Digha: "Brighton of the East"

About Digha:

Digha is West Bengal's most popular sea resort and tourist spot located south west of Calcutta. It is 187 km from Kolkata and Described as the 'Brighton of the East best for a holiday. Digha has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach with gentle waves extends 7 kms in length.

In Digha sea starts about a mile away from the start of the beach. The scenic beauty of this place is charming and luring. The beach is girdled with casuarinas plantations along the coast enhancing the beauty of this place. These trees apart from beautifying the sands also aid in reducing the erosion on the dunes.

One can view both sunrise and sunset at Digha sea beach. The sunsets and sunrises reflecting off the salty waters of the Bay of Bengal are something straight off an artist's easel. The sea at Digha is calm and shallow for about a mile from the beach making it quite safe for swimming.

Digha Originally known as Beerkul during Warren Hastings time was discovered in the late 18th century by the British. It is mentioned as the "Brighton of the East" in one of Warren Hasting's letters (1780 AD) to his wife.One can view both sunrise and sunset at Digha sea beach. The sunsets and sunrises reflecting off the salty waters of the Bay of Bengal are something straight off an artist's easel. The sea at Digha is calm and shallow for about a mile from the beach making it quite safe for swimming

Also In 1923, an English tourist John Frank Smith was charmed by the beauty of Digha and started living here. After independence, he convinced West Bengal's chief minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy to develop Digha as a beach resort.

Getting there:

Digha is 185 Km away and conveniently connected via train and road network with Kolkata, the capital of west Bengal and a metropolitan city of the India.

Rail : Train services to Digha are available from Kolkata, with stops at Kanthi, Kharagpur and Mecheda etc.

Road : Frequent Bus services to Digha available daily, every half an hour, from from KOLkata. Buses leave from the Shahid Minar and Howrah bus terminus in central Calcutta. The average travel time on direct bus services from Calcutta to Digha is five hours.

Air : NSC Bose International Airport (Kolkata) is the nearest airport with connections to all parts of the worlds

Local Transport : Un-metered taxis, auto-rickshaws, and rickshaws are easily available for local transport.

Places to See:

The principal attraction of Digha is the flat hard beach, which stretches for miles. It is one of the widest beaches in the world. Digha is most popular beach resort of west Bengal for a quiet holiday with several places of interest around it.

New Digha, Nearby Tample, Shankarpur and Mandarmani beach

Shopping:

The Digha market is open at low tide. Curios made of sea-shell, Shell jewellery, moderate varieties of reputed Madur of Midnapore (hand-woven mat made of weeds) in colourful designs, Cottage crafts of Digha and Midnapur are available at the beach and at other outlets in town. To bring home a keepsake, try the cottage crafts of Digha and Midnapore.