Alibaug Trip on Bike with Friends (Nagaon Kashid Janjira)

Are you from Mumbai or Pune ? And still not yet visited Alibaug ? People mostly ask similar question to you and that’s obvious also. Alibaug is so most famous weekend destination for Mumbai and Pune people that one cannot take a risk to skip such a beautiful and fun-filled getaway. So today let’s take a journey of this famous tourist destination near Mumbai/Pune along with me.

It was Jan month. New Year celebration was just over and climate was still cold. We all friends (based from Mumbai and Suburbs) were planning to have one get-together after long time so we decided to go to Alibaug from Mumbai on Bikes !

We all decided to meet near Panvel ST Stand at 7 am. Panvel ST stand and railway station are nearby so it was convenient for everyone. Surprisingly all friends came on time so without wasting time we moved towards our destination Alibaug.

Don't be afraid..they are my friends on Bike and excited for journey !

Most of us were left early from home so didn't got chance to eat anything at home.
So, on the way we decided to stop first to have some quick breakfast. We stopped at “Shree Datta Snacks Corner” near Panvel naka. It’s famous stop for all road trip visitors going to Alibaug.

Datta Snacks Corner Menu Card with rates :)

Here is entire food menu along with rates if you want to give a try on the way.  :)
We had tasty Vada-Pav , Kothambeee Wadi and Tea there. All food items were very good and fresh.

Our tasty and garma garam breakfast

After breakfast, we left that place at around 7.35 am. and started our journey to Alibaug on our bikes. But before we move ahead, Let me give you some basic information about Alibaug that I know.

About Alibaug

Alibaug is coastal town near Mumbai (and Pune too) and is district headquarters of Raigad District. Alibag is famous for white onion, water melon, seafood n “chaliche wall” (Bean).

Alibaug, has lots of beaches, old forts, churches and temples all waiting to be explored and is a refreshing Mumbai/Pune getaway. It's possible to enjoy Alibaug in a day. However, if you can, take the extra time to relax there and go beach hopping.

Route followed  

(I have also shared google Map link at the end)
Panvel – Karnala – Pen –Vadkhal Naka – Poynad- Khandle - Alibaug

Other travel options 

If you are from Mumbai, then the quickest way of getting there is by boat to Mandawa Jetty from the Gateway of India in south Mumbai's Colaba neighborhood (also called as Bhaucha Dhakka). It takes about an hour to reach Mandawa Jetty by ferry. From the jetty, the beach is another 30-45 minutes south, by bus or auto rickshaw. The bus is included in the ferry price. Ferries operate from morning until evening (around 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) throughout the year, except during the monsoon season. Note that you can also take your bikes on those ferry boats.They will take some additional charge of Bike.

For Pune people, travel option is only by road to Alibaug but if you want to try something different then you can take experience of Jetty boat sometime in the life. It's memorable travel experience.

When to go

Visit Alibaug from November to February, when the weather is the coolest and dry. Other busy times are the summer school holidays in April and May. Weekdays are the most peaceful and weekends are crowded.

Ok so back to our Bike riding journey...

We were total 5 friends with 3 bikes. It was morning time so there were less vehicles on road. Road to Alibaug is very beautiful. You will find very large trees on both side of roads which gives you required shade from Sunlight.

You can always travel by Car or Bus which has more comfort but riding on Bike has a different fun filled feeling.  You actually enjoy outside weather, feel the air, can stop whenever you feel to do so for a quick picture.

Me along with bike taking some break on Panvel Alibaug road trip

With fun filled ride experience, We finally reached in Alibaug City at around 9.30 am. We decided to do quick visit of Alibaug beach and Kolaba fort.

Alibaug beach is hardly 1 km from Alibaug Bus stand and you can also take local Autos to reach there if you are planning to come by Public transport. There are also many stay options available near Alibaug beach as well as near Alibaug ST stand if you are coming by public transport.

This beach is not that much clean (black sand) so we didn’t clicked any pics here. From here you can walk to Kolaba fort (coast side road) like this.

Way to Kolaba Fort from Alibaug Beach

There are also horse rides and speed boats available if u don't want to walk. We decided to walk only as walking down adds more fun to the trip during early morning hours as water level raises during the day and unfit for horse cart ride as well.

The fort don’t have much to see as most part of the fort is damaged now.
There is also temple over there which offers good view of sea. Carry water along with you as there is nothing on the fort. We were there on fort for 45 mins and then came back.

Kolaba Fort in Ailbaug

While coming back to Alibaug City, on the way we came across Alibaug local fish market so due to excitement we visited there. It's a very huge market and fish prices are also very less without any compromise on the quality.

I have also heard that many home stay cottages at Nagaon beach do provide you ready cooked food (by taking some extra rupees), if you provide them raw fishes from this market. That's very cost effective too. Unfortunately since we have not finalized any hotel yet, we could not brought any raw fish right now from here.

Hmm..For real Non-Vegetarian people...Fist Market in Alibaug !

We left from there and by the time it was 12 pm. We were very hungry as we had breakfast very early so we decided to have lunch now. We went to Sanman restaurant which is very famous for non-veg food in Alibaug.

Sanman restaurant at Alibaug

This is authentic and old hotel in Alibaug city. It’s always crowded.
There is no parking but you have to park on road itself. But it has great food quality specially seafood. We ordered Surmai , Pompret and Prawns thali.

Rates are similar to what we have in Mumbai but taste is awesome !

Lunch at Sanman Hotel in Alibaug

• Motor boat or Horse riding charges to Kolaba Fort – 200 rs. per person (return journey)
• Kolaba fort entry fee – 35 rs. per person

From there, we decided to go to Nagaon beach as we are planning to stay today near Nagaon beach only.

We reached near Nagaon in half an hour from Alibaug City. Road is narrow and goes through small villages. There is sharp right after 10 mins once you cross the river. Do watch for that else you will go towards Revdanda. Once you take that road actual beach is around 2 Km from there. But now you can start seeing many hotels/farms/resort boards on both side of the road.

Since we were tired due to driving from morning we first decided to search for the hotel and then check-in there for some rest.
After some search, we booked 2 rooms in “Shree Swamichhya Cottage” at Nagaon. Room were clean and large.

Shree Swamichhya Cottage at Nagaon Beach-Alibaug

View from Room

There is also large farm or garden of the Cottage where you can relax yourself. Car and bike parking is also available.

My Bike relaxing at Swamichhya Cottage

Me relaxing at Swamichhya Cottage :)

Since we all were very much tired we took rest for 2 hours.

It was 5 pm now. We decided to go to the Nagaon beach for evening walk as well as to watch sunset.

Nagaon beach is also called as “mini goa” beach as it’s always crowded and most famous beach in Alibaug. It has lot of water sports activities than any other beach in the Alibaug. It’s also very close to Alibaug City compared to Kashid beach.

Beach was hardly 3-4 mins from the hotel and 15-20 mins by walking. Parking for 2-4 wheeler is available at no cost. When we went to the beach, it was well crowded and everyone was enjoying there. Rather, I feel that it's not just regular weekend but a year ending day celebration. So much crowd and fun activities were there.

Some group were playing Cricket, while other were playing foot ball. Some were enjoying water sport activities. While some couple were enjoying in the water, while some were just enjoying walking over Seashore. While some were busy in doing photography.

There were lot of shops on the beach where you can take Bat-ball or foot ball on the rent to play. There were various food stalls as well and rates were also okay. We had tried Ice-Gola at one stall which was very tasty.
Later, We also enjoyed Banana ride where they take you inside deep water.

Ticket Counter for Water sports activities at Nagaon Beach

Nagaon Beach

Enjoying Banana ride at Nagaon Beach Alibaug

Crowded Nagaon Beach Alibaug

Sunset view from beach was just breathtaking. After sunset also, lot of crowd was there on the beach and enjoying. We also enjoyed there till 8 pm and then came back to cottage.

Here are some snaps taken on the beach...

Sunset view from Nagaon Beach Alibaug

My photography RnD experiment on my friend

Photography RnD..Clicked by my friend @Nagaon Beach Alibaug

Friends Forever at Nagaon Beach Alibaug

After lot of enjoyment , finally we came back to room. Mr. Anil (Owner of the cottage) has already started making our food for which we have given pre-order when we were leaving to the beach. Dinner was almost ready by 9 pm. 

Anil has made good table arrangement for dinner for all of us in the open garden of cottage. He also served us with basis stuff like ice, mosquito coil, extra plates etc. whenever requested. Service was good and quick.

Dinner arrangement at cottage by Mr. Anil at Nagaon-Alibaug

We ordered Half kg chicken, prawns and 3 Pompret fish for our dinner. Fish was fresh as he just brought for us from local market and taste was home made as it made by his family (wife) only.

Since it was very cold outside, we requested Mr. Anil to have bonfire arrangement done for us. Without wasting anytime he immediately arranged that for us and we are thankful for him for that.

Friends enjoying bonfire as it was cold during night at Nagaon Alibaug

We really enjoyed that time along with yummy food, bonfire and dance. Finally we went to sleep.

• Single room at Swami Chhaya Cottage – 800 rs.
• Thali charge - 200 rs Chicken thali and 150 rs for Veg thali
• Banana ride – 100 rs per person

Sharing contact of hotel in case you want to inquire. Mr Anil - 9657056764
Note that this is best suited for you if : 
1. You are visiting with friends 
2. You are looking for some budget hotel but at the same time looking for Safe , Clean and home made food stay option then you can go for it 


Next day, we had breakfast and tea served by Anil. After breakfast we checked-out from hotel and headed towards Kashid beach.

There  is famous Birla temple when you go towards Kashid beach so we decided to visit that. This is lord Ganesha temple and very large in area. Lot of space for parking. They do not allowed Camera and Phones with you so you have to either keep in your car or submit to Stall owner where you can buy Prasad. Washroom is also available. Do visit it if you get time.

Lord Ganesh Birla temple  at Alibaug

After that, we headed to the Kashid beach. We reached at beach around 11 am.

Kashid beach is romantic beach for couples. It has white sand, curvy beach shape, mountains behind beach and beautiful sea view. It’s bit away from Alibaug City and there are very few stay options available near beach.

Road to Kashid is also very beautiful and is in parallel with Seashore so do stop by road side if you like the place to take quick snap of this beautiful nature.

If you are planning to stay near Kashid beach then you will have to book your stay in advance. Also travelling by Public transport to here will be difficult. You will need your own vehicle to come and stay here. Also food here is little bit costly compared to Nagaon beach.

Kashid Beach in Alibaug

We enjoyed clean water there and also clicked some nice pictures. After spending some time, we left to our final destination which is Fort Janjira !

Fort Janjira is situated in the middle of sea so you have to take boat/ferry to reach there. If you don’t aware of history then I suggest you to take a local guide over there. We did not had a local guide though. Boats were running every 15-20 minutes frequency.

Entrance of fort is just breathtaking.

Boats taking you to Fort Janjira

Fort Janjira Entry Gate

There are around 10-12 points inside fort if you are really interested to visit all the points. Boat driver will tell you that you have to come to the boat in 45 minutes else after that there is high tide and no boat will be available to take you back to the Seashore. But that is just a gimmick trick to take you out of Fort as early as possible so they can get next set of Customers.

If you see at least 10 points then it will take your more than 1.5 hrs. or so. We covered some basic points like Lake, Horse Stable, Citadel, Western Darwaaja and Palace.

Lake inside Fort Janjira

• Boat charges to Janjira fort – 100 rs. (single journey per person)

Some history about Janjira Fort which I know

Malik Akbar, a minister from the legendary Nizamshahi Empire, constructed the fort. This fort was built as an emergence during war times for the Nizamshahi families. It took about 22 years to complete the construction of the unique oval shaped fort on the 17th century as it occupies about 22 acres in the middle of the ocean. This fort is integral in its place even in the 21st century besides the severe attack of the rigid winds and tide as a credit to the ancient engineering. The fort use to contain all the necessary facilities in stock that are required to the king and his ministers to stay for at least 2 years.

The Great Shivaji Maharaj was a successful emperor in Maharashtra who has conquered many forts in the state but was ineffective in acquiring the Janjira fort despite many attempts. Even after the regime of Shivaji Maharaj, his son Sambhaji failed to conquer the Janjira fort despite of using unique strategy of acquiring the fort. Later Sambhaji went on to construct a new fort at a distance of seven kilometers to plan strategies to conquer Janjira.

With this our beautiful journey to Alibaug came to end. We left back to Panvel from here and promised each other to meet for next getogether soon.

Here is the complete route direction and places visited by us :

Some useful travel tips during your visit to Alibaug :  

• There is no water or food available on Kolaba or Janjira fort so carry them with you specially if you are with family.

• Nagaon beach is relatively safe for family but Kashid beach is bit risky so be cautious if you are getting down in water or have kids with you

• You can bargain with Local guide, cottage owners and Water sport activity guys. In the slack season they might offer you some good discount which can save on your pocket.

• Don’t expect that fish will be at cheaper rates than Mumbai/Pune. Rates are same but you will get better quality than City.

• If you are going to stay near Nagaon beach then there are many options available like Cottages, hotels, small bungalows, Home stays etc which are ran by local people staying over there. Even if you have not done any prior booking, you can easily get stay availability there.

• If you are Vegetarian and visiting Alibaug then you can try Dahi-Bhaat (rice with curd), Ukadiche Modak, Kokum Sharbat in Alibaug.  

That’s it till now. Please Leave your comments below about your suggestion and improvements…See you soon…