Nature has a habit of tempting and tantalising you, and literally supplying wings to your imagination, but Alibaug, where nature, religion and history share an easy camaraderie, lets you have your head in the clouds without letting your feet stray too far from the ground. The vast water stretches in Alibaug lure you with the promise of dreamy, somnolent afternoons, punctuated with lazy sips of cool coconut water and bhajias on the beach, even as the temples up in the ghats soothe all who make the effort to reach their sanctum. A promise that they never fail to keep.

This sylvan seaside getaway has long tried to please all comers, so whatever your fancy, some avatar of Alibaug will present itself before you. So if it's an active weekend you prefer, or a spiritual retreat, or even a journey into Maratha history, Alibaug has it.

After all, not for nothing did Salim Ali, India's best known ornithologist, spend the better part of his life watching birds here. And not for nothing have the modern-day maharajas of Mumbai built their Weekend-Getaways-on-Sea by the shores of the Arabian Sea in Alibaug.