October to February is the obvious sweet spot. The sea is calm, the humidity has dropped, the daytime temperature sits in the high twenties, and Mumbai weekenders fill up the homestays — book ahead for any weekend, especially Diwali and Christmas-New Year. Weekdays in this stretch are blissfully quiet.
March to May gets hot and sticky, but the beach stays usable and the crowds thin out. Pack for 32°C and high humidity.
June to September is the monsoon. The sea is dangerous, swimming is out, and most homestays drop their rates by half. If you like the look of a deserted Konkan beach in the rain, with palms thrashing and the village mostly indoors, this is the time — but it is not a sunbathing trip.
The big local event is Ganesh Chaturthi in August or September, when the Suvarna Ganesh temple is packed and the village is loud and joyful. Worth timing if you can handle the rain.