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see below how to travel to Elephanta from Navi Mumbai areas. And pros and cons of the two travel options

Navi Mumbai to Elephanta Via Gateway of India

Take any local trains from the nearby stations in Navi Mumbai area to CSTM. Juinagar,Nerul, Seawoods, CBD Belapur etc has Suburban Railway stations on the Harbour line to CSTM.

This is a busy route with 1 train in every 15 minutes. The ride takes an hour to the CSTM station. Ticket costs about Rs15.

[#bar]From CSTM station get to Gateway of India, the ferry point to Elephanta.

Take a local bus or hire a cab from CSTM to Gateway of India. For bus, walk to the bus station (2 min walk) from the train station. Board a direct bus that goes towards Gateway of India . One bus in every 30 min. Ticket costs ₹6.

Or get on any bus via Wellington Fountain circle ( Dr.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk) circle and walk to Gateway of India (5min walk). This is a heritage area.

[#bar] At Gateway of India , buy ticket to Elephanta (₹260, two way ticket). It's an hour boat ride to Elephanta.

Overall, you'll reach Elephanta after about 2 to 3 hours from Navi Mumbai area, and costs the round trip a little less than ₹300.

Navi Mumbai to Elephanta Via Balapur Ferry

Plan your journey early.
Book in advance in one of the few daily trips to Elepahanta from Balapur Jetty. (myboatride.com)
Get to the CBD Belapur Jetty from Navi mumbai area. (5km by bus or cab). There's ample space to park car/bike near the ferry point.

Board the speedboat to Elephamnata from CBD Belapur Jetty. It's a 20 min boat ride to Elephanta cave

Keep in mind they operate only 2 trips (9.15am and 2.15am) on weekdays. And 3 trips (9.15am, 11.15am and 2.15am) on Saturdays and Sundays. Elephanta caves & the boatservice is closed on mondays.

The return trip is after about 2 hr 30 min of the speed boat leaving you at Elephanta.

In short, You can reach Elephanta in about 30-45min time from Navi Mumbai. You need to plan and book in advance. The speedboat ride (up & down) costs ₹825.

Conclusion : Take the Gateway of India ride to Elephanta, if you have time but want to save money. Take the Belapur Jetty to Elephanta ferry, if you want to reach fast, and don't mind shelling out ₹825 per head.

Also note you can return by any boat in the Gateway of India to Elephanta ferry service. You get flexibility to explore Elephanta island & caves at your pace.

Which is the better route to Elephanta from Navi Mumbai.

Ferry Schedules to Elephanta

Take the Harbour line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) for traveling from Navi Mumbai to Gateway of India.
See the nearest stations below.

[#note] Ferry to elephanta get rescheduled or cancelled during bad weather. Checkout the weather condition during monsoon season.