BharatSangraha

Canara Coast · Western Coastal Strip

How to reach

By air

  • Goa airports — Mopa and Dabolim (GOX and GOI) — The nearest airports to Karwar and the northern coast; Mopa is roughly 80 km from Karwar.
  • Hubballi Airport (HBX) — The nearest airport to Sirsi, Yellapur and the areca uplands, about 100 km from Sirsi by the ghat road.
  • Mangaluru International Airport (IXE) — The nearest airport to Bhatkal and Murudeshwar at the southern end of the coast.
  • Shivamogga Airport (RQY) — Opened in 2023, and the closest option to Sagara, Jog and the eastern approach to Sirsi.

By rail

  • Karwar (KAWR) — On the Konkan Railway, and the first Karnataka station south of the Goa border.
  • Gokarna Road (GOK) — About 9 km from Gokarna town, with connecting autos and buses.
  • Kumta (KT) — For Kumta, Yana, Mirjan and the Aghanashini estuary.
  • Honnavar (HNA) — For Idagunji, Gersoppa and the Sharavathi valley road towards Jog.
  • Murdeshwar (MRDW) — Walking distance from the temple complex.
  • Bhatkal (BTJL) — For the Nawayath town, its mosques and the Jain bastis.
  • Castle Rock (CLR) — In Joida taluk, on the older Londa–Vasco ghat line past Dudhsagar — the only railway above the ghat in this region, and a legacy of the Goa trade rather than of Karnataka's own network.

By road

NH 66 — the coastal trunk road, Goa to Mangaluru, threading every town on this shoreNH 63 — Ankola to Yellapur and Hubballi over the Arbail ghat, the main coast-to-plateau routeThe Devimane ghat road from Kumta to Sirsi, the shortest climb from coast to areca uplandsThe Sharavathi valley road from Honnavar towards Jog and SagaraAnmod and Chorla ghat roads, connecting the north of the region to Belagavi and to Goa

By water

River ferries and boats across the Aghanashini at the Tadadi crossing and on the Sharavathi at HonnavarBackwater and rafting boats on the Kali at Dandeli and Kadra, dependent on dam releasesBoats to Kurumgad, Devbagh and the Karwar islands, and the Karwar port

Getting around

KSRTC and private buses along NH 66 and up each ghat road, and Konkan Railway trains for anything on the coast. Above the ghat there is effectively no rail, so Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur are reached by bus or car only — a proposed Hubballi–Ankola line has been argued over for decades and held up on forest grounds. Coast to uplands is one to two hours over a ghat; the district is long, and Karwar to Bhatkal is about 160 km.

How to reach Canara Coast by air, rail, road and water, and how to get around once there. (11)