Amboli is a small hill station in the Western Ghats about 30 km northeast of Sawantwadi, sitting at the top of the Amboli Ghat pass at around 690 metres. The surrounding forest is part of a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot — Amboli and the surrounding Sahyadri hills support an extraordinary number of endemic species of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and insects, many found nowhere else on earth.
The monsoon (June to September) turns the ghats spectacular: waterfalls pour off the escarpment, the forest is brilliantly green, and the naturalist activity peaks as frogs, snakes, and rare insects emerge. Hiranyakeshi Falls, Nagatta Falls, and Amboli Falls are the most visited cascades, all walkable from the hill station. In clear weather the view from the ghat top across the Konkan plain to the sea is exceptional. Sawantwadi makes a good base for day trips to Amboli — the road is well surfaced and the drive takes under an hour.