TheFreeBird
Hey Niraj I have trekked a lot in sahyadris to reach hill tops, I have done rock climbing and been on boats to various sea forts is there anything new which I haven’t experienced? How about walking on a sea bed during low tide to reach Kolaba fort? Sounds unique, doesnt it ? With that hope of walking from Alibag beach to reach this fort I planned this Kolaba fort trip. This Kolaba fort blog will be your trip guide to plan this day visit to Kolaba fort. Similar adventures like this one at the end of this post.
Kolaba Fort History
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj started Kolaba’s construction and is supposed to be his last fort construction before passing away on 3 April 1680. Kolaba fort also called as Alibag fort was subsequently completed by Sambhaji Raje and was commanded by Darya Sarang and Mainak Bhandari . Later the command passed to Kanhoji Angre – widely known as the maratha warrior who established Shivaji’s naval fleet. Many wars were fought with English and Portuguese that damaged the forts structure . Kanhoji Angre died at this fort & eventually the fort was commanded by British.
Things to see at Kolaba fort ?
The fort is a small one spanning 900 ft by 350 ft and with a small spur leading to Sarjakot ( a smaller watch tower type fort). There are not many tall structures on this fort with the average wall height upto 25ft .Here are few things you can look forward to
- The route to reach the fort either by walk or boat is exciting
- The two entrance doors, one opening towards Alibag and other towards Arabian sea
- Originally there were 17 bastions / buruj of which some still remain strong
- There are atleast 4 temples with a big Ganesh mandir & a Hanuman temple just outside the fort on south side
- There is a fresh water lake which is doesn’t seem to be used nowadays.
- There are four cannons in very good shape near the main entrance
- Beautiful Arabian sea views
- Sister watch tower fort of Sarjakot
How to reach Kolaba fort from Mumbai & Pune? Just reach Alibag
Where is Kolaba fort located? Kolaba is located in the Alibag taluka, Raigad Maharashtra. This island fort is about 1.5kms from the Alibag beach. It is 60 kms from Panvel, 80 kms from Karjat, 100 kms from Mumbai & 140 kms from Pune. Nearest Railway Station for Alibag is Pen & Roha. Alibag being a big town with government offices & commercial activities has 24/7 connectivity by bus from all the major cities. For Mumbai apart from the time consuming road mode one can opt for the Ro-Ro boat service from Bhaucha Dhakka ( Mumbai-side port) to Mandwa jetty ( Alibag side) saving lots of time. There is ample public transport from Mandwa to Alibag beach
How to reach Kolaba fort from Alibag beach?
Low tide: One can walk from Alibag beach for about 1-2 kms to reach Kolaba fort. The entire low tide can stretch between 5 hours giving you ample time to walk , go around the fort & come back again. This is what I preferred but missed as I reached late. Make sure to check the low tide time before visiting else you cant walk through the high waters. If you dont want to walk during the low tide there are other options like horse-carts to take you across
High Tide: In case you missed the low tide , the only option that remains is to take the boats available which can be costly depending on the time of the year.
For this trip I dont recommend shoes for the obvious reasons as they may get drenched if you plan on walking through the water. Hence i wore sandals for this one as I prepared to walk through water
How much time will Kolaba fort take ?
Niraj, how much time does it take to see Kolaba fort ? It should not take more than 90 minutes to go around the fort for a normal tourist. A fort lover can take upto 3 hours. Reaching Kolaba fort from Alibag may take 10 minutes by boat & 45 minutes by walk.
Kolaba Fort Trek Difficulty ?
This is not a trek but more like a picnic spot. Going around the fort is super easy. However if one decides to walk the low tide it is very easy to miscalculate the low tide timings. You may start from the shore walking on almost dry land and by the time you reach the fort the water might start to rise getting you stuck in the middle. So any time you feel the water has started to rise quickly it would be better to turn around and walk towards the beach rather than becoming a dare devil to wade through high waters. When you start from the Alibag beach better pay attention to what locals are saying.
Nonetheless even if you find yourself stuck in the water, there are last minute horse carts & boats available to ferry you out of the water as I saw during my visit.
What is the best time to visit Kolaba fort ?
Winters are probably the best time from Nov-June. Monsoons are not a good time since the low -tide are more like a 1/2 high tide hence walking would mean passing through waist high waters. Locals do cross it that way in monsoon, but would be better to avoid.
Food & Stay at Kolaba fort ?
Since Kolaba falls under ASI there are no commercial places on the fort. There are few fruit stalls on the fort but thats about it. There are plenty of food options in Alibag. For staying I prefer hotels in Alibag
Kolaba Fort Map
The most common question that i get asked is I want to travel a lot but I dont have leaves. Should I quit my job ? I have always suggested to not quit your job unless you have another source of income. In search of this source of income I tried freelancing , trek leading, vlogging and I realised nothing works in the long term. After trying many different thinkgs finally I came across trading
Trading for getting freedom & income is perfect for a person with traveller mindset. You can trade from anywhere around the world be it some off the grid village in Himachal or Meghalaya, be it some island in Andaman. All you need is an internet connection and a trading account. You can earn by trading for 1-2 hrs a day and would have freedom to do anything in the free time.Or you might have just earned enough in a day to take the month off travelling around the world. If you are able to learn this then it has potential to make all your dreams come true. I would suggest you take it up as a side project for 6 months to see if you have patience & intellect to master it.
Kolaba Fort Blog: TheFreeBird’s story
On weekends Alibag beach becomes a picnic spot with many families turning up early. There are buggies, balloons , horses & even camels to entertain people. The beach on which people frolic during low tide completely vanishes the high tides.
During high tide the water level rises to reach the “Alibag Beach” letters in the above image. My plan was to reach Alibag beach by 7 for the low tide, but unfortunately I reached by 11 when the low tide was starting to reverse that day. The tide time keeps on changing daily. Inspite of the delay I decided that I would attempt to reach the fort quickly with the hope that water would rise slowly. I tried walking quickly ,however after 15minutes of walking, water had risen to my ankles and then onwards started to rise quickly. With that I decided to return to the beach. As the water level rose it got me excited as I rushed back to the shore
There were many people walking ahead of me who also decided to return except for few who kept going . While I returned I kept my eye on these people who were slowly getting submerged in the deeper water. While I was knee deep in water these people were in waist high. As I reached the beach I could see these people not moving anymore and in higher waters. Fortunately they were rescued by a small boat which could float in that much water. Lucky them. But just reminds you to never underestimate water especially salty one🤓
The water had now steadily risen and the bigger boats which stood on the sea bed earlier started to float. I booked my seat in one such boat and splashed my way to the fort.
At the entrance of Kolaba, I remembered that I was here some 10 years ago during proper low tide & it was completely dry . But the entire scene changes so quickly within hours
Sarjakot – A sister fort – watchtower
At the boat stop point the main fort is on the left and a smaller fort – Sarjakot is on right side. The fortification wall to reach this small fort is now broken at many places. As such during the high tide the smaller fort is completely cut off from the main one. Since the high tide was not yet in complete flow I decided make a dash to this small fort Sarjakot before the water gets too high.
There is nothing much to see here apart from the walls, stairs & the view of the main fort. This would have been a great outpost to keep an eye on the enemy movements
Even when I wasn’t there for a long time since there was nothing much to see the water seemed to be rising quicker than before , hence I quickly turned back in time to reach back to see the Sarjakot route now completely flooded. Back to the main fort there is small village & Bhavani temple just left of the entrance. Taking my blessings I started to move around to see that there is North – South road in the fort with eveything worth seeing being 5 minutes from this road. At the end of this road on both side are the two entrances of the fort.
First I could see were all the remains. There were palaces and other old building on this island which were burned in the many fires which engulfed this small island over the last century. Next is the Apsara Lake where tortoises swim now & next to it lies the Ganesh mandir.
With all the back and forth which I did in the morning, the heat was taking a toll on me. I came across a local fruit stall at just the right time. I had some cool cucumbers and carried some food to eat at a windy spot near the edge of the fort
Few steps ahead and I had already reached the second Kolaba entrance at the Southern end of the fort. This has to be the smallest fort I have ever been too.
Southern Gate
10 years ago when I had last visited this fort , there were no doors on this gate. Some efforts have gone into install this new wooden door. I wanted to take an empty photo of the entrance , but couples just kept pouring at this spot. Well then they may pose for me as well.
This second gate is quite a windy spot and a Hanuman temple outside the fort caught my eye. Though it was hot that day I still remember the coolness of that temple where I finished the remaining watermelons. What was bought on the fort was eaten on the fort.
Within an hour I had gone around the complete fort and only thing that remained was to look for the cannons which are located near the main entrance of the fort. I took the western wall of the fort to walk directly to the two large English cannons which have an inscription of being manufactured in Yorkshire, England.
There was a time when these cannons protected the fort from ships. Nowadays they are protected by a barricade. Talk about change of roles .These cannons face the west side towards Arabian sea. There is another set of cannons on the east side which looks over the main entrance.
With that I had seen the entire fort within no time. I sat here looking at the incoming boats. Must have been a great place during its hey days when it was frontier of many wars. This places had such soothing breeze that i sat here for hours in silence. Truly meditative.
It was only when a bunch of idiots arrived and started playing loud music that I decided to leave.
Bye !
That’s it for the Kolaba fort blog.
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I've written blogs covering numerous Sahyadri treks, all accessible in the section below. Additionally, I create ambient Sahyadri videos on YouTube, featuring solely natural sounds such as birdsong, wind rustling through the trees, and the soothing patter of rain—the elements of nature that I hold dear.
SAHYADRI TREKS NEAR
