A WALK ALONG THE SANDS OF TIME

A Trek from Honnavar to Gokarna

Overview of the Trek route

The beaches of the Arabian Sea along the coast of Uttara Kannada have a beautiful landscape. Especially the pristine beaches from Honnavar to Gokarna attract beach trekkers. The distance from Honnavar to Gokarna along the seashore is 38 Km. Honnavar is around 430kms,10 hour journey from Bangalore.

It was time to execute the first of the team’s trek after being christened the “Mphasis Trekking Club” and test ourselves if we could live up to the hype.

Distributing food items and trek gear amongst ourselves we finally managed to board the KSTRC bus to KUMTA in the late hours of Friday. Boarding the bus with huge luggage in our hands was exciting as we were into the first steps of team building.

Bus Journey to Haldipur

Enduring the 10 hour journey in a bus meant to transport luggage was our first challenge. We managed to survive the journey discussing varied topics and taking short naps in between. The journey was eventful taking us along Arasikere, Shimoga and Gerusoppa Ghats. The Gerusoppa ghat was fascinating in the early hours of Saturday and the Team was eager to start the Trek right here. We were all disappointed that the bus didn’t take a 2 km deviation from Mavinagundi to JOG falls. The fact that we were so close to viewing one of god’s marvels was in our minds. All we could see from bus was the Gerusoppa dam for a split second as the bus was Racing to gain lost time. We finally managed to alight at Haldipur instead of Honnavar at around 9 20 am.

Start of Trek @ Haldipur – (1 Hr 30 Minutes)

Gathering the entire luggage and organizing our luggage cost us half an hour as some of us finished our morning ablutions. We finally headed off to the Haldipur beach at 10:10 am generously applying sunscreen on ourselves to protect us from the sweltering heat. What we saw was miles of sand and water and we doubted if we could trek to Gokarna with the sun threatening to burn us down.

Haldipur to Ramanagindi

We encountered our first hill, which is partly rocky and slippery after an hour into the trek. We scaled it without much difficulty, team work playing a major role in transporting the tent across to the other end of the cliff. We descended to Ramanagindi beach at 11 30 am and took a break. Most of us were already feeling dehydrated due to the scorching heat.

Ramanagindi to Kumta - 3 Hr 30 Minutes
Ramanagindi beach is a 500 mt beach and hosted the first of our breaks.we enjoyed the plum cake and the team scouted for coconuts on a beach house that was inhabited by a few fishermen. We walked along the seashore till 12 pm to cross another hill. What we saw in front of us after we descended this peak was a stretch of an enormous beach that never ended.we managed to move along and break for lunch at the end of this beach.This beach is outstanding and was host to a large group of sea gulls ,cameras started rolling as these wonderful creatures started flying around. Huge Crabs added to the attraction. We went on and on through the dhareshwar beach for 2 Hrs 30 Mins before we entered a small village on the outskirts of KUMTA. The group was by then in small packets and each arrived after crossing a small stream into the school where we camped for lunch.most of the members were in tatters when we reached KUMTA and were cross with me for grossly underestimating the distance.

Lunch and Rest at Kumta

What I assumed would take us an hour took 2 ½ hours. Everyone was ecstasic after taking bath in the well at the school where we camped. We gobbled up the chappatis along with mango pulp,ground nut chutney pudi and curd,took a nap for an hour and the usual banter took priority over trek planning for the next phase.

Kumta to Baada- destination of 1st DayIt was 5 30 when we entered the village to circumvent a small mountain and go across to the other side of the mountain.we entered vennela beach at 6 and were greeted by all the villagers and showed us the way to the next beach.we were in the mood for adventure when we paid no heed to their words and went on to scale another peak to go across to the next beach. The sun had gone down and the moon was all we had for natural light. Our torches filled the skies and we found no way of descending to the next beach. That was when a fisherman showed us the path through rough vegetation.

We got down and the small 300 mtr beach stretch in the moonlight was an enticing view. This would have been the hottest destination for new couples if this beach had been accessible by road. we scaled another peak before we were on another huge stretch of beach.our target was to reach BAADA by 8.it was already 7 45 and baada was 3 kms and all we could see were the lights gleaming from a distance.we trudged along this stretch with no water, encountered a small hut where we managed to find some water to moisten our parched throats.Baada was a 10 min walk from here and we mustered all our strength to reach the foothills of baada.

we found a laboratory where we camped for the night. Finally decided not to visit the temple on top and pitched our tents on the beach. What happened next was the best part of the trek,we managed to make ourselves corn soup and noodles which was heavenly.Giri was at his best leading the cooking crew and making sure everything was perfect. We then hit the sack at 12am promising ourselves to wake up at 4 am.

Baada to aghanashini

we managed to wake up at 4 30,made ourselves some tea, packed up and headed off to Aghanashini at 6.The moon set was absolutely brilliant and was one of the main attractions of our trek. An hour and a half into the trek we had a few causalities with Vinay twisting his leg and 3 others unable to make it to gokarna.we took a detour and went into a village where we boarded a bus to aghanashini point. Aghanashini is a river which runs into the Arabian sea at this juncture. We boarded a dhingi(boat) to transport us to the other bank of the river.4 members of the team took a bus to gokarna while the rest of us were determined to complete the trek.

Tadadi to OM beach

we had some refreshments, and headed off to paradise beach, crossing a small rivulet and encountered paradise estate.we had to cross the estate to reach the beach.3 dogs gave us a scare when we were about to cross over to the other end. That was when we decided to walk along the periphery of the estate and reach the beach. We crouched along a narrow path with rough vegetation scarring ourselves in the process. We came out of the path with bleeding hands clutching a knife in hand to break free from all the thorny scrubs that stuck to our clothing.

What we were about to witness was the beyond our imagination. We saw a beach which was hardly 150 mts in length. This was the best beach we had seen ever seen and we were all in cloud nine with scantily clad women sun bathing on the beach.what more could we ask after walking along the beach for a day and a half.we managed to move along to half moon beach and finally entered OM beach at 1 PM.we barged into the first shack on the beach and treated ourselves to lime sodas and had a heartening meal. We sat on the beach enjoying the serene view while most of us stripped to cool ourselves and dived into the sea,while the rest sat by and enjoyed the beauty of the beach ;-) .
It was 4 when we planned to take off as the last boat was scheduled for 4 15 and there would be no more boats after that due to the high tide. We managed to hire a boat at 4 40 to go across to gokarna. We encountered KUDLE beach as our search for dolphins gathered no results. We were in GOKARNA at 5 pm and headed straight to the room the other 4 had booked and took a refreshing bath.it was 7 by the time we packed our baggage and walked to the bus stand.

We boarded a bus headed to Bangalore.10 of us had tickets from kumta while the other five had the luxury of taking the gokarna-bangalore bus. The other ten alighted at kumta,had a sumptuous meal at the kamat hotel and boarded the karwar-bangalore bus at 10 pm.what we were about to undergo was the toughest and most enduring part of the trek.our bus rollicked from side to side while we cursed the road and finally manged to drop dead at 12 pm due to lack of rest. We woke up in the early hours of Monday at Bangalore and alighted at our designated stops thus ending our memorable and enduring trek through coastal Karnataka.we had witnessed a dozen beaches and each one would occupy a slot in our memory.

Important facts :

Trek distance : 38 kms

Trek difficulty : Moderate - highly dehydrating
Best Season : Avoid Summers as they can be insanely dehydrating

Distance from Bangalore : 420+ kms

The Route(Getting there) :BOOK a KSRTC Rajahamsa bus bound to Gokarna from Majestic and alight at Honanvar.if you plan to start the trek from Haldipur,alight at haldipur and walk to the beach.

Nearest Airport :Mangalore

Nearest RailHead:Honnavar

Nearest medical help : Honnavar

** carry min of 2 ltrs of water ,spf 30 Sunscreen lotion,and plenty of glucose and electral**