It’s easy to get a wide, sweeping vista of the Arabian Sea in the monsoon. Barring oil tankers, cruise liners or steamers heading towards the natural harbour, one gets an uninterrupted view of a grainy skyline that includes the city's islands neighbours as well as lighthouses.

During the monsoon, the ferry services to one such neighbour, the Elephanta Island, are discontinued, which means tourists from Mumbai and from the rest of India have no access to its world-famous, rock-cut caves. This tends to have a huge impact on the economy of the tiny island where a large chunk of its nearly 1,600-strong population relies on tourism for its employment.