The beach is one of the cleanliest i have ever seen.The MTDC resort location is amazing - it is right on the beach.The resort is old but clean.It is not luxurious but satisfactory in terms of rooms,toilets & other facilities.

The food is delicious.Pl try prawns fry, pomfret tikhal(Local malvani dish).Even veg food is tasty at the resort.However, the service is poor.

You have have food outside at much cheaper rate.

Tarkarli is an amazing destination.We also did boating through the back waters and they are comparable to that of Kerala.Only thing is this place is not yet commercialised and if maintained properly, can compete with Kerala.

Also try scooter boat and if possible snorkling.

We had read a lot about the ambitious "Houseboat" project of MTDC and went eagerly to spend a night on their houseboat which has a viewing balcony (the other one doesn't have one).

The houseboats had just started operation 2 days ago and there were few problems like improper stable access to the boat, toilet flush not functioning, inadequate water supply and frequent power lapses particularly when boat is at the jetty. MTDC should rectify these at the earliest, if it has to capitalise on this excellent destination.

THE GOOD PART : the boat sails at noon towards the bridge and it is a peaceful, quiet, serene ride with fish jumping around ( to avoid the propellers of the boat ) fishermen on the land alongside, watching the passage of the boat anxiously ( so that the boat does not cut thru their cast out nets ) birds on the sand bars, workers filling sand manually (by scraping the river bottom) into a boat to earn their living.

The boat lays anchor and lunch is served - the staff extremely hard working and enthusiastic (although rustic)and the boat again leaves for the jetty which it reaches by sunset.

It is then alongside for the night hooked on to the landline power supply, which kept getting cut since a proper supply source was being worked on. However, the hard working staff compensated by running the generator.

Next morning the boat takes you on an even better scene towards the point where the river discharges into the sea. Fishermen come alongside and one can buy fresh live fish (we did) and had them for breakfast (thanks to the hardworking staff !).The boat returns back by 9.30 a.m.

All in all the views while sailing are spectacular ( would love to go there again for atleast 2 nights ) and something to die for !

We hope and trust that MTDC improves basic infrastructure rapidly , to convert this pristine, serene spot into a much valued attraction.

From Pune, negotiating a way to Tarkali can be difficult and bruising. We took the State transport Bus to Malvan, 11 hours, the only bus that took us anywhere near. The only other option would have been taking a volvo towards Goa and getting dropped off around 30 km short of Malvan or the slightly more complicated option of a Volvo to Kohlapur and a ST Bus from there to Malvan. Needless to say, we arrived at Malvan battered and suffering from lack of sleep.
Fr\om Malvan, Tarkali is approximately 6 km away, and the auto ride should not cost more than Rs.50 from the bus stand. We booked our rooms on the spot and took a dorm at the cost of 1430 including an extra bed, we were 6 in all. Contrary to the review I hd based my travel preparations on, the room was nice, with fully functional toilet facilities and a geyser that worked to our utmost satisfaction. However, no one came near our room during our stay there so the sand from the beach was inevitably all over the room and bathroom. The beach, a hop, skip and jump, literally, from the resort was not quite what we had hoped for. From navigating our way between the scores of dead fish we found lying all over the beach to the mere 100 yard breath of the beach itself, first impressions were not great. however we managed to walk slightly further away from the beach adjoining the resort and found a comparatively fish free section of the beach. The sea was clear and we could literally walk a kilometre into the ocean without more than our waists getting a slight precipitation on them. For lunch we headed over to the town of Malvan. before going on, i must advise the travellers without their own transport to ask the hotel to call for an auto, which will cost around 60, or a jeep, around 50. We, presuming an auto would not be hard to find, trudged more than 2 kilometres in the afternoon heat(quite a lot unsuprisingly) before we managed to falg down a jeep. The towns of Mlavan and the village of tarkali are distinctly Kerala-like in their architecture, and the sleepy appearance simply casts a spell over you.
On to Malvan, where we had the bittersweet experience of being dropped next to the fish market, but we soon navigated our way to the bazaar on the other side of the fish market, amidst great big prawns and kingfish. After asking around we shortlisted two places to lunch at, one called Chaitanya and the other by the name of Mambo, just ask any autowallah and he will give you accurate directions as to how to get there. The thalis at chaitanya were mindblowing, simply some of the best seafood we had ever tasted, no idle boast as we had three men from Kerala travelling with us who endorsed it with ringing tones. We returned to the hotel in the evening to find the beach pleasantly transformed, courtesy of the low tide. The beach had expanded and the dead fish could barely be seen(we still had to be very careful) and the dinner at the hotel was decent, as we stuck to plain old chicken biryani after our heavy fish centered lunch. The check out time was a bit on an inconvenience, being 9 am, which with some careful prodding we got extended for another hour. We left soon after, and some great help from the manager helped us to confirm our bus timing and get an auto to take us to Mambo. Mambo's food competed favourably with the Chaitanya food, with their styles of cooking running parallel. I would recommend the Kingfish to anyone wanting to try out the local speciality and the Prawn thali is simply loaded with prawns at both places. Chaitanya is air-conditioned wheread mambo is a typical dhaba. Both places are cheap and will cost you approximately the same, not more that 150 a head, a great shock to me and my companions, we would have gladly paid more at a similar place in a city.
The Sindhugur Fort was quite a let down, with only one point in the entire fort worthy of a faint tourist attraction. Perhaps our lack of guide did not aid us in a full appreciation of its history, but with the overgrown bushes and clotheslines scattered all over coupled with houses dotting the ancient fortress, its glory could not quite be felt. One point in the complex though overlooks all four sides of the fort and is quite a magnificent spectacle, to see the sea lapping the walls of this impregnable fortress on all sides is quite a sight. There is not much to do in and around Tarkali for more than a day and a half. The Hotel doesnt quite endear itself to its visitors, however if the rooms are considered to be places to simply sleep in when tired, as they rightly should be in a seaside resort, tourists should face no problem. The people are sweet and helpful, and Marathi is a great asset to have in communicating with the locals as they do not seem to follow Hindi with rapidity.
We fell in love with Tarkali, but we dont plan on visiting there any time soon, it is a one time visit.

There was nothing on Tripadvisor about Tarkali when we were doing our research, so will try to give a reasonably comprehensive outline of the place to help others in future.

MTDC stands for Maharashtra Tourist Development Corporation, but we think that the D really stands for Destruction – this place could be perfect, but is badly run.

Location: The resort is about 6 miles from the small town of Malvan. By train you get off at Kudal and then take an auto to the Resort (approx 45 mins, great views), or a bus to Malvan and then an auto from there. Tarkali is a small sleepy village with a few houses and a couple of tiny shops. Malvan is a bustling port, with a lively street market, an ATM, and even an internet café. Tarkali is a stunning unspoilt and clean beach, with a dip in the sand that forms a lovely warm pool at certain states of the tide.

Rooms: there is a dormitory option, and then identical semi-detached AC and non-AC Konkani huts scattered through the grounds. The rooms have sloping ceilings, reasonably comfortable mattresses, appalling pillows and less than sparkling sheets. The bathroom was reasonably spacious, but definitely grubby and the taps were hanging off the sink, the sink was badly cracked, the mosquito screen had holes in it. Several lights in the room had broken fittings or missing bulbs.

The worst bit was that no-one came near our room from the moment we arrived to the moment we left two days later – we had to ask for a spare loo roll. Although the manager was aware the room had not been serviced he did nothing about it.

Restaurant: nothing else locally (although some places in Malvan), and subcontracted out. We had read that it was good, but were very disappointed. There were some outdoor tables, but no lighting or candles, so eating in the open at night involved a head torch! The alternative was an open-sided room with picnic tables. The food was OK-ish but just tired looking. With a major fishing industry on the doorstep we would have expected fresh and good seafood, which was sadly lacking. Service was haphazard – we arrived for breakfast one morning and started chatting to some other people who appeared to have finished their breakfast. Ours arrived eventually, we ate it, and then got up to leave…..at which point we realized the other people had been waiting for theirs since before we sat down.

The resort is dry, although it is usually possible to find someone to go and buy you a beer if you feel the need.

The rooms are scattered through the grounds under the trees and with sea views. Although there are litter bins in the grounds, there was loads of litter, which had not been cleared up.

This place is in a perfect location on a stunning beach, and the actual buildings could be nice if they were properly maintained and cleaned. Even without that, it would still be a great place if you felt welcome, but we felt we were seen as an interruption to the serious business of doing as little as possible. This is pretty short-sighted – this was the only place in our entire Indian trip where we felt strongly enough not to leave a tip in the room…..because we had received no service.

The overall approach was summed up by our experience on a Friday morning. As we left breakfast some apparently new sun loungers were being stacked by the beach. This was good news, as there had been no sun loungers before and we planned to use them later in the day. By the time we returned from a morning trip to the fascinating town of Malvan, a banner had appeared welcoming the passengers of the Deccan Odyssey luxury train to MTDC Tarkali for their lunch. By 2pm the passengers had been whisked away in their coach……and the sun loungers had also disappeared, ready to re-appear the following Friday for the next set of train passengers.

Even with the above observations, I would not have missed a trip to Tarkali….I’d just like to see a decent hotel opening in the area to make the wonderful coast, scenery and food more accessible to visitors.