Shivrajpur Beach
Shivrajpur beach, near Shivrajpur village, is located in the Dwarka district of Gujarat, India. The latitude of Shivrajpur beach is 22.3329°N and the longitude is 68.9537° E. The Shivrajpur village was formed by Baroda state during the early 19th century. It was accorded the prestigious ‘Blue Flag beach’ certification by an international agency Foundation for Environment Education, a Denmark-based voluntary organization in October 2020. It is a white sand beach with azure clear water.
There are 33 stringent criteria to be met to receive ‘Blue Flag’ certification including seawater quality and conservation and the safety of tourists along with other criteria that need to be consistently met. The beach runs on solar power and is disabled-friendly.
The water is shallow and is a suitable beach for swimming. The beach is accessible through air, train and by road. The beach timings are from 8 am to 7 pm, has a nominal entry fee and the best time to visit the beach is from October to April.
There is a lighthouse near the beach named Kacchigadh Lighthouse. It is believed that the ruler of Kachchh Maharao Deshalji, constructed a small fort with an 11-meter high black masonry unlit beacon. The purpose of the fort was to provide safety and shelter to the Kachchhi vessels. Here, facilities like emergency repairs of boats, ration and drinking water were also provided. A battery-operated flashing light was placed at the top of the cabin in 1977 which was the first light in the region. The earthquake on January 26, 2001, left the lighthouse damaged but it was restored immediately.
Tourism
Tourism at the beach is gradually picking up. After the declaration of ‘Blue Flag’ beach, the Government of Gujarat has decided to spend money behind its beautification and to develop it as one of the major tourist destinations of international standard. The government will spend Rs 100 crore (approx 13 million US dollar) to develop Shivrajpur beach in two phases.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani laid the foundation stone and the groundbreaking ceremony for tourist-centric projects was held in January 2021.
In the first phase, a bicycle track, pathway, parking area, drinking water facility, toilet blocks, arrival plaza and tourist facility centre will be developed at the cost of Rs 20 crore. Under phase-2, further facilities will be added to make it an international level beach. Vijay Rupani was quoted saying, ‘Shivrajpur beach will have better facilities than Goa’.
How to get there
By Road: Dwarka is on the state highway from Jamnagar to Dwarka. Direct buses available from Jamnagar and Ahmedabad.
By Rail: Dwarka is a station on the Ahmedabad-Okha broad gauge railway line, with trains connecting it to Jamnagar (137 km), Rajkot (217 km) and Ahmedabad (471 km), and some trains that continue all the way down the coast through Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai, Goa, Karnataka, to the southern tip of India in Kerala.
By Air: Nearest airport is Jamnagar (137 km).
