Tarkarli

Tarkarli, a picturesque village on the southern Konkan coast of Maharashtra in the Malvan taluka of Sindhudurg district, is one of the most beautiful beaches in western India — a long ribbon of fine white sand and unusually clear, shallow blue water, cradled between the Arabian Sea on one side and the placid Karli river backwaters on the other.

• Often called the "Queen of Konkan beaches," it is calm, clean, and far less crowded than Goa just to the south, and it holds a special place in Indian travel as the first beach in the country to offer commercial scuba diving — the clear coastal waters off Malvan and Tsunami Island let visitors snorkel and dive over coral and colourful marine life.
• The region's great historical landmark is the Sindhudurg Fort, the formidable island sea fort built in 1664 under Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on a rocky outcrop off the Malvan coast — reached by a short, scenic ferry from Malvan jetty, its sea-girt ramparts enclose temples (including a rare shrine to Shivaji himself), freshwater wells, and the legendary handprints of the Maratha king set in the walls.
• Beyond the fort and the beach, the Karli river backwaters offer gentle boating and houseboat stays, Devbagh sangam (where river meets sea) and Tsunami Island appear at low tide, and the Rock Garden, Dhamapur Lake, and the Rameshwar temple round out the area.
• The nearby town of Malvan and the whole Sindhudurg coast remain refreshingly unspoilt compared with the busier resorts of Goa just to the south, rewarding travellers who like their beaches quiet.
• For vegetarian travellers, the Malvani table has a lovely vegetarian side built on coconut and kokum: sol kadhi (the pink kokum-coconut drink), ukadiche modak, amboli (a soft fermented pancake), taak (spiced buttermilk), the Malvani vegetable thali, kokum sharbat, and Alphonso mango in season.
• The best season is October to May; the monsoon turns the sea rough and pauses the diving.