Things to do in Diu
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Diu
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The season: dry weather at roughly 20 to 30 degrees, swimming and water sports running, and Gir safaris in their best months, with Christmas and New Year the busiest and priciest weeks.
Hot and humid at about 32 to 38 degrees; sightsee early, swim in the morning, and expect lower prices and quiet weekdays.
Monsoon: moderate to heavy rain, rough seas, no sensible swimming or water sports, and the lowest room rates of the year.
Gir National Park is closed from 16 June to 15 October, so the safari excursion does not run in this window.
Shoulder month: rains retreat, heat and humidity linger early, the park reopens mid-month and the winter pattern sets in by late October.
What's on
- All Saints' Day Mass at Diu Museum 1 November
An annual mass still held in the old St. Thomas Church, now the Diu Museum, the one day a year the building returns to its original use.
Best things to do in Diu
Diu Fort
A huge Portuguese sea fort from 1535 with cannons, a lighthouse and rampart views over the Arabian Sea and Panikotha.
St. Paul's Church
Diu's finest Portuguese church, a Baroque facade from 1610 with carved woodwork inside and floodlights at night.
Diu Museum
St. Thomas Church from 1598 turned museum in 1992, holding 400 year old wooden saints, inscriptions and shadow clocks.
Naida Caves
A maze of quarried rock chambers and skylights outside the fort walls, photogenic when open, so check its status first.
INS Khukri Memorial
A quiet hilltop memorial above Chakratirth Beach to the frigate sunk in 1971 and the 194 sailors lost with her.
Shri Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple
Five Shiva lingams in rocks at the shore in Fudam, washed by the waves themselves at high tide.
Nagoa Beach
The island's horseshoe bay under Hoka trees, the main swimming and water sports beach, and the busiest at weekends.
Ghoghla Beach
Diu's largest beach and a Blue Flag beach, with gentle waves, lifeguards and far more space than Nagoa.
Where to stay in Diu
Nagoa Beach
resort stays and the main swim beach
The island's resort strip, with the Fern near Khodidhar and Radhika on Nagoa Beach Road, steps from the water sports.
Jallandhar Beach
a quieter beach with town still close
One branded mid-range hotel on a calm town beach, about a kilometre from the fort, churches and museum.
Diu Town and Fort Road
sights, food and value
Stay in town for the market, Bunder Chowk food and walking access to the fort, with the island's best budget base.
Think twice about
- Nagoa Beach Road on weekend and holiday nights
Not unsafe, just a different place: crowds arriving to drink legally make it loud and male, and prices rise. Sleep in town or at Jallandhar if you want quiet weekends.
Best restaurants in Diu
The Cats Eye Restaurant
Diu's top table at the Resort Hoka on Nagoa, seafood cooked fresh to order at the island's highest prices, still modest.
O'Coqueiro Restaurant
A tiny garden restaurant near the museum for Portuguese style seafood, with lobster and crab on advance order.
Apana Foodland
A sea facing Fort Road staple for thalis and mixed veg and non veg cooking, reliable if not refined.
Shri Ram Vijay Refreshment
A Diu institution since 1933 at Bunder Chowk, famous for cream soda, homemade ice cream and cheap snacks.
Outdoor things to do in Diu
Gir National Park
The only wild home of Asiatic lions, about 100 km away, best as an early safari day with permits booked ahead.
Blue Sky Water Sports
The Nagoa water sports base for parasailing, jet skis and boat rides, all priced on the beach and weather dependent.
Gomtimata Beach
A wide, empty beach on the southwest coast with no stalls or hotels, rated by some writers as the best swim in Diu.
Vanakbara
The working fishing village at the island's west end, all boats and fish landings, best paired with Gomtimata.
Khodidhar Beach
The sunset point near Nagoa, a rocky stop on the coast road made for the last light over the Arabian Sea.
Best hotels in Diu
The Fern Seaside Luxurious Tent Resort, Diu
Diu's luxury option, 81 big tent rooms by the sea near Nagoa with a pool and spa, priced from about Rs 5,500 up.
Radhika Beach Resort and Spa
The long running family resort on Nagoa Beach Road, with a pool and gardens a short walk from the swim beach.
Ginger Diu, Jalandhar Beach
A branded 37 room hotel at Jallandhar Beach with a pool, handy for town sights and a quieter beach than Nagoa.
Hotel Apaar
The budget base on Fort Road, a sea facing town hotel from about Rs 2,500 a night, walking distance to the fort.
Is Diu expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₹3,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₹5,500 a person |
| Splurge | ₹11,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Gir National Park: weeks ahead
- The Fern Seaside Luxurious Tent Resort, Diu: weeks ahead
- Radhika Beach Resort and Spa: a few days ahead
- O'Coqueiro Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book Gir National Park safari permits online before travelling, with ID that matches the permit.
- Book the Fern and Radhika ahead for winter, Christmas, New Year and holiday weekends.
- Order lobster or crab at O'Coqueiro Restaurant in advance, as its own listing requires.
Is Diu safe?
- Swim at managed Ghoghla, which has lifeguards, or at Nagoa; Gomtimata has no lifeguards and monsoon seas are not for swimming.
- Satellite phones and GPS devices are illegal in India.
- Drink bottled or filtered water, not tap water.
Diu travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Never carry alcohol bought in Diu back into Gujarat, where prohibition is enforced and possession is an offence.
- The Sea Shell Museum is marked permanently closed in current listings, and Naida Caves is listed as temporarily closed, so plan neither as a fixed stop.
- Diu and Daman are about 768 km apart by road despite sharing a union territory, so do not treat them as one stop.
- Carry cash for rickshaws, stalls and small shops, and a payment card for Diu Fort, where fee reports conflict.
Getting around Diu: public transport and more
- Diu Airport has only a limited direct link to Mumbai, a few times a week in current listings, so check schedules before relying on it.
- There is no station on the island: Delvada is about 8 to 9 km away with two trains a day, and Veraval junction is about 90 km away.
- Rent a scooter, quoted at about Rs 500 a day in traveller accounts, or use auto-rickshaws at roughly Rs 200 to 600 a hop, agreeing the fare first.
- Ahmedabad is about 370 km and roughly ten hours by bus, so build slack into same-day connections.
Who Diu suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Diu your trip
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