Places to visit

Located at 700 to 800 feet above sea level this place is famous as a hill station. Dapoli was an erstwhile British Military camp and got its name of camp Dapoli. There are a lot of good Hotels to stay in Dapoli and Murud. Dapoli is a town in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra. It is 215 km (134 mi) from the state capital of Mumbai. Dapoli is also known as Camp Dapoli as British set their camps in Dapoli. Many high-ranking British officers' graves are found in this town. The town also has an abandoned church from the time of the British Raj. Dapoli is home to one of the biggest Agricultural Universities in India, the Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishihe t Vidyapeeth. Dapoli is administered by the Dapoli Municipal Council .

The Maharashtra Govt. established an independent Agriculture University on 18th May, 1972 named “Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth”, which was later renamed as Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth. It has to its credit development of many new varieties of beneficial crops for farmers across the country . Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, formerly Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, is an agricultural university at Dapoli in ratnagiri district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was established on 18 May 1972 as Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, and got its present name on 12 February 2001. Its research centre at Karjat has developed some patented varieties of rice. Its major focus areas are rice, horticulture and fisheries. In 1997, it received the Best Institute Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Located at 17 kms. from Dapoli at Harne, The Suvarnadurg fort consists of two forts, kanakdurga the land fort and Suvarnadurga the sea fort. The forts were built by Adilshah and later captured and fortified by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1660. Earlier there was a tunnel connecting both the forts but now only way to go to Suvarnadurga is through a boat. However currently there is no regular boat service to the fort and one has to arrange for the ferry from the local fishermen. There is a lighthouse inside the Kanakdurga fort . Suvarnadurg (translation: Golden Fort, also spelt Severndroog in English, a spelling sometimes also used for Savandurga) is a fort that is located between Mumbai and Goa on a small island in the Arabian Sea, near Harnai in Konkan, along the West Coast of India, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The fort also includes another small land fort called the Kanakadurga at the base of headland of Harnai port on the coast. Building of the fort is credited to Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire, in 1660. Subsequently, Shivaji, other Peshwas and the Angres further fortified the forts for defence purposes.

Located on Dapoli – Dabhol road is a place called Panhalekaji. The “Leni” or caves at Panhalekaji are a must see site. You can drive up to the caves and the place is situated deep in the valley near the confluence of ‘Kotjai’ and ‘Dhakti’ rivers. You can watch many birds and reptiles in the surrounding jungle and river. There are 29 caves and many sculptures around the area and the whole area is very beautiful. The carvings in these caves are from many periods from the 3rd century to the 14th century . Panhalakaji Caves are situated in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra state, about 160km south of Mumbai. This cave complex has around 30 Buddhist Caves. The Hinayana sect began carving caves in 3rd century AD, beginning with the stupa in the current Cave 5. The caves have inscriptions in Brahmi and Devanagari script. In the 10-11th century AD another Buddhist group, a Vajrayana sect, established cave 10 with their deities Akshobhya and Mahachandaroshana; and strengthened their practice in that region. Shiva and Ganpatya worshiping started at the site during Silahara rule .

Located at 40 kms. from Dapoli, Kelshi is a typical small Konkani village. If you want to taste the real village life in konkan, Kelshi is the ideal getaway. The village is very small and you can experience real peace away from the hustle and bustle of modern cities. The 2.5 Kms. beach at Kelshi is very beautiful and secluded and there are beautiful sand dunes on the beach where children enjoy sliding down on the sand dunes. There are no hotels in kelshi and you can only stay at places where people offer lodging facilities in their home .

Harne is a big port and lots of fishing trawlers and ships come here everyday with fresh fish from the sea. There is a local fish market which assembles at the beach every morning. Its a very different experience taking a round of this market and see the buying and selling of different varieties of fish. You will be amazed at the huge quantity of fishcoming to the market and fish lovers would be thrilled to see such a large variety of fresh fish for sale at one place. If you are traveling in your own vehicle and carrying an Icebox, its an excellent suggestion that you buy fresh fish in the morning and take them home it the icebox on your return Journey(Put lots of Ice to preserve the fish)

The Temples of keshavraj and Vyaghreshwar are located at Asud near Dapoli, and is a beautiful place to visit. The temple is situated on a Hill near the village and you have to take a small walk to reach the temple. The walk is through dense plantations of coconut and beetle nut trees and is a very pleasant experience.

There are natural hot water springs at Unhavare Village, 20 kms. from Dapoli (Near Panhalekaji caves). It is a small village with the springs as its only attraction and lots of people from surrounding areas come here regularly to bathe in the Hot Sulphur water springs. A bath in the water is said to cure skin ailments. There are no charges for taking a bath here

Ancestral house of Lokmanya Tilak : The Ancestral house of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is located in Chikhali village near Dabhol and Panhalekaji caves. Lokmanya Tilak’s marriage ceremony took place here. The house now has been turned to a memorial and a school.

The Chandika Mata temple is located at a few kilometers from the Panhalekaji caves. This temple from the Pandava period is inside a natural cave and you have to go inside through a tunnel to take the darshan of the Chandika Mata idol inside the cave.

The Ganpati temple is situated on a Hill at Anjarle village and hence is called ‘Kadyawarcha Ganpati’. This Temple was built after the original Temples were drowned in the sea . There are 250 steps to it and a lake in front of it. You can get beautiful views from the hill.

A Mahalakshmi mandir just off the village is also beautiful. The Temple was built in 1808 and the Mahalaxmi idol is ’swayambhu’. Further ahead from the temple is the Yakub Baba Darga. The only darga ever built by Shivaji Maharaj. A lot of people come to pray here and the view from the gallery of the darga is really beautiful .