When the mood to celebrate is in, exam fears are certainly out.

The rescheduling of school examinations because of the recent Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) has not dampened the spirits of picnickers during the Diwali vacation.

The signs of this is that all the major picnic spots around the city are buzzing with activity and almost all the facilities run by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) have been booked to capacity till November 5.

Around 70 schools in the city had participated in the CYG extravaganza forcing all the schools to reschedule term-end exams to post-Diwali.

The decision taken in September had made most parents, who had already drawn up their Diwali vacation plans, quite unhappy.

But looking at the reservation charts of the MTDC, it seems the examination bug has not bitten into the mood to enjoy, either among the students or their parents.

According to Ashok Khamkat, marketing manager of Pune region of MTDC, the demand for picnic spots in Konkan region was high.

“Spots like Ganpatipule, Tarkarli, Murud, Dive Aagar, Murud-Janjira, Harne and Vengurla are packed till November 5,” he said.

“The main attraction in Kokan are the seashores. Facilities like snorkelling and scuba-diving provided at Tarkarli beach have a high demand,” said Vijay Chavan, general manager, MTDC.

“Every day, around 200 tourists, mostly from Mumbai and Pune, enjoy snorkelling and scuba-diving at Tarkarli. As the water remains clean and calm from October to May, the facility has many takers. This time we haven't seen any dip in the number of visitors,” he said.

Chavan said MTDC had plans to start scuba-diving and snorkelling at other places in Konkan region and also develop spots like Amboli, Kharepatan and Vengurla to attract more visitors.

“The tourists are preferring hill stations like Mahabaleswar, Panhala, Bhandardara and Karla,” said Khamkar.

"The unique feature this time is that tourists have arranged their tours during he days of Diwali too,” he said. He added that there was also a huge beeline of people for pilgrimage spots like Shirdi.

Make the best of it, take a safari at Tadoba
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC ) has started a special Jungle Safari package at Tadoba Sanctuary in Vidarbha.

“The MTDC provides a bus from Nagpur to Tadoba every Saturday. The bus starts at 9 am and reaches Tadoba at noon. There, the tourists are taken for a safari in the jungle. Tourist can enjoy a cultural programme in the evening. On Sunday morning, there will be another safari through the jungle and at noon the tourists are taken to Baba Amte’s Anandvan from where they are brought back to Nagpur at night,” said Vijay Chavan, general manager, MTDC.

The charge for this jungle safari is Rs 4,000 per person. The cost covers transportation and food.