Places to visit in Honnavar

Planning your time in Honnavar

Honnavar sits where the Sharavathi river meets the Arabian Sea, halfway between Gokarna and Murudeshwar on NH-66. Most visitors pass through for a boat ride and move on. Stay two nights instead and you can see the backwaters at sunrise and sunset, a Blue Flag beach, a waterfall and a temple town without ever driving more than an hour.

Everything on this page is measured from De antique Pauli's Homestay in Tari-Bagel, on the river side of town.

Within twenty minutes

These are the places to fill a first afternoon or a lazy morning.

• Backwater view points: two minutes on foot, best at sunrise and sunset.
• Sharavathi backwater boating: the jetty is a short walk away, ₹1,500 per private boat for an hour.
• Kasarkod Eco Beach and the Kandla mangrove boardwalk: about 4 km, across the bridge.
• Apsarakonda Falls and sunset point: about 7 km south.
• Idagunji Ganapati temple: about fifteen minutes by road, a quiet morning stop.

Day trips

Three well-known places are an easy drive away, each in a different direction.

• Murudeshwar: about 28 km south, forty minutes. Half a day is enough.
• Gokarna: about 55 km north, an hour and a half. Plan a full day.
• Jog Falls: about 60 km inland, a little under two hours. Best from July to October.

Jog Falls from Honnavar

One base for all of these places

All the places above are close enough to reach from one base, which is the case for staying at a homestay in Honnavar rather than building a trip around a single attraction. De antique Pauli's Homestay is in Tari-Bagel, on the river side of town: the backwater view points are at the doorstep, the boat jetty is about 100 metres away, and Kasarkod Eco Beach, the mangrove boardwalk and Apsarakonda Falls are all under 20 minutes by road.

It works as a base for the day trips too: Murudeshwar, Mirjan Fort, Gokarna and Jog Falls are between 28 and 60 km away, each doable there and back without changing hotels. Rooms are ₹1,500 a night for a single, AC or non-AC, and ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 for a family room for four to six. The same family arranges the backwater boat rides, at the government rate of ₹1,500 per boat for an hour, so a stay here also answers a Honnavar homestay with boating: the room and the boat are booked together, not from two different operators.

Homestay in Honnavar Honnavar homestay Rooms and rates Honnavar homestay with boating Best homestay in Honnavar, compared honestly Photos of the house and these places

Best season

October to March is the comfortable season for beaches, boating and walking. April and May are hot by midday but the water is at its calmest, so plan early mornings and evenings. June to September is the monsoon: waterfalls are at their best, the sea is closed to swimmers and boat rides depend on the day's conditions.

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