Road trip from Kolkata to Mandarmani and Digha Beach, India

Mandarmani is a seaside resort village, at a distance of about 160 km from Kolkata, which takes about 4 to 5 hrs by car. Its a 13 km long motorable beach, perhaps the longest motorable beach road in India. Located in the East Midnapore district of West Bengal, It lies close to few other beaches on the north eastern coast of India, at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. The other beaches close to Mandarmani are Tajpur, Shankarpur and Digha.

The best time to visit Mandarmani is during the winters, from November till February. The weather stays pleasant during winter months with low levels of humidity.

The beach is straight with hard sand base on the edges which enables vehicles to ply on the beach itself. The water recedes almost 1/2 km during morning hours and in the night it advances back due to high tide. If one wishes to enjoy driving on the beach, one needs to be sure of the timings of the tide and also stick to the side away from the sea or keep to the established track, else one might risk getting caught in mud or sand. Best to hazard a ride earlier in the day, as help would be available easily if required.

DAY 1(04/08/2015)

We started out early in the morning from Kolkata. After crossing the Vidyasagar Setu(Second Hooghly Bridge), we took the Kona Expressway and continued for a while.

Turning left on to the  Mumbai-Kolkata Hwy(NH16) we continue till Kolaghat, and turned left toward Digha. We took NH116 to Nandakumar Circle and took the 3rd exit on to NH116B(Contai-Nandakumar road). Just before arriving at Contai we took the Contai Bypass road and then turned right at the Digha Bypass Bus stand on to the Contai-Digha road to Chawalkhola. Next we turned left on to Chawalkhola-Mandarmani road and continued to a village called Dadanpatrabar. From Dadanpatrabar we continued straight along a narrow road for few km and then turned right on to the Mandarmani Beach access road to reach our resort. 

We checked into our resort, freshened up and went out to the dinning room for our lunch. We were treated to a sumptuous seafood lunch of freshly caught prawns and crabs. In the evening we went out for a walk around the beach, which we enjoyed throughly. Even after returning back we sat in the garden area for hours, enjoying the cool sea breeze and listening to the waves crashing against the walls.

DAY 2(05/08/2015)

In the morning we decided to drive to Digha after having our breakfast. It is about 30 km from Mandarmani and takes about 50-60 mins by car. We drove back to Chawalkhola and turned left on to the Contai-Digha road. We continued till Jagadishpur(marked by Digha Gate) and turned right at Swami Vivekananda Statue on to the Digha Bypass road.

Soon we reached Digha. We checked out both Old Digha and New Digha Beaches, had our lunch at a restaurant near Old Digha beach and also checked out the Digha Mohana Fish Market. I still have fond memories of the Hilsha fish dish we had at the restaurant. It was time we headed back towards Kolkata. 

ROAD MAP