Versova Beach Andheri West - Mumbai Suburban Beaches

“Famous as the Koli community fishing beach and village Versova Beach, OR Vesave is a beautiful sand and rocky beach connected to the famous Juhu beach at Andheri, Mumbai’s suburban suburb. It is a classy resident location too. More details are below to understand some facts, specialties, and attractions of this beach, as well as other details for tourists like how to reach it, distance details, map, and more..”

Beach Speciality and Attractions

Comparatively less crowded than the adjacent and connected Juhu beach Versova Beach is an unstructured, smaller beach with a seafront area of black and white dry sand and a few rocky patches. Andheri, being a very famous station where this beach is located, is one of the best and most costly suburban locations in Mumbai, with celebrities staying there.

This beach has some historic stories of the great Maratha warrior ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who conquered major coastal areas of Mumbai and Maharashtra from the then-ruling Portuguese. So are the remains of iconic forts all around Mumbai, like the Versova fort (Madh fort), located on the other side of Versova Creek at Madh Island, which can be reached via Malad or by crossing this creek at Versova.

Particularly, this beach of Mumbai was favoured by Shivaji Maharaj as a peaceful resting place when he felt tired and needed rest.

For a long time, this beach has been filthy, and the surroundings are not pleasant. Shanties and an unclean environment with garbage along the pathway at the beach entrance are what distract many from this beach. Yet, such less crowded beaches of Mumbai.

The city attracts couples during the day and many upon sunset at Versova Beach Lovers Point due to the serenity and isolation, with no lamp posts or street lights to disturb the sea-facing rocky location’s privacy. This dark location by the sea also attracts illegal and unsocial activities like smoking, drinking, and many have observed drugs (at least until a few years ago). Another problem this beach has been known for for decades is open defecation by shanties that do not have proper sanitation facilities or are now used to such activities.

Bringing on some specialties and attractions of this beach, It is well known as one of the most famous fishing beaches in Mumbai. Vesave village is as famous for the fish market as it is for the celebrities who live here. Yes, this famous Versova location is where many struggling actors in the film and television fraternity reside. Coming back to the fish, Fresh catches from Versova Creek are on auction every afternoon at the local market, as is the famous 3-day versova fish festivalcelebration done yearly, which attracts a huge fish-loving crowd from Mumbai and also from faraway locations to this beach.

The fish market has varieties of fish like Pomfret, Ravas, Bombay duck, Surmai, and Bombil, as well as crabs, available every day depending on the seasonal catches near this beach. Famous locations around this beach are Four Bungalows, Seven Bungalows, and Juhu Lanes, known for their fame Bollywood Celebrities homes Lokhandwala Complex, and Versova, as said for Television industry actors.

You must look at the below video that shows locals taking a dip in the high tide seawater. To be noted, this beach has been in the news many times as it has observed many drowning cases of youths and teenagers coming in groups, excited to see water, unaware of the risk it poses.

The seashore is rocky, and the tides are strong, which is why it is highly recommended not to get inside the sea for a swim at this beach. Often in the monsoon, the sea water reaches the shanties, making it impossible to get inside the sand area of the shore. The below video gives a little idea of the same.

A common view at versova beach in the evening is of local villagers playing cricket and volleyball. Since it is less crowded, serenity is a positive, along with the beautiful sunset view and the view of the island area at the shore. Also to note, there is a famous Muslim community dargah on Versova Road, not very far from the beach. The famous Hindu festival ‘Ganesh Visarjan attracts a huge crowd as local residents and villagers prefer this beach compared to the famous and crowded Juhu beach. This festival brings huge filth and unlikely scenes of broken Ganesh idols post-Vadarjan.

Many activists and local citizen groups in the vicinity have already taken steps to clean Versova Beach and create awareness about the problems and diseases that are attracted due to open defecation, garbage, and filth. Youth and NGO’s, along with local activists, are playing an ideal role to educate locals, create required washrooms, and bring back the clean and lost charm to the beach.

How to Reach Versova Beach

Nearest Railway Station: Andheri station (West), Western Suburban of Mumbai.
Travel Options from Station: Recommended is Mumbai Metro Trains and Routes connected to railway station, Bus and Auto are also easily available from west side of station.
Buses to versova beach: See Buses from Andheri to Machhalimar Stops details. Its a bus stop area near beach.
Road Distance: About 4 Km Taking 16 to 20 minutes from railway station. See route map below.
Car Parking: Available at beach side.

Other Places of Attractions near Versova Beach

As already said, Juhu Beach is a must visit for the famous junk food chaat corners and to have a view of those 5 and 7 star hotels connected to the coast. Adjacent to Juhu beach in Andheri is the famous Iskcon temple. People also visit here to get a glimpse of the famous actor Amitabh Bachchan bungalow.

Not far is Lokhandwala complex market, where the classy residents shop. It also has some famous food joints and is a fun street place to hang out and shop in the evening.

Head towards Andheri East area at Powai location and do visit Nirvana Park and also see the beautiful Hiranandani township. Powai Lake is on the way on the main road towards Hiranandani.