Diu & Ahmedpur Mandvi from Somnath

Diu lies about 85 km east of Somnath, a 90-minute to two-hour drive through Kodinar and Una along the Gir Somnath coast, and is reached over a short causeway from Ghogla. It is not part of Gujarat at all but a Union Territory, Portuguese until 1961, and the difference is immediately visible: whitewashed lanes, blue-shuttered houses, Catholic churches including the baroque St Paul's, and the great sea-washed Diu Fort begun in the mid sixteenth century with its bastions, moat and lighthouse looking out over the Arabian Sea. Nagoa Beach, a curved palm-backed bay on the island's south side, is the busiest stretch of sand, with Jallandhar and Chakratirth quieter nearby. On the Gujarat shore, facing Diu across the creek, Ahmedpur Mandvi runs for about six kilometres of pale sand and is one of the state's fourteen designated tourism beaches - broader, emptier and often more attractive than Nagoa, with operators offering parasailing, jet skis, speedboat rides, camel rides and occasional dolphin spotting. The two sit so close together that a single day covers both comfortably. One practical point matters more here than anywhere else in Gujarat: Gujarat is a prohibition state while Diu is not, so alcohol is freely sold on the island and carrying it back across the causeway into Gujarat is an offence with checks at the crossing. Currents along this coast can be strong and lifeguard cover is limited, so swimming is best confined to the stretches local operators use. November to February brings dry, mild weather and the calmest sea; the monsoon shuts down water sports entirely. From Ahmedabad the round trip is far too long for a day, so Diu is best treated as an overnight from Somnath, Veraval or Gir, which also allows an evening on the fort ramparts at sunset.