Daman & Diu

The first thing to know is that Daman and Diu are not one place, and have not been their own union territory since 26 January 2020. They were merged that day into Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, where they are two of three districts. The name survives on signs and in trip plans; the administration behind it does not. They are also nowhere near each other. Daman sits on the Gujarat coast just above the Maharashtra border, reached from Vapi. Diu is an island off the southern tip of Saurashtra, joined to the mainland by a bridge and with its own small airport. Roughly six hundred and fifty kilometres of Gujarat lie between them. Booking both on one weekend is the mistake people make. Diu is the one worth the journey. The Portuguese held it from 1535 until 1961, and Diu Fort still runs along the sea edge with its cannon in place. Nagoa is the horseshoe beach with the Hoka palms, Ghoghla the long quiet one, and one of only eighteen beaches in India to hold Blue Flag certification. One durable practical difference: Gujarat is a dry state and this is not, which is why the buses fill on Friday evenings.