Digha, the sea resort of West Bengal

Digha is the nearest and most popular sea resort of West Bengal.  Being the nearest sea beach from Kolkata, it is very famous holiday destination as a weekend trip for Kolkatans.

Digha is a 4 to 5 hour journey by bus from Kolkata. There is frequent bus services from Splanade, Korunamoyee and various other parts of Bengal. AC and super deluxe buses are also available at present.

Previously there were daily only one train from Shalimar railway station. But from 14th June 2009 two new trains are introduce from Howrah Railway Station, these are TAMRALIPTA SUPERFAST EXPRESS (the timing of TAMRALIPTA SUPERFAST EXPRESS is 6:40 AM) daily and KANDARI EXPRESS (the timing of KANDARI EXPRESS is 2:40 PM) daily. Sometimes special trains are announced on special occasions and holidays. The train from Shalimar has been withdrawn. In recent times a new train, named Paharia Express has been introduced from NJP to Digha.

Accommodation at Digha:
Accommodation at Digha is never a problem. There are countless hotels of almost all budgets.

The beach at old Digha is not pretty good for swimming as there are boulders and rocks, so there is high probability of injuring yourself while swimming. New Digha is in particular the best for swimming.

The Sunrise at the beaches of Old and New Digha both are very beautiful, the early morning glimpse of fishermen catching fishes will also be good to watch at Digha. For photographers there are countless options present particularly in the early morning, the light is very good for photography. Below is the photo of a dead sea crab taken at the beach of new Digha. 

Managing the fish net is always interesting to watch and to photograph.

During Sunrise there are usually a big crowd present at the beach of Digha. Do not miss the opportunity.

Food at Digha:
There are many cheap but good restaurant and hotels who serve rice, fresh fish, both fried and curry and other Bengali dishes. There are some stalls near the sea, who sell fried fish as well, though not fresh and good quality.

Places to see in Digha:
Old Digha has a market which is the best and perhaps only place to hang around in the evening for the tourists. It has shops selling various things made from shells, like ornaments, various wall hangings etc.

A science center has been established recently, which is good for a few hours timepass, it is similar to Kolkata's Science City.

There is also a Aquarium on the main road connecting Old and New Digha, having good collection of fishes, both freshwater and saltwater.

Get around from Digha:
Talsari mohona, Udaypur Mohona are two nearby sea beaches for short trip in afternoon. You can hire a van ricksaw, or alternately a tata sumo. In the latter case you can also have a great experience of driving on the sea beach. In the evening when a queue of sumos moves on the sea beaches it just looks fantastic.

The main entrance, Chandaneswar Temple.

You can go further to Chanadaneswar Temple. It is situated in Orissa, from Digha it is only 8kms, and can be managed in a van ricksaw. It can be a nice sight seeing spot for the afternoon. The Shiva temple here has direct contact with sea water.

Mandarmani, a tourist spot recently introduced is 20km from Digha. The sea beach at Mandarmani is quite different from that of Digha, with not much waves in the sea like Digha. It is not so crowded, and you can feel the sea without any disturbances from other tourists. Although the staying at Mandarmani will be little costlier than Digha.

There is Sankarpur(14kms from Digha), another spot with unspoiled sea beaches, where you can stay for a night or more. Various items of fresh fish of this place is very famous among Bengali.

Junput, 40 km. from Digha by bus, is another sea resort. It is very beautiful, with not so much tourists present, the sea view and the caesarian trees are added.

Altogether, Digha is nice tourist destination in West Bengal for a short trip of 2-3days.