On the third day of our road trip to south coastal Karnataka, we drove down to Mangalore to visit some relatives for lunch. The drive from Manipal to Mangalore on the National Highway was a beautiful one. The sea is never far away and one can smell the ocean in the air. Throw in swaying coconut palms and the warm humid air and it’s just about perfect!

In the evening, we visited Surathkal beach. And again, it was just about perfect, with extremely clean sands backing on to coconut palms, warm clean water and the sun setting on the horizon. Kids had a blast splashing about in the waves.

It was dark by the time we headed back to the hotel, but it was a good day out.