Kudle Beach

Kudle Beach is a natural 'C' shaped beach in Gokarna, Karnataka, India. It is considered to be one of the top 5 beaches, the northern end of which is connected to the main beach of Gokarna and the southern part, connected to Om beach. The lack of easy accessibility to the general public renders it as a neat, natural, cleaner and less crowded location to witness the sunset. There are no roads leading to Kudle beach which is further up north of Om beach, surrounded by hills on both ends. Recently, Kudle Beach had made news as it was claimed to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman as per Valmiki Ramayana, which was asserted by head of Ramachandrapura Mutt in Shivamogga. Water sports, scuba diving and boating attract enough tourists to the beach. It is usually visited for a time period of two-three hours.

Accessibility 

Kudle beach can be easily accessed by train and bus. There are no direct flights to Kudle. Rental services like cab can also be availed. By train, the nearest railway station is the Madgaon railway station  and the biggest railway station nearby is the Ankola railway station, which is about 20 kms from the beach. The local station, Gokarna railway station is only 3 kms away from the Kudle Beach. This is a small railway station and hence not quite often travelled by. From the train station, one can reach Gokarna city by bus or auto.

Buses ply to Gokarna from all the major cities. From Mangalore and Bangalore, the buses are overnight (5–10 hours). The common point for buses coming from other station is the Shivamogga bus station from where, transport is available till Bangla Gudda.

By road, Bangalore is at a distance of 450 kms from Kudle beach, while the other main cities like Mangalore and Goa are at a distance of 235 kms  and 147 kms respectively.

The nearest airport is the Daoblin airport, goa at a distance of 110 kms from the city. Bangalore and Mangalore have airports as well for traveling to Kudle beach.

Environment 

The beach is famed for its natural, unpolluted water. The best time to visit is in winter from November till March when the temperature is 20-30 °C. During summers, from April- june, the temperature rises up to 40 °C and during monsoon from July to October, the place receives a considerable amount of rainfall due to which the roads leading to the beach can get slippery and slushy. The beach consists of Sahyadri rocks and an expanse of white sand. Studies show that it might be vulnerable to sea erosion is high sand dunes are not established to be stabilised by vegetation. At times, Jelly fishes are washed across the shores as well.

Sediments 

They were found to be in the fine sand class. The mean particle size could be fixed at 2.017-3.18. While the morphology of the beach keeps changing, this could be attributed to the seasonal variations that occur. The various heavy metals that are found in the region are rutile, kyanite, zircon, hypersthene and magnetite.

Water sports 

The various water sports are Kayaking that helps to move across the water, Jet skiing under a trained jet instructor in which the average power remains around 100-135 hp and Banana boat, a banana shaped boat for adult entertainment in which children are not allowed. Scuba diving, allows to get a view of the beautiful sea flowers and corals. Surfing can also be done when the waves are three to five feet tall.

Visitor information 

There is no entrance fee, however for parking Rs.100 is taken. Everyone can visit it at any time of the day.It is advisable to visit it from 6 am till about 4 pm, after which it gets dark. Tourists visit the location for about 2–3 hours in general. There are no immediate medical facilities available near Kudle beach and as Kudle beach is in an isolated area, mobile connectivity is affected.

References 

Beaches of Asia
Geography of India
Karnataka