Alibag is a coastal town and municipal council in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district.

Revdanda, Chaul, Nagaon, Akshi, Varsoli, Thal, Navgaon, Kihim and Aawas villages were known as "Ashtagare".

Alibag and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterland of Bene Israeli Jews. There is a synagogue in the "Israel Ali" (Marathi ??????? ??? meaning Israel lane) area of the town. A Bene Israelite named Ali used to live there at that time. He was a rich man and owned many plantations of mangoes and coconuts in his gardens. Hence the locals used to call the place "Alichi Bagh"(Marathi for "Gardens of Ali"), or simply "Alibag", and the name stuck.

Alibag houses a magnetic observatory which was set up in 1904. It serves as one of the significant observatories forming part of a global network now run by Indian Institute of Geomagnetism. The observatory has two buildings; the first building has magnetometers that record changes occurring in the geomagnetic fields. The second building consists of precision recording instruments, which give data about geomagnetic storms caused by solar storms which is shared with other countries.

Alibag is located about 120 km south of Mumbai, at 18°38?29?N 72°52?20?E? / ?18.64139°N 72.87222°E? / 18.64139; 72.87222. The average elevation is 0 metres (0 feet).The District Government offices are located along the sea coast road. Alibag is the center place of Raigad District.

Road

One can reach Alibag via Pen (30 km), which is on the Mumbai (78 km) – Goa road. From Mumbai, one can reach Alibag by traveling on the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH-66) till Wadkhal (or Vadkhal) and taking the right fork from Wadkhal to continue on (NH-166A)– the left fork being the road to Goa. It is approximately 108 km from Mumbai.

Railways

The nearest rail railway station is at Pen. Through Pen, it is connected to Panvel and onwards to Mumbai and the Indian Railways network.

Boat services

The nearest jetty is Mandwa From where catamaran/ferry services are available to Mumbai. Another port in the vicinity is Rewas, from where a ferry service is available to Ferry Wharf (Bhau cha Dhakka) (Dockyard Road). There is a jetty at Custom Bandar from where fishermen in Alibag set sail.

One can reach Alibag by catamaran through Gateway of India to Mandwa or from Bhaucha Dhakka to Rewas and from Mandwa/Rewas to Alibag by bus. Ticket includes journey from Gateway to Mandwa and bus journey from Mandwa to Alibag bus stop. From Rewas to Alibag one needs to take State Transport bus or a rickshaw. Take the ferry from Gateway to Mandwa. Services are usually available from 6:00am till 6:00pm. The trip takes 40 to 55 minutes depending on the type of boat. From Mandwa operators carry passengers to Alibag in their own chartered buses. The bus journey time is 45 minutes. Alibag beach is walking distance from the bus-stop.

Another option is to take a ferry from "Bhaucha Dhakka" to Rewas. Timings are the same but schedule may change depending on the tide. From Rewas take state transport bus or rickshaw to Alibag. Bus Journey time: 1 hour to reach Alibag. One benefit of using the Bhaucha Dhakka - Rewas route by ferry is that you can take a two-wheeler along on the ferry on this route for a nominal charge. You can go to Alibag by S.T. bus from Mumbai. From Mumbai to Alibag having daily 35–40 S.T. buses. Borivali, Thane, Kalyan, Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Nashik have buses to Alibag.

Speedboats from the Gateway of India to Mandwa Jetty take roughly 20–25 minutes depending on the weather and can be hired at the Gateway of India at Jetty No. 5 which is opposite the Taj Mahal Hotel. The new jetty installed in 2014 at Mandwa ensures safety of guests traveling by speedboat.

Air

The nearest airport is in Mumbai which is 140 km away.

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Alibag had a population of 19,491. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Alibag has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of females literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The Alibag Municipal Council has population of 20,743 of which 10,646 are males while 10,097 are females as per report released by Census India 2011. Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 1833 which is 8.84 % of total population of Alibag.

Notable Personalities from Alibag

Famous celebrities who are born in Alibag are Sarkhel Kanhojio Angre, V.P. Karmarkar, Achyut Patil(Achyut Buwa,Folk Artist-Actor),1964 Padmshree award winner sculpturer Saswane, General Arun Shridhar Vaidya who led Operation Blue Star, Maharashtra Bushan-Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari (Jesth Nirupankar-Revadanda), Padma Vibhushan, Magsaysay & Templeton Award Winner Pandurang Shastri Aathavale-Dadaji (Swadhya Parivar-Roha), actor Nana Patekar - Murud, child singer Mugdha Vaishampayan, Juilee Bhandre-Mumbai Monorail captain, actress Ashwini Bhave, novelist Arun Tamhankar, Actor Devdatta Nage.

The following are the main tourist attractions in and around Alibag:

• Alibag beach: This is the main beach. A very flat stretch makes for a long walk. It is reasonably clean and has thin crowds during the week. The sand has a hard texture and is a shade of black. It is not easy to create sand castles. The tide rolls in from all sides: You may have to wade through water on the way back.
• Siddheshwar Mandir near Khandale: This is a famous Shiva temple near picturesque hills near village Khandale just 4 km from Alibag-Pen state highway. You can drive your vehicles near to hillocks and with small trek you can reach this beautiful temple. During Shrawan month, hundreds of people throng to worship here during Shrawani Somwars. If you travel further you can see the remains of ancient fort called " Sagargad".
• Alibag Fort: It is also famous for lord Ganesh temple and Dargha
• Khanderi and Underi Islands  : one can visit Khanderi and Underi islands, They are heavily fortified and built by Shivaji as sea observation posts in 1660 CE. Most of the fort is intact. The most prominent structure is a lighthouse built in 1837 which is still in service and used for sea navigation.
• Magen Avot Synagogue: There was once a large Jewish community in Alibag; most of them were oil pressers and sellers. Bet El Synagogue is the only one in Alibag. Viceroy Lord Curzon (1899-1905) visited this synagogue. This place had been place of worship for the Jewish community; it was where community centre, Konkan development programmes and village meetings were held. The synagogue is a heritage property with a unique style and is a well-known Indian Jewish and Konkan tourist point.
• Varsoli Beach: About a mile from the main beach, it is home to a large naval base. It is on the outskirts of Alibag. It is relatively less-visited site. It is a quiet beach with sparkling white sand and cleaner seawater. Varsoli is a small satellite village across Alibag, complete with thick vegetation of coconut and casuarina.
• Akshi Beach: 6 km from Alibag, the beach is a favourite spot for advertising, TV serial and film shoots. This beach is well-suited for children and waders as the sea is flat for a long distance. One can walk through to a considerable distance toward the sea.
• Nagaon Beach: This black-sand beach is about 10 km from Alibag and is famous for coconuts and betel nuts. One can walk on the beach from Nagaon beach to Akshi beach in ten minutes. It is more popular for its water sports and most of the tourists coming to Alibag stay near Nagaon beach. It is the cleanest beach among Varsoli beach and Kashid beach too. Below is the image of the Nagaon beach.
• Kihim-Navgaon Beach: Kihim is a secluded place at a distance of approximately 10 km from Alibag. The Kihim beach is famous for dense cover of coconut trees. Another occupation of their people is agriculture for woods that are home to rare butterflies, birds and flowers.
• Awas: It is situated about 16 km from Alibag.
• Saswane: It is about 18 km from Alibag.
• Rewas: It is about 25km from Alibag. From Rewas, there is a ferry boat service to Mumbai (bhaucha Dhakka) and to Uran (Karanja).
• Chaul Revdanda: It is situated about 17 km from Alibag. It is famous weekend tourist spot.
• Kanakeshwar Mandir: It is about 17 km from Alibag to Karlekhind – Chondi road, 13 km from Alibag to the northeast. This very famous Shiv temple on a 900 ft. high hill. It is a 5000-foot climb on well-paved stairs, which takes around one hour. Landmarks along the route are tombs of MohanGiri and Balgiri, Nagoba Rest, Jambhali Plateau, God's stair, Gaymandi etc. The scenic temple premises comprises small temples of Sri Paleshwar, Sri Hanuman, Sri Balram Krishna and Lord Shiv. The special attraction is an ancient sweet water tank enclosed in traditional structure of black stone. The ancient temple was built by Raja Ramdeorai yadav. The height of the Shiv temple is 54 ft. The front gate has lion sculpture on both sides with traditional lamp-pillar (deepmaal) in front. The 4-foot 'pindi' of Lord Shiv is silver-plated. The premises also