Dandi and the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial

Dandi is a small coastal village in the Navsari district of Gujarat, India, and the endpoint of Mahatma Gandhi's 1930 Salt March, when he walked from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad to the sea and broke the colonial salt law on 6 April 1930. The National Salt Satyagraha Memorial stands here and presents the march through statues, installations and exhibits. Dandi is about 52 km by road from the Surat ST depot, and the journey takes roughly 1 to 1.5 hours each way. The easiest option is a private car or outstation taxi hired with a return fare. Visitors without a car can take a GSRTC bus from Surat to Navsari and then a local bus or auto-rickshaw onward to Dandi; several buses run each day, and the schedule should be confirmed at the Surat ST depot. A practical one-day plan is to leave Surat in the morning, reach the memorial when it opens, and spend one to two hours with the exhibits and the large statue group depicting Gandhi and the marchers. The memorial site includes landscaped grounds, a lake feature and displays about the 78 marchers. After the memorial, visitors can walk to the nearby Dandi beach and the small shrine area marking the spot where Gandhi picked up salt from the shore. Lunch is best taken at simple eateries in Navsari or small stalls near the village, as options at Dandi itself are limited. The best season is October to March, when the coastal heat is bearable; summer afternoons are hot and humid, and the monsoon can make the beach muddy. The memorial's official website lists current visiting arrangements, and opening days and any entry fee should be confirmed before travelling. The trip works well for history readers, school groups and anyone retracing the Gandhian heritage of Gujarat. A return to Surat by late afternoon is easy, and some visitors combine Dandi with Ubharat or Dumas beach on the same coastline.