The reason for our trip to Mangalore was primarily to attend a family function. The venue of the function was the Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple in the heart of the city.

The temple is spread over a large area and looks quite beautiful. It also has decent parking space and a good function hall. We did not get to see the temple proper, but had a good time attending the event and enjoyed some traditional vegetarian coastal cuisine.

After lunch and checking out of our hotel, we headed to our stay for the next 3 days – the Kuteera Homestay about 10 kilometres to the north of Mangalore, just off the main Mangalore – Mumbai highway.

The homestay was exactly what we were looking for – a traditional home with the owners living on the ground floor and the first floor given out to guests. The first floor is a large one-bedroom with a fully functional kitchen. The courtyard is filled with mature trees and plants, giving it a wonderful ambience. The location is also perfect, just about a kilometre away from the nearest beach – Hosabettu – which is where we headed to, immediately after freshening up.

The beaches on this part of the Western coast of India are incredibly underrated. Golden sands flanked by trees, clean warm waters, incredible sunsets – pick almost any beach in this region and you are more or less guaranteed to get all of the above. Oh, and you will mostly be sharing the beach with only a few other people, so you get to enjoy it peacefully.

Kids had a great time splashing in the warm waters till sunset and then we headed back to the homestay, stopping at a supermarket along the way to pick up groceries for the next couple of days.