Manchanabele Dam Travel Guide | Bangalore to Manchanabele Day Travel Guide
Written in 2022. Prices, timings and routes may have changed since; check before you go.
When to go Bengaluru through the year
Easiest: Jul, Nov to Feb. Tap + for the month-by-month weather and where these numbers come from.
- January: Easy. Daytime about 29°, night about 14°. Rain: dry, about 5 mm.
- February: Easy. Daytime about 32°, night about 15°. Rain: dry, about 4 mm.
- March: Mixed. Daytime about 35°, night about 18°. Rain: dry, about 16 mm.
- April: Mixed. Daytime about 36°, night about 21°. Rain: some, about 39 mm.
- May: Mixed. Daytime about 33°, night about 21°. Rain: wet, about 125 mm.
- June: Mixed. Daytime about 29°, night about 20°. Rain: wet, about 104 mm.
- July: Easy. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: some, about 100 mm.
- August: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: wet, about 148 mm.
- September: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 19°. Rain: wet, about 138 mm.
- October: Mixed. Daytime about 28°, night about 18°. Rain: wet, about 143 mm.
- November: Easy. Daytime about 27°, night about 17°. Rain: some, about 80 mm.
- December: Easy. Daytime about 27°, night about 15°. Rain: some, about 36 mm.
Nilabh: Mild all year, but not equally easy. December to February is the driest and coolest, 27 to 32° by day with nights near 15°. March to May is the hot stretch, up to about 36° in April, and the rain returns in May and stays until October. For anything outdoors near the city, I'd plan around the cool, dry months.
Ten-year averages (2015 to 2024) from NASA POWER satellite data. Conditions change; check before you go.
Where do these numbers come from, and how far can you trust them?
The figures come from NASA POWER, a free NASA project that publishes weather estimates for every point on Earth, put together from satellites and weather models. We took every day from 2015 to 2024 for this place, and averaged each month: the usual daytime high, the usual night low, and the rain.
We compared it with official weather-station figures for a few places. Over flat land it matched closely; in the hills and on islands it can be a few degrees out, and then the strip says so.
Easy, Mixed and Hard are our rule of thumb, not a forecast. Hard means days above about 37°, rain of about 250 mm a month or more, or nights close to freezing. Mixed means days above about 32°, rain over about 100 mm a month, or cold nights (below about 8°). Easy is everything else.
An average is not the weather on your dates, and it knows nothing about festivals, crowds, road closures or this year's monsoon. Check a forecast a week before you go.
Everyone of us is probabily tired, exhausted and depressed by ongoing pandemic time and hence I was looking out for a quick breakout gateaway near Bangalore to get and experience the much needed break.
I went to Manchanabele dam with not much expectation, however it turned out to be the best place near Bangalore to go out on a day trip. Let’s read on why?
Why Manchanabele Dam?
We are based out in South Bangalore and hence looking out for some offbeat places in Bangalore and which lies around south Bangalore is my first priority. The reason number one is to avoid traffic, A good road and a natural place to be close to nature and therefore, Manachanabele fits like a charm in above criteria
Also, I am bored why the same touristy place that sounds like “Nandi Hills“, Lalbagh or even for the fact Cubbon park. I will highly recommend you to avoid the crowded place during this troubled time due to covid19 fear. Also, a bit off places that I have been to like Dabbaguli, etc seems a bit far and not suitable for a kid in this rainy season.
About Manchanabele Dam
Manchanabele dam has derived its name from the nearby small village, the dam is roughly approx 40 Km from Bangalore, however, the time and distance will depend on where you stay right now in order to reach the beautiful dam.
As you take a left turn from the busy highway of Bangalore-Mysore the whole paradigm and landscape changes within a few Km, and you will be taken back to the old-time of countryside travel. I am sure you will enjoy this view too, provided you start early from your home.
Unfortunately, due to drowning incidents that happened in the past, the entry gate to the dam is closed and tourists are not permitted to go inside the dam ( at the time of writing this article)
However, do not lose your hope, just like, there’s plenty of open awesome spaces around the Manachanabele dam to enjoy and rejuvenate and in fact overlooking the waterbody.
Is the Dam Worth My Time?
Why not? however, let me be honest with you, if you are into “things to do” type of person, you might be disappointed after visiting the dam, the reason is there is nothing much to do or see, around except the vast green and the waterbody with small hills in faraway.
However, if you are the person, who just wants to go for a pure drive, a morning breakfast of delicious idlis, etc, and then greeted with countryside road, Manchanabele dam will surely fit in your bucket list to do near Bangalore. You can blindly take my words.
If you are looking for an overnight stay option, then you are in luck, because of the popularity of the dam, several adventure resorts have come up. You can book such resorts near Manchanabele Dam, You will find those resorts if you are coming via Dabbaguli village or from Magadi Road, I will say, it’s a good option to stay in complete peace.
What Can I do at Manachanabele Dam?
sometimes doing nothing and enjoying the time with your loved ones, with nature or even with the local community is what gives us ultimate pleasure and satisfaction and hence I will recommend going to Manchanabele dam for the above reasons. I went with 2 kids and both of them enjoyed it a lot and we too had the best half-day experience.
The freshness in the air, seeing the waterbody, the nice drive on the NICE road, or even having snacks facing the dam is all worth enjoying. However, please do NOT litter the place, either you can give the food to the local needy or take the garbage and used food back with you.
I or our Travelescape community, strongly practice sustainable travel and tourism and urges our esteemed readers to follow the same and hence we contribute to making a better tomorrow.
My Last Advice
Definitely, you must go to the nice and it is relatively near to Bangalore, however, do not go with the mindset of doing and seeing a lot of “things to do”, just go enjoy the drive, do not litter the place, respect the local community, flora, and fauna and have a good day memory with you.
I would recommend you to join our like-minded community either on our official WhatsApp group and FB group, needless to say, we hate spam as you do. See you there! Travelescape as we call our platform is promoting sustainable and inclusive travel for all our readers and members.
1comment
Very helpful article with detailed information about the place. Thank you.