Goa & Gokarna - Post Lockdown with Plankton sightings

Packed with enthusiasm and sanitizers , we started our journey in the morning at 7 from Pune. We stopped for a quick tea and vada pav on the way . Due to some traffic situation on highway we got delayed and reached Kolhapur around 11:30.

Next day , we woke up early and had a wonderful breakfast and went to Baga Beach. The beach is clean as opposite what you expect from a crowded popular beach and has garbage bins at some distances.

After Baga, we went to Chapora fort. It is around 9 km. There is parking available for both 2 and 4 wheelers. You have to climb a decent number of stairs to reach the fort from the parking, but the view is worth the effort. You can see Vagator beach and the long coastline with unending blue sea.

We met this guy at the fort displaying 'invisible man' at Chapora. It was so hot and he had his head inside we were totally shocked how was he managing it. A local vendor told about his shocking story that he has suffered loss of strength in both legs due to acid reaction and now, this is how he made his living. Some people never give up and have the true zest for life.

We had dinner with one of our good friend from Goa at Jamming goat in Utorda. The food is delicious and place has good ambience.

There are decent number of shacks to hang out at night or in the morning as well.

Next morning started little lazy and relaxed ... having breakfast at shack looking at sea and reading book.

Then we had a quick swim in the sea and went back to resort. Had lunch and rested in the afternoon. We left around 3pm for this less visited church - Three Kings church which is on a hill and gives a view of vast coastline and amazing greenery across. You have to climb a few stairs to reach the the top. There are stories on internet about this place being haunted which is totally untrue.

We left around 4:30 from here and started for heart shape lake. Please do not follow google location till the end for this as it is incorrect. Once you are a few kms away ask a local for directions. If you have a bike you ride till the lake but the road is bumpy for last km. If you have a four wheeler, park before and walk. This place has its own beauty and totally different all other beaches in goa. It was mesmerizing .

Next day we left early and headed to Betul lighthouse. Due to covid you cannot go inside the lighthouse but you can go till the top and view from there is breathtaking. You can see the estuary , mountains , backwaters and bridges.

In awe of the view , we decided to visit the estuary which is visible from the lighthouse and on our way stopped on Cavalossim bridge.

And after exploring a little reached Mobor beach which had the estuary. It was a long walk till the estuary but it was worth every step of it.

We did all this before breakfast :p , so after this we had breakfast on Mobor beach shack and headed for our stay at Patnem Beach. We booked a beach hut there and it was stunning. We could see and listen to the sea waves sitting in the room. The hut was literally on the beach and could enjoy the sunset sitting in the balcony of the room.

The food and service was also great at this resort.

After sunset , we experience what was one of the best travel experience of our lives. We saw bioluminescent planktons. The entire wave looked florescent blue. It was something which cannot be described in words. We just sat there for hours on the beach watching and adoring it.

After enquiring we found out this phenomenon can be seen in Patnem and Paloleum in December if you are lucky.

Next morning, we went for kayaking. You can rent a single or double kayak .

And so finally we checked out around 10 and left for Gokarna.

For the first day , we had booked the stay at Zostel , Gokarna. It has a beautiful view Gokarna Main beach from the resort.

After lunch and some rest , we left for the famous Om Beach. It was mildly crowded. Gokarna has a lot of small secret beaches along the cliffs. There are even ferries available to take you there. We took a ferry to Paradise beach and it waited for us there.

After that we went to half moon beach via ferry and it left after dropping us there. We were like only people there except the one guy who was managing the shack. It was beautiful and peaceful.

From here we climbed the cliff and followed the trail to reach back to Om beach. Trust me you should go via cliff route as the view and the experience is worth it.

It was a long day so we had a nice dinner and called it a day.

We rented a bike in gokarna to go Yana caves next day. It is one and half hour to two hour drive from gokarna. There are 2 ways to reach there - one which directly takes you the cave entrance and is via sirsi but the road is in bad condition and the other is the one which takes you the entrance of the nature trial which leads to yana caves. I would suggest the later and this was the one we took.

After the climb through voices of waterfall and chirping of birds and through the flock of butterflies

And then we finally reached the caves . They are majestic and truly a wonder of mother nature. You should visit it once.

We had booked nature resort for today as it was our anniversary. So we checked in there and relaxed for the rest of the day.

The next day we left back for Pune, halted for the night in Sangli. Had a really good time with old friends and back to Pune.

Tips: Here are few things we took for precautions:

1. We carried our own bedsheets, pillow covers and blankets.

2. Carried a big sanitizer spray to sanitize the room and especially bathroom in hotel.

3. Always sanitize after any outside interaction or cash transaction.

4. Eat preferably only hot/freshly made food outside and avoid the cold beverages and items.

5. Have Vitamin C tablets and some things like Chawanprash or ayurvedic immunity tablets everyday.