Coastal Kutch
Mandvi
Shipbuilders' town, palace on the beach, wind in the casuarinas
01
Four hundred years of shipbuilding
On the Rukmavati riverbank, master carpenters still build ocean-going wooden dhows by hand and eye, no blueprints, the way Mandvi has done since it was the busiest port of the Kutch state. Walk the yard at golden hour and the hulls glow like instruments.
02
Vijay Vilas Palace
The 1920s summer palace of the Maharao sits alone in an orchard estate by the sea — sandstone jharokhas, a rooftop view over private beach, and film-set gardens you will recognise from a dozen Bollywood classics.
03
The beach
Mandvi beach is the softest sand in Gujarat, backed by wind turbines and camel carts. Come for sunset, stay for bhungas-turned-beach-camps and the quietest sea on the west coast.
