BharatSangraha

South Konkan · Western Coastal Strip

Terrain and eco-zones

Tropical monsoon at the extreme wet end — 3,000 to 3,500 mm on the coast and above 6,000 mm at the ghat crest around Amboli, effectively all of it between the second week of June and early October. The temperature band is narrow, 17–34 °C, and what varies is humidity and rain, not heat. The pre-monsoon dry spell in January and February is what triggers mango flowering, so a warm or wet winter is a bad crop year.

Landforms

Sada — flat, bare laterite plateaus above the valleys, waterless in summer and covered in ephemeral flowers within weeks of the first rainJambha, the laterite itself — cut wet as building block and hardening in the airNarrow sandy bays between rocky headlands, each closed at one end by a creekDrowned estuaries at the Vashishti, Shastri, Karli and Terekhol mouthsThe Sahyadri wall, rising to over a thousand metres within thirty kilometres of the seaSacred groves (devrai) surviving as the last patches of primary forest on the slope

Rivers and waters

Savitri — the northern boundary, meeting the sea at BankotVashishti — through Chiplun to Dabhol, the largest estuary in the regionShastri — reaching the sea at Jaigad, below the fortKajvi, Muchkundi and Vaghotan — short, steep and tidal in their last few kilometresKarli — the Tarkarli backwater, the reason that beach has a lagoon behind itTerekhol — the southern boundary, crossed by ferry until recently

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
MonsoonJune–September23–30 °CContinuous rain rather than showers. Fishing is closed for the breeding period, ghat roads are cut by landslips, and the waterfalls that define Amboli exist only now.
Post-monsoonOctober–November22–34 °CHumid and heavy. Paddy is harvested and the Dashavatar season opens around Diwali as troupes begin their circuit of village temples.
WinterDecember–February17–32 °CDry, clear, and the mango's critical window — cool nights set the flowering. Every jatra, yatra and fishing peak falls here, and so does the Velas turtle hatching.
SummerMarch–May22–35 °CAlphonso harvest, cashew harvest, kokum harvest and jackfruit, all at once, and the drying and preserving that follows them. The sada plateaus are bare rock and the wells drop.

Best time to visitNovember to February for the coast and the forts. Late April and May if the point is Alphonso, kokum and the drying season, with the understanding that it is hot and the sea is rough by the end of it. Late June to September for Amboli and the ghat, which is the only time that landscape is what it is famous for.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of South Konkan, and the best time of year to visit. (4)