When we hear about treks, we imagine lofty mountains or lush green hills. Well, if you want to try something entirely different, then here’s a chance to join us for the Gokarna Beach Trek.
Gokarna is a small beach town on the coast of the Arabian sea, home to a must-visit Hindu Pilgrimage site – the Mahabaleshwar temple. This quaint little town gets equal attention for its many calm and clean beaches; tourists from across the country, as well as foreigners, are drawn to the beauty of the town. To really experience the sanctity and sightliness of Gokarna, we recommend trekking along the coastline and exploring one striking beach after another. You are bound to be a victim of love at first (beach) sight!
Day 0
Day 1
Trek To:
* You could either take a night walk via the Gokarna Town to reach back to the campsite or take an auto (self-sponsored) to reach back to the campsite
Day 2
Following are the pick-up points & timings:
We begin our journey from Bangalore in the late evening after picking up trek participants from various pick-up locations. We will be covering a distance of 500 km to reach Gokarna overnight and the aim is to reach on time hence, all travellers are expected to have a light dinner before boarding. As we hit the road, the trek leads will give you a brief summary about the trek and then get you acquainted with your fellow travellers through the signature PlanTheUnplanned intro session. By the time dawn arrives, you’ll feel right at home with all of your fellow travellers!
If you look outside your window, you will spot salt farms in the near distance. This means that we are now just minutes away from our destination. Carry your belongings into the cottage, freshen up, have a bite to eat and get ready to start the trek to the base point.
Belekan Beach: Our first day of trekking will start from Belekan beach (Look towards the rocky edges of the beach and if you are lucky, you just might spot dolphins!) Enjoy the panoramic view and set off on an exciting day of trekking.
Paradise Beach: A pristine beach which is a combination of rocky terrain and clean white sand. Paradise beach is exactly what it sounds like – it is considered one of the cleanest beaches with the collective effort of tourists and the abstract paintings on the rocks add to the character of the place.
Half Moon beach: This beach gains its name due to its resemblance to the shape of a half moon. Here’s when you get to relax and enjoy your peaceful surroundings. Make sure you have some snacks and water because we reach this beach around lunchtime. Ahead of the Half Moon Beach, you will find a huge rock called the Rock of Peace – it is the throne to witness one of the best sunsets, you will know why it’s named Rock of Peace only after you have experienced it. The whole world looks artistic from here, music starts playing on your mind, the colour of the sky changes every minute and if it’s your lucky day you get to spot dolphins on the Arabian coastline!
Om Beach: We then trek ahead to a beach shaped in the form of the Hindu “Om symbol” and hence its called Om Beach. It is around 2.5-3 kms from Half Moon Beach and the trail is a moderate one. Shop atrangi hippie accessories, buy souvenirs, ride a jet ski, pass around the frisbee or play beach volleyball on this beach which is undoubtedly a hub for hippies!
Kudle Beach: Our last (and best) beach destination is Kudle Beach which is a popular tourist spot, well-known for authentic seafood, woodfired pizzas and good music in the evenings. Every dish in every restaurant here is served with a view. The cool breeze, slow sound of the waves and the growing tides are a perfect finish for the day.
We now head back to Gokarna beach. Sit around a campfire to warm yourself up, share your thoughts about the first day and fall asleep while you stargaze.
Be the first to catch the mesmerising sunrise. Go for a walk along the shoreline while the waves play hide and seek with your feet, take in the morning hues as you wait for breakfast to be served.
We then head straight to Vibhooti Falls, a small waterfall near Yana, about 50 kms from Sirsi North Kanara, Western Ghats. The falls gets its name from the Limestone rock nearby. The picturesque drop of water amidst the lush forest leaves one in awe of the wonders of nature.
Rejuvenated by the beautiful sights you witness at each unique beach, it will be hard to believe that you ticked off 5 beaches just one day! The rustic beauty of the Mirjan Fort and the poster-like Vibhooti Waterfall adds to the essence of a wonderful 2-day trek journey in Gokarna. A journey filled with the sound of the waves, the smell of fresh seafood and the historic spectacle of a fort as you trek your way from one wonderful spot to another is an experience you have to try at least once in your lifetime. So what are you waiting for? Sign up to have your mind-blown by PlanTheUnplanned’s outstanding two-day trek to Gokarna.
Around 23 kms from our cottage is Mirjan Fort. We start the day by taking a bus ride to the fort. (proper clothes and sunscreen are recommended.) Known for its architectural elegance, Mirjan Fort was the location of several battles in the past. The port at Mirjan was used for shipping pepper, saltpetre and betel nut to Surat. The Portuguese gave the epithet “Rani, the Pepper queen” (“Rainha de Pimenta” in Portuguese) to the Queen. This place is great for portrait pictures and wide panoramic shots.
Gokarna beach trek and camping was the first time experience of its kind for me with a trekking organization where people not-so-familiar to each other met and bade adieu to the trek as pals. I had always wanted to go for trips of this sort, but never before PTU could I plan going with such a great bunch of people. Every moment had a story to tell and every story had an emotion attached to it.
Right from the fun-filled improvised intro sessions in the bus to the floor smashing moves on our way back, each tick is cherished. The beach hopping, water splashing, volleyball, the amazing sunset and dolphin sighting, one can go on and on. Stories, poems and music over the bonfire took the best out of everyone adding to the connect among ourselves. Camping and star gazing right on the Gokarna beach was just splendid an affair that I can’t put in words. I must admit it had been ages I stared at the beauty of the ether, so enchanting and clear. Nonetheless, the second day witnessed an apt photography destination, the Mirjan fort (credits to Pooja for the featured pic) and the refreshing dips in Vibhooti waterfalls, followed by a nice homely lunch.
A big thanks the three trek leads who made this experience worth the effort. Pooja has been extremely dynamic and kept the team spirit alive throughout, special mention of her being a poet and stealing the show. Sahil is the sweet jovial person who mingled with all and kept encouraging people to look forward to a satisfying end of the trek. Not to forget Krishna, an experienced leader for Gokarna (thanks for dolphin spotting) who took care not to leave anyone behind in the trek, and managing the itinerary was commendable at his part.
All in all, PTU gave an enthralling and happy experience that has made me look forward to more adventures with it. Kudos to the team !!!
Initially, we were a bunch of strangers in a bus. In an hour of journey, we were a gang of friends going on an adventure never to be forgotten. Thanks to PlanTheUnplanned for such a thrilling and fun filled experience. They ensure you get to go to those offbeat places and get to do most out of it provided , you are good with your feet and heart !
Kodaikanal:
Amazing interaction and support from Trek leads Debasmita and Akshay (who also ensured everyone got amazing clicks by his godly photography skills). The camping place oak_camps, couldn’t have been better !
Hampi:
The most fun trip ever. Thanks to Sashi and Aishwarya.You get to explore hampi in scooties with quite a lot of freedom .
Kodachadri:
Trek leads Rakshita and Prakrithi were super supportive and the homestay was really nice. Loved the elderly couple’s hospitality there.
Gokarna:
Abhilash is probably the most fun, disciplined and most responsible TL ever, and I got to know him just in this first trek of mine through PTU. Also many thanks to Rahul and Akanksha for the high level of interaction and very thoughtful procedure of badge distribution highlight everyone’s talents !
Highly recommend being a part of this wonderful team of energetic and funloving people.
Planning- The name itself focuses on planning and no one can beat that. Their way of planning the treks is so good that there is adventure as well as fun without getting exausted and fatigued out. And you get enough time to explore and enjoy each place without compromising on any of the places given in itinerary.
Caring- No matter you are a solo, couple or group, their caring throughout the trip is heartwarming. The trek leaders look after everything from your health, your comfort, your safety to your fun.
Feasibility- There are no compromises on itinerary. Everything is as per the itinerary. The trek leaders explains you everything about places , routes, transport, people etc, so that you get to know about everything, you are exploring.
Cleanliness- The bus as well the place they provided to stay was clean, comfortable and well managed.
I travelled a lot of places around Bangalore earlier with my friends on our own. Then we went to Gokarna with Plan the Unplanned. But the experience we had with Plan the Unplanned was best out of all. This was our best trip till now. And we are sure that next time wherever we’re going , it will be with Plan the Unplanned.
We got four trek leaders Jatin, Abhishek, Abhijeet and Medha. We were around 26-27 people and to manage this many people is a big task and they did it amazing.
It was a good experience talking to them and knowing about their experiences. They not only leaded us in the treks but they arranged many fun activities and also participated with us in every activities which was a lot of fun.
Thank you Plan the Unplanned for a memorable experience and I will definitely look forward to explore more with you.
PS: “IT WAS AN AWSOME TRIP”😅
Best things about the trip I had this weekend to Gokarna was, the way organisers tried to keep the group together and made the group of strangers to a group of friends …!!!
If the place is good, it is going to be good anyway, but if you choose planTheUnplanned to go to the place, trust me the even not so good place will become more then worth going because of the experience you will have while being with all the people. I could actually see the most introvert person was also mixed up with everyone when we were comming back to Bengaluru on Sunday and it was feeling like i knew each and every person to the extent that we started planning to meet again on upcoming days…
Obviously the place we went to was out of the world, the track , the hidden beaches, the crazy stuffs we did there, all became more beautiful since by that time I was walking with 20friends of mine!!
I would like to mention the organisers name whose efforts made this a memorable journey for me.
Adith Iyar- the fun dude, he involved in every crazy thing we did there with more excitement then us.
Jatin- he was the actual sutradhar of everything, planned how things will be done, lead the trail, made all of us understand the plan and the games we played.
Deepika- she was the power puff girl of group, she made sure everyone was walking together..she walked at the end of the trail to keep the slowest person together…and she did all of that management using a normal feature phone…coz who need smart phone if you are smarter then the Phone…🤜🤛😅
Great job guys…thanks for the experience.
Caring- No matter you are a solo, couple or group, their caring throughout the trip is heartwarming. The trek leaders look after everything from your health, your comfort, your safety to your fun.
Feasibility- There are no compromises on itinerary. Everything is as per the itinerary. The trek leaders explains you everything about places , routes, transport, people etc, so that you get to know about everything, you are exploring.
Cleanliness- The bus as well the place they provided to stay was clean, comfortable and well managed.
I travelled a lot of places around Bangalore earlier with my friends on our own. Then we went to Gokarna with Plan the Unplanned. But the experience we had with Plan the Unplanned was best out of all. This was our best trip till now. And we are sure that next time wherever we’re going , it will be with Plan the Unplanned.
We got four trek leaders Jatin, Abhishek, Abhijeet and Medha. We were around 26-27 people and to manage this many people is a big task and they did it amazing.
It was a good experience talking to them and knowing about their experiences. They not only leaded us in the treks but they arranged many fun activities and also participated with us in every activities which was a lot of fun.
Thank you Plan the Unplanned for a memorable experience and I will definitely look forward to explore more with you.
PS: “IT WAS AN AWSOME TRIP”😅
Unplanned and unsure decisions of going on a trek for the weekend , turned out to be the best decision ever made .
From the start till and end and even after that we never felt we were among new people .
Cheers to all the team leads jumping Jatin , Gautami , Tarun and Appy fizz, may it be the rocky trails and thorny trees , may it be having fun in the most silliest thing or may it be playing the least funniest games , they were all there making it way too much fun than it could have been.
Memories were made , new bondings were created , millions of pictures were taken and lots of stories were told and heard.
A trip that is going to be ever cherished among with the many more to come.
Thanks again #plantheunplanned , it’s really awesome what u guys are doing . Keep going.
