cascading steps the path divided into further two ways. I didn't knew which one to take and even thought of canceling the idea of going further as there was literally no one around & the place was of sheer silence. I still went on bit further to see where it leads but came back after walking few meters. There were cave formations along the way with inscriptions written over it. Hence, I decided that it would be best that I go back & go to the beach through the road. I would suggest that if one wishes he/she should explore this place in a group rather than going alone.

Jalandhar Beach:

After that little misadventure I hit the road to visit the first beach of my trip and probably the best one too. Located close to Government circuit house, Jalandhar beach is small but very quite and peaceful. In-fact, there wasn't a single soul on the beach when I got there. This palm fringed beach is sure to transport you to a fairytale land of sheer beauty and exotic ambiance. Surrender yourself to chill on this quiet & secluded beach and it will give you the luxury of solitude that most people are constantly looking for. Finding yourself a nice spot to watch the waves crash wouldn't be a difficult job here. A book, headphones and a sunscreen is all you need to hit Nirvana!

Chakratirth Beach & INS Khukri Memorial:

Next up was Chakratirth beach which was just down the road along with INS Khukri Memorial, Gandhiji Statue, Kankeshwari Mata temple etc. These all places are situated together, and can be covered on foot.

Chakratirth beach is pretty similar to Jalandhar except there are two hotel/resort build near to the beach. Again there were no tourist here except few local boys swimming and having some good time. INS Khukri memorial was dedicated to the officers & sailors who went down with the ship which was sunk off the coast of Diu by Pakistan navy submarine during the Indo-Pak war of 1971. The warship was first to be sunk in action since WW2 and the only Indian navy's warship to be lost in war post independence.

The were many monuments like things which were under construction near the Kankeshwari mata temple and they looked quite stunning with some work of beautiful architecture. There's also an open theater with sea in its back.

Zampa Gateway/ Old Diu Fort:

Painted bright red with carvings of lions, angels and a priest, this majestic monument will not fail to enthrall the visitors with its charisma. Its sublime art & architecture will remind us that how people in erstwhile period used to express their reverence or likeness for something. There's an artificial waterfall inside and a chapel with an image of the Virgin and Child dating from 1702. Inside the huge wall one can witness the old Diu city by passing through the narrow by-lanes while seeing many old-styled houses reflecting the European & Portuguese architecture.

Fudam Bird Sanctuary:

After having some light snacks to satisfy my stomach I went to Fudam Bird Sanctuary for bird watching. Don't get fooled by the name here the sanctuary is not what one would expect ideally. There's just a watchtower like structure from where you can do bird-watching and there's a river on backside. I saw few unique birds there but it would be good if one carries an DSLR camera with zoom lens to witness them at best.

Dinosaur Park:

It was almost sunset and I saw this place to be near to my location and was situated near beach also so without wasting further time I went there. This place is a kind of amusement park for children's with some statues of dinosaurs and animals, one can skip place as there's not much to look around. There's a small temple near the beach dedicated to Lord Shiva, where you can just sit and relax hearing the waves while enjoying the cool sea breeze.

Yeah and also you will get distracted and get curious about a type of trees which are found in abundance here whose branches eek out in different directions from a common trunk making it look like several coconut trees have been grafted into a common trunk. It's called Hoka trees, also called "Gingerbread tree" native of Nile valley in Africa, in India they are found here only. Some believe Portuguese brought them here while another theory suggests that the western part of Gujarat (the Saurashtra region) broke away from the African mainland in the Triassic age. It's fruit and seeds can be consumed and are found to be sold by local vendors.

For dinner I went to Kostamar beach resort which has a nice rooftop bar & restaurant perfect place for me to cool off after getting tired cycling through most part of Diu. The resort was located on Nagoa beach and looked really appealing with many facilities, should be idle for families and big groups.

DAY 2: Diu Fort, Naida Caves and Ghoghala Beach

The next day the first job that I had to do was to get a rental bike. There are many available near the bunder chowk & bus stand itself but being saturday it was difficult to get one due to a law that limits the vehicles one can have under renting license. It cost me whole morning after which I finally had a bike to roam around. I had breakfast at the guest-house itself to save time and directly headed to the fort.

Diu Fort:

According to an online opinion poll, Diu Fort & Basilica of Bom Jesus were the only two Portuguese monuments from India which were included in the New Seven Wonders which were build during the Portuguese colonial rule.

The grand sentinel of the island, Diu Fort was build by Portuguese in 1535 to forge their defense against the Mughal Empire which had waged war to annex the territory of Diu. Together in alliance with Bahadur Shah, the sultanate of Gujarat, they managed to fend off Mughal army. The fort cum castle overlooking the arabian sea, also known as 'Praça de Diu' in Portuguese, has thick walls, nice sea views, an array of cannons, double moat, couple of lighthouse and even a chapel. The fort is both picturesque and blissful. It takes around 2-3 hours to peacefully unravel the beauty of this fort. One can even climb up the main lighthouse to experience a panoramic view of the city though it was closed at the time when I went. The famous movie "Qayamat: City Under Threat" was shot here and has a lot of scenes from the fort.

Also one would notice a stone fortress like thing in the middle of sea which is called "Pani Kotha" or "Alfiston Jail". Being nearly a mile away from land, it is home to a quaint lighthouse and a chapel dedicated to the Goddess of Sea. Some even say that a secret passageway connects it to the fort, though it still has not been found yet! At night it is illuminated with multi-colored lights which gives an mesmerizing view. A ferry runs every 30 minutes from jetty which allows tourists to visit the jail.

Further, When I was at main lighthouse I saw a nice spot from above which can be accessed from outside the fort from the parking area through a narrow road. Curiosity brought me there and I thanked myself immediately the minute I reached there, the time I spent here was one of the best of my trip. It's called the fort view point, from where you can see the majestic vast arabian sea crashing it's mighty waves underneath the cliff which makes the water splash out many meters, while offering a scenic east side view of the the fort. I wouldn't suggest going very near the edge as the cliff may crumble. Coming here was totally worth as the place was all by myself.

After spending some quality time at the fort and the view point, it was time for lunch and I went to O'Coqueiro for same. The soul-infused garden restaurant run by Kailash Pandey offers a wide variety of seafood, having experience of more than 10 years in this field Mr. Pandey will not fail to tickle your taste-buds with his specialty being coconut gravy & seafood. That day I tasted the Portuguese cuisine & coconut gravy food for the first time in my life and I was surprised that it was that delightful & lip-smacking. Do visit here if you are fond of seafood and enjoying it with a chilled beer & some nice music.

Naida Caves:

After filling my tummy full I headed to Naida caves, which happened to be one of interesting places of my trip. This underrated attraction is a must visit explorer's delight. The caves aren't natural they are artificial consisting of a set of tunnels mostly leading to nowhere. The natural openings of the cave filters the sunlight lighting up its rocky brown and tangerine structure to create a visually appealing, photogenic scene which is hauntingly beautiful.

After this I headed back to the city to explore the market which is near car parking area on the fort road. One thing that I noticed was despite of comparatively narrow roads, the city never had any such problem with traffic. The area from bunder chowk to fort is well commercialized but still never witnessed any major traffic problem despite of narrow roads, maybe because it is the tenth most least populated district in India. Another is efficient use of solar panels throughout the city. Diu is India's only UT and first solar powered island to run 100% on solar power. The main source is a power plant located on the south end of the island and from the rooftop panels which can be found on almost all government establishments and various public places.

Ghoghla Beach:

Next up was Ghoghla beach, it is not on the island of Diu but it is located on the adjacent town of Ghoghla connected by a bridge. Probably the longest beach of Diu, it offers a variety of water-sport activities such as Jet-ski, Para-sailing, Banana boar ride, Dolphin rise etc for adventure seeking people. It isn't as much commercialized as Nagoa but there are few hotels and restaurants on beach. Idle for swimming, this beach is lot more clean, peaceful with comparatively less crowd than Nagoa beach. I preferred to swim at this beach only in Diu over any other due to it's cleanliness and gradual shoreline.

After spending some quality time on the beach over sunset, I quickly headed back to Fort as I saw banners around the city that Manoj Joshi's historical show of 'Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat' was going to be played at Fort. This was the first time that the fort was going to be open for public in nighttime also, it was also decorated with splendid light-show.

Dating back to around 300 BC, the play is based on the life of king Ashoka of Maurya dynasty. The character of Chanakya is being portrayed by Mr. Joshi since past 27 years and has appeared in the same for more than 1000 times. He was also conferred with the award of Padma Shri by president.

Also seeing the fort lighted up was spectacular thing. The decoration of fort with lighting further made it look really beautiful that I couldn't decide that it looked more good in daytime or at night.

To end the day I went to a famous local soda ice-cream shop which was suggested to me by many people. Ramvijay refreshment is one of a kind and famous soda, ice-cream shop in the city. Run by 3rd generation of the family who started it, the shop offers some really nice homemade ice-cream enough to tickle your sweet tooth. This place should definitely be in your itinerary when visiting Diu.

Day 3:

I got a little late on the last day of my trip as I was exhausted by walking around the fort 2 times the previous day. By my calculations I had more than enough time to cover the places in my itinerary of 3rd day, So I visited the Jalandhar beach again & spent the noontime wandering around eating popsicle and listening to some baroque pop of Lana Del Rey.

Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple:

Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple, finding it's name from mythology was created by five pandavas where they worshiped Lord Shiva during their time in exile. The cave temple consists of five shivlings set amidst rocks which gets completely submerged during high tides exposing only the tips of lingams. The surrounding coast is very rough and not so suitable for walking also, there are few benches further ahead where one can spend some solitary time, hearing the waves crashing, go deep-thinking while being at peace!

Sea Shell Museum:

Then I went to visit sea shell museum located on airport road near Nagoa beach. Believed to be the first of its kind & the largest in the continent the museum was founded and run by a retired merchant navy captain who has collected various kinds of shells on his voyages and displayed them here. His colossal collection includes wide variety of jaw dropping sea shells, spiders, scorpions, cockle, abalone, mollusc's, crustacean shells and several other types of varying sizes and shapes which are exhibited under magnifying glasses to give you a more enthralling look of it.

Vanakbara & Gomtimata Beach:

Located at the extreme west of Diu Island, the fascinating village of Vanakbara is a small fishing town. There are few temples down the beach road and a jetty right next to it, packed with colorful fishing boats. In morning the harbor is in full throttle mode when the boats return with thousands of fishes which is then separated by hundreds of men and eventually sold in the market.

Gomtimata beach is completely deserted, I didn't even saw any local there. The only thing I saw while taking a stroll was crabs, though it was an isolated beach it was still littered. The winds were a bit strong there and so were waves too.

Nagoa Beach:

The last place of my trip was the most popular tourist attraction of Diu, the Nagoa Beach. Lined up by beautiful palm & hoka trees swaying in the cool breeze creating an exotic natural ambiance for one to just laze around. Being heavily commercialized and attracting more than average crowd the Nagoa beach offers ample water-sports activities for tourists. Though there are lots of people swimming here I wouldn't advise to do so.

The other side of beach is clustered by an array of lavish resorts & hotels, the best in the city. Radhika beach resort & Kostamar Resort are some good places to stay. There's also a small secluded beach on the north-west end of the beach called Khodidhar beach. Hotel Palms is situated next to it and offers close to private access of the beach.

For dinner I went to a nearby place called Cat's Eye View restaurant. I know it sounds a little quirky but this place is highly recommended. Surrounded by dense hoka trees this open-air restaurant at Hoka Island Villa offers mouth watering food with fish chips & prawn coconut gravy being their specialty. The cozy restro themed with contemporary art provides delicious food which is praise worthy for both non-veg and vegetarians. With the music being played combined with a homely, relaxed ambiance I didn't mind waiting for food to turn up on my table while nursing a glass of wine.

I had my tickets booked back to my monotonous life cycle early morning next day. I wondered at night that have I done justice to Diu's beauty during these days!? I failed to enjoy the mesmerizing sunrise at beach because I never got up early at any of the day, nor I visited places during their best time. I still felt like I havn't seen Diu from right perspective but it did gave me solace during the quarter-life crises of my life.

Just Do the Diu! Maybe you find your Isle of Calm there. Peace!