DIGHA BEACH
AT
MIDNAPORE
Digha
is located in the East Midnapore District and at the northern end of the Bay of
Bengal. Lying 187 km away from Kolkata and at an average elevation of 6 m above
sea level, Digha is the most popular sea resort of West Bengal.
Originally known as Beerkul, it was discovered by the British in the late 18th century. Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, described Digha as ‘Brighton of the east’ in one of his letters to his wife.
The Digha Beach is popular for its views of the Bay of Bengal amidst the many casurina plantations along the seaside. The sea at Digha is mostly calm and shallow upto a mile off the beach, which makes its makes it safe for various marine activities like swimming, scuba diving, jet ski-ing and surfing.
Lately, due to erosion of the beach leading to a receded landspace, as well as for cleanliness reasons, a new Digha Beach has been developed as an extension to the old Digha beach, at a distance of 2 km from it. Visitors can also head to two other nearby spots: the Udaipur Beach and the Shankarpur Beach, which are relatively untouched.
Originally known as Beerkul, it was discovered by the British in the late 18th century. Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India, described Digha as ‘Brighton of the east’ in one of his letters to his wife.
The Digha Beach is popular for its views of the Bay of Bengal amidst the many casurina plantations along the seaside. The sea at Digha is mostly calm and shallow upto a mile off the beach, which makes its makes it safe for various marine activities like swimming, scuba diving, jet ski-ing and surfing.
Lately, due to erosion of the beach leading to a receded landspace, as well as for cleanliness reasons, a new Digha Beach has been developed as an extension to the old Digha beach, at a distance of 2 km from it. Visitors can also head to two other nearby spots: the Udaipur Beach and the Shankarpur Beach, which are relatively untouched.
The beach town makes it a popular weekend getaway for the local people as well as it is visited by thousands of visitors every year.
By Air
The nearest
airport connecting Digha with other places is that of Kolkata, the NSC Bose
International Airport.
By Train
Since 2004 Digha
(Station Code:DGHA) is well connected with Kolkata via a regular digha train
service. Trains can be accessed from Howrah regularly, apart from a DMU service
from Santragachi. A regular superfast train to Digha, Tamralipta Express
departs from Howrah at 6.40hrs arriving Digha at 10.00hrs. Kandari Express
departs from Howrah at 14.15hrs and reaches Digha at 17.50hrs. The Howrah Digha
Duronta Exp departs at 11.15hrs and reaches 14.15hrs.
By Bus
Bus route takes an
estimated time of 5hrs to reach Digha from Kolkata. Regular buses to Digha are
available from Shahid Minar at Dharmatala in Kolkata and Howrah bus terminus in
Kolkata at frequent intervals.
