Kumta & nearby: Places to visit

Tourists visiting Honnavara, Kumta, Gokarna belt usually plan their stay in Gokarna. Kumta is often seen as a stopover destination and not a stay option. However, if you have already explored Gokarna and Honnavar and looking for a change or in case you don't get decent accomodation in Gokarna you can explore staying in Kumta and exploring nearby places.

Another advantage of Kumta is Kumta railway station is very close to town, hence access is easier and cheaper. Fair number of KSRTC and private buses are available to Mangaluru, Bengaluru and other big cities.

This post lists various places of interest that you can explore with Kumta as a base. Kumta as such isn't loaded with tourist attractions to keep you busy for whole weekend, but within 50 kms radius you will find dozens of attractions, thus it is very viable to plan a weekend from Kumta. I've drafted plan for 1 night/2 days, you can extend/modify as per your needs.

#	Attraction	Distance from Kumta town	Notes
1	Kirbele/Kagal fort	14 kms	Open area, viewpoint, grassland
2	Mirjan Fort	12 kms	8 AM to 6 PM
3	Yana Rocks	30 kms	Half day program
4	Kumta Beach	4 kms
5	Gokarna	32 kms by road, shorter ferry option available for bikes
6	Vibhooti falls	54 kms	Seasonal- Aug to November best time
7	Vajragundi falls	24 kms	Seasonal- Aug to November best time
8	Kandla board walk Honnavara	24 kms
9	Hosagodu falls	65 kms	Seasonal- Aug to November best time
10	Pavinakurva Hanging Bridge	17 kms
11	Bhatkal lighthouse	62 kms	View
12	Murudeshwara	47 kms	Temple, beach
13	Apsarakonda falls and Marine park	34 kms
14	Aghanashini River		Viewable from multiple points
15	Vishnu Theertha

Few more options:

Vannalli Beach & Harbor

Itinerary:

Day 01: Upon arrival at around 6 or 7 AM, decide if you want to try early check-in, fresh up or can hold till afternoon and start exploring right away.

Mirjan Fort, Yana caves and couple of waterfalls in that area (if visiting between August and November/December) would take your morning half.

Back in Kumta, check in into your room, fresh-up, lunch

Evening you may wish to head South towards Honnavara- Mangrove board walk, Apsarakonda, Eco Beach, Pavinakurva hanging bridge would take your second half. Detailed post on Hoonavara is available separately. If time permits and interested proceed further south towards Murudeshwara, else return to Kumta, sunset at Kumta beach.

Vishnutheertha and Mavinakere are 2 more interesting spots inside Kumta town.

Day 02: Head to Kirbele fort for a nice trek in the morning. From here you may want to take a ferry to Gokarna and explore Paradise beach (bike and individuals can take a ferry, by road is longer 42 kms). If Gokarna excites you there are more attractions to spend whole day, or you can return to Kumta and explore scenic spots around Aghanashini river (Separate post coming soon).

If you wish to extend you can proceed towards Sirsi, Dandeli or Karwar, Goa or Udupi, Mangaluru or Jog falls, Sagara/Shivamogga from Kumta.

We stayed at Palm Beach huts in Kumta. You may select any option in your budget, location and interest. Kumta does have couple of large and expensive resorts, several homestays/budget hotels by the beach and few more options by the highway.