Beaches in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka, India

Murudeshwara Beach

Murudeshwara is in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka. It is situated in between Honnavara & Bhatkal towns. Murudeshwara town is on NH-17, 12 kms from Bhatkal town on the way to Karwar. It is 160 kms from Mangalore, on the way to Goa.

Murudeshwara beach is 2kms on the left side off NH-17. Murudeshwara is famous for Lord Shiva temple on the beach side.

This temple is built on the Kanduka Hill which is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the Arabian Sea. It is a temple dedicated to the Lord Shiva, and a 20-storied Gopura is constructed on the temple. Two life-size elephants in concrete stand guard at the steps leading to the temple. The entire temple and temple complex, including the 249 feet tall Raja Gopura, which is considered the tallest gopura in the world, was constructed to its present form by businessman and philanthropist Mr R N Shetty.

The Rajagopuram of Murudeswar Temple has 21 floors, including the ground floor. The base measures 105 feet in length and 51 feet breadth. The gopura also possess a lift and visitors can go to the top and have an aerial view of the Arabian Sea and the statue of Lord Shiva.

The highlights of Murudeshwar lie beyond its nice beach and rural flair. A breathtaking view awaits you when moving towards the little headland dividing the beach into north and south. There, on a little green hill, a 37m (or 123 feet) Lord Shiva idol sits enthroned, surrounded by smaller, but not less impressive, statues illustrating moments of the Hindu mythology.

There is a Hotel here on the beach side with sea facing rooms. A day’s stay here will be memorable. Alongside the hotel is a restaurant with the sea beneath. Sipping a cup of coffee with the waves hitting the coast below is a wonderful experience.

The beach is flat and shallow. Swimming and water sports can be tried here. Boating, Scuba diving in the nearby islands is offered by an agency here.

Murudeshwara is a perfect place for mixing religious pilgrimage with tourism.

Maravanthe Beach

Maravanthe beach is a scenic beauty. It is on the way from Murudeshwar to Bhatkal, right on the NH-17 that goes to Mangalore.

The uniqueness of the beach is that there is a river, SouparNika, on the right side of the highway and on the left is the Arabian sea. Sweet water on one side and salt water on the other side. This river does not join sea at this locatioin, but joins elsewhere leaving a picturesque virigin beach to the viewers.

The beach has casuarinas trees along the beach, a nice place to relax. There is a tiny park here which houses the famous and endangered sea turtles. Maravanthe is famous for sea turtles. Sea turtles come here to the beach in October for laying eggs and hatching. There is a beach resort half a km away from the beach named as Turtle bay beach resort. Besides this, there are many small resorts dotting the beach here.

A walk on the beach along the Highway with sea on one side and river on the other side is once in a life time experience.  No other beach has a road cutting the river and beach in the middle. There are many concrete benches along the raod side on the beach for visitors to sit and relax.