Mandarmani Travel Guide 2021| Lesser Known Bengal Coastal Paradise

Mandarmani Travel Guide-Tired of ever-popular beaches of Digha & Shankarpur? Pristine and lesser-known Mandarmani come to your rescue for memorable holidays.

Mandarmani is a lonely, virgin & romantic place to spend your time. Still not convinced? read out more

Mandarmani is a beautiful village resort along the coastal lines of the Bay of Bengal in the state of West Bengal. It is a silent and peaceful location away from the vexing commotion of the city, in the East Midnapore district about 180 km away from Kolkata.

What Makes Mandarmani Unique?

What makes it more attractive is the fact, that Mandarmani is still untouched by the ruckus of the tourist crowds. So you can find complete solitude in the peaceful and tranquil environment of its beaches.

This unfamiliarity and obscurity of the place are slowly transforming it into a honeymoon destination for the newlyweds and a silent getaway for the love-birds. Many bag packers and travel lovers, however, are yet to discover and explore this offbeat coastal destination.

I did not know about Mandarmani until I saw the pictures of a friend playfully indulging in some water sport in a very beautiful resort at a nearly empty beach.

Ever since that day, I was smitten with the exquisiteness of the place. In March 2017, I got a chance to visit Kolkata-the city that has gained popularity for its grand colonial architect, inspiring art galleries, and fascinating culture. I decided to utilize this opportunity and instantly planned a trip to Mandarmani.

Best Time to Visit Mandarmani

The best thing about Mandarmani is that you do not need to wait for any specific season to visit this place. The weather of Mandarmani remains pleasant throughout the year.

The summers are a bit hot and humid. The maximum temperature for summertime reaches close to 36 degrees. The evenings, however, are cool and airy. Summers last for about three months, ie. March through May.

Love Rains? or being Romantic?

Monsoons are mostly wet with heavy rainfall. But if you love the rough sea, this is the time for you. You will see the sea at its best during this time. The evenings become significantly soothing with the cool breeze enveloping the atmosphere. Monsoon starts from the month of June and lasts till the middle of September.

The Winters here are great. The lowest temperature falls as low as 10-degree celsius and the highest is about 28-degree celsius. You will love the feel of the warm sand squish between your toes during this season.

How to Reach Mandarmani?

If you are based in West Bengal, Manadarmani can be a very relaxing gateway for your weekends. You can easily get there by bus or by car. It will take you approximately about 4-5 hours to make it to a lovely place.

If you are traveling from somewhere outside Bengal, then Kolkata is the nearest airport for you. From there you can hire a cab, take a bus or board a train to reach the beach resort.

The best way to reach Mandarmani is by bus. Mandarmani is well connected by frequent bus service from Kolkata. If you search online, you will find more than 90 buses operating between the two places. The minimum fare of these buses start from 127/- and may go up to 450/- depending on the type of bus you opt for.

The first bus starts from Kolkata early in the morning at about 6 o’clock. The last bus leaves at 11:50 in the night. The bus journey will take anything between 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Love Trains? Here’s our Guide on Trains to Mandarmani

Trains are available from the Howrah station that terminates at the Digha railway station. If you prefer to take the train, then you will have to deboard at Digha. From there you have to hire a cab to Mandarmani which is close to 23 kilometers away from the station. Train fare should not cost you more than 360/-. If you opt for a sleeper class the price is around 150/-.

Train Name                                      Departure                          Arrival                  Days of the Week

• Hwh Digha Duronto                                 11:15 am                           2:15 pm                      Everyday
• Kandari Express                                        2:15 pm                            5:50 pm                      Everyday
• Tamralipta Express                                  6:40 pm                            10:00 pm                   Everyday

Taking a train, however, is recommended only if you want to enjoy your holidays both at Digha and Mandarmani. Otherwise, there is no point traveling those extra miles unnecessarily and then coming all the way back to Mandarmani.

P.S – Digha is another popular tourist destination for being a beautiful coastal resort town.

Know Your Route to the Beach Town- Enter Your Source & Destination

My Journey & Experience to Mandarmani from Kolkata

I boarded my bus from the Esplanade Bus terminal at Kolkata at about 10:45 in the morning. It was a nice comfortable bus with curtains fitted neatly on all the windows. A small television screen was also fitted to keep the passengers engaged and entertained throughout the journey.

A few minutes later we set off towards our destination and the driver rode us through the busy lanes of the city. About 10 minutes later, the bus crossed the gates of the Victoria Memorial – the magnificent marble building in Kolkata which was created in the memory of Queen Victoria. The Victoria Memorial is truly one of the most graceful and majestic creations of the British in India.

In some time, we were on the Howrah Bridge, the iconic landmark of Kolkata. I peeped out through the window, to have a glimpse of the Hooghly river that flows beautifully through this east Indian city. The bus gradually moved out of the city and touched the streets that lead to Mandarmani through the thin rural settlement.

Enjoy the Scenic View of Bengal

You can enjoy the scenic beauty of Bengal as you cross the paddy fields and small water bodies on both sides of the road. You will also see a number of coconut and betel nuts along the road.

Even though the journey was a bit long, the movie that was being played throughout the journey kept the passengers entertained all the while.

About 3 hours later, we reached a place called Chawalkhola. This is the nearest bus stop to Mandarmani. You need to travel for about 15 more minutes to reach the beach where you can check into one of the resorts. Before starting from Kolkata we had already booked a room at the Digante Resort. The hotel people were supposed to send a driver to Chawalkhola to receive us.

The driver was already there before we reached. He drove us through the narrow lanes of the small village of Ramnagar-II that hardly had a population of 700 people. Though the population is significantly low the village has a very dense settlement in some parts.

As we went deeper into the village, we saw medium sized paddy fields on both sides. Behind these fields, were a few country houses separated by easy walking distance.

We kept following the village road till it ended at a sea-side village named Dadanpatrabar. At the end of this road, you can either drive straight along the sand. The road straight ahead has a steep 40 degrees downhill slope which leads to the beach and the car should be maneuvered very slowly on this slope. The view through the car window as we drove along the sand was exceptionally impressive.

Mandarmani is also famous for being the longest driveable beach in India. One one side there were the incoming tides of the sea that glinted in the sun. On the other, a bevy of beautiful resorts stood in all its beauty overlooking the sea.

Where to stay in Mandarmani?

Mandarmani, with its 13 kilometers long beach that is lined up with beautiful resorts along the seashore, is one of the fastest-growing village resorts in India. By the term village resort, you must have already got the idea, that the entire beach is full of a number of resorts offering its excellent services to all its visitors.

So you can choose from the extensive list of resorts and select the one that best fits your budget. You will get all sorts of lodging options here, ranging from budget hotels to luxury ones. It depends entirely upon you which one you want to pick. I am listing a few of them here.

We List Down The Best Hotels & Resorts of Mandarmani

Name                                                                 Price                                                                    Contact

1. Tarangamala Guest House                            800/- onwards                                                +91-9932977184
2. Digante                                                              1600/-onwards                                                +91-90076 03406
3. Sunview Resort                                               1400/- onwards                                                +91-90079 95888
4. Eco Villa Resort                                              1700/- onwards                                                 +91-80013 86463
5. Sonar Bangla                                                   2500/- onwards                                                +91-98003 40270
6. Sea Star Hotel                                                  3350/-onwards                                                +91-90513 27000
7. The Sana Beach                                               4500/- onwards                                                +91-33 2530 1030
8. Rose Valley Sun City                                      7800/- onwards                                                +91-33 4025 1111

My Stay at Digante: Mandarmoni Beach Resort

These are just a few. If you look up online you will find a range of other options too. The resort that I booked was the Digante resort. We finally reached our resort. It was a beautiful property that gave the feel of a farmhouse.

A well-maintained jhaubon that lead you to the resort added a seemingly raw look to the place. The jhaubon that stood facing the beach was properly maintained with recliners and rope swings fitted for the visitors.

The cottages were built in the style of row houses. Each of these cottages had the view of the lake that is right in the middle of the property. There is a small lawn just next to the lake where you can sit and relax in the evening. The group of swans that gracefully walked around the property and the beautiful garden enhanced the aesthetics of the place.

We checked-in at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The resort staff was very friendly and hospitable. The food served by them still makes my mouth water.

Things To Do in Mandarmani

Well, it is most likely that you will spend most of your time on the beach. And yes, that is the best you can do here. Go swimming, go for a walk, enjoy the view, play in the waves.

Reap the advantage of escaping to a beach resort on your holiday. Nothing is more appealing than the sight of the sea kissing its shore. So even if you do nothing and just sit there sipping your favorite drink, watching the waves rise up and subside, you won’t be bored.

Enjoy Water Sports Activities at Beach

Once you are done enjoying the beauty of the sea, go indulge in some thrilling water sport. You will find some vendors out there offering you a ride on the Jet Ski, or a banana boat ride, where a group of people can go on a sea ride on a banana-shaped boat.

You can also ride an ATV or jump on a trampoline. I chose to ride the ATV. They charged me 250/- per trip, which would not even cover 100 meters. But my negotiation skills got them to come down to 50/-.

As you walk along the beach, you will find many fishing boats being parked offshore. You can get some really cool photographs clicked with the sea and the boats in the background. The beach is mostly empty, so yea, posing for a good picture won’t be that awkward.

You will find a few stalls, set up by the local vendors. Most of them sell either seafood, tender coconut water or light snack served with tea. Do not miss the taste of the seafood that is served here. You will surely thank me for recommending it to you.

The beach can be an awesome place to play great volleyball or a football match. So if you are traveling in a group, do carry your ball with you. The feeling of playing volleyball on a beach is incomparable to playing it elsewhere.

Special & Unique Attraction & Experience

The sea animals that you will spot on the beach of Mandarmani is one thing that will definitely stupefy you. We stayed at Mandarmani for two days. And during this time, we spent a lot of time on the beach. For the first time in my life, I saw how a starfish actually looked like.

There were so many other sea animals too on the beach. I could not recognize all of them. Some were dead and some were moving slowly in the moist sand trying to find their way back into the sea. I remember seeing moving shells, jellyfishes, tiny sea fishes, tortoises, crabs, squids and many others that I have not seen before.

The scariest thing to me was the red crabs that kept crawling over the beach, especially at the time of sunset. You will see hundreds of crab holes and burrows at the beach from which these crabs keep appearing and disappearing even before you can properly look at them.

So do not be creeped out if you suddenly feel a tiny creature crawling over your feet as you are enjoying your time at the beach. Apparently, these red crabs have remained a special attraction for the tourists round the year.

The evenings here are quite pleasant. You will love the soothing sea breeze and the sound of the rough waves that is very distinct against the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

As the evening progresses you will see a different view of the beach. The sea at this time rises due to the high tides. So by the time it about 8 o’clock more than a quarter of the beach is taken up by the sea and the sea is much nearer to your resort (if its right on the beach).

You may not be able to have a clear view of it during the night due to the lack of electricity on the beach. This remains until about 7:30 in the morning. So if you miss it at night make sure you are awake early the following day.

Words of Caution

As I have already told you, the sea is much closer to you in the night than during the day. So watch out your steps if you are out on the beach at night. If you can, avoid spending more time at the beach once night falls.

You might also be tempted to drive along the beach. When doing so, try sticking to the central part. Your car might otherwise get stuck in the soft wet sand if you drive closer to the water.

There is another thing that you should be careful about. The beach is scattered with many sea animals. So watch out, if you take a walk barefoot. Do not step into one of these. You never know how poisonous it might turn out to be.

My Final Thoughts

Mandarmani is a great place for nature lovers. If you too are one of them with a profound love for the sea, then you should definitely plan a trip to this heavenly place for your next vacation. It is breathtakingly beautiful and extremely peaceful. It is the best place to escape to if you need a break from the maddening mayhem of the modern-day city life.

Do not forget to let us know your experiences at Mandarmani by commenting below. Did you discover something that I missed? I would love to hear from you.

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