Konkan Staycation on the Beach

Little Paradise – A Villa in Agardanda on the Konkan Coast

The Villa (PC:  Tripadvisor/SaffronStays)

October 2020:

The lockdown  had ended again in Pune and now we were longing for a getaway to give us some much-needed break from the year that it had been so far. Agardanda, a small village off the historic fort of Murud-Janjira  on the Konkan coast was chosen as our destination. The villa seemed secluded from the crowds and the entire property just consisted of three villas with only a caretaker couple who looked after us. So, it felt relatively safe to go ahead and book it. We booked it through Saffron Stays, an aggregator of vacation homes/rentals.

Covid Precautions taken: Once we arrived on the premises, our luggage and car were sanitized. Of course, our temperatures were taken and a hand sanitizer was provided. The villa was sanitized after each stay with a booking gap of a day in between. The only person who relatively came close to us was the caretaker who served us food and cleaned our room.

We are very particular about sanitizing our hands frequently, wearing masks and not visiting crowded places.

Links for reviews and booking:

https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g18816542-d10040022-Reviews-SaffronStays_Little_Paradise-Agardanda_Raigad_District_Maharashtra.html

https://www.saffronstays.com/

Driving time & distance from Pune to Agardanda: 4.5 hours, 178kms

Route taken:  Pune – Khopoli- Agardanda. This was a relatively better route with minimum potholes.

The villa stands true to its name….Little Paradise. It is a cute little wooden cottage situated right next to a secluded beach with a delightful, small garden in the front. A small wooden table and a bench on the garden lawns overlooking the sea are inviting enough to spend hours gazing at the shimmering waters between the Dighi and Agardanda harbours.

There is direct access to the beach from the villa. However, the beach surfaces only during low tides in the evenings. During the day, the beach is lost under the high tide secluding it further from the crowds in Murud.

Since all other public places of attractions were still closed for the public, we decided to enjoy the serenity of the place for the next 2 days with a good book (call it Kindle 😉  in hand and good food as our companions. The cook dished out delectable home-made dishes of rotis, subzis, dal, rice, desserts as per our order. Breakfast too was home-made with eggs, poha, upma and the sorts.

Evenings were spent at the beach playing football with our little canine, Nemo and then calling it a day after watching the beautiful sunset. Nemo our then-4-month-old puppy enjoyed the beach to the core. He literally rolled himself on the wet sands and was reluctant to get back to the villa only to be forcibly dragged out of the beach by us.

We decided to drive around Murud one day. We drove around the town weaving our way through thick crowds and fish bazaars. The town was crowded and was busy with tourists and locals alike. Life seemed normal with people walking by without masks. However, this did not amuse us and we dared not venture out of our car 😉

After driving around the town, we spotted Janjira, the majestic water-fort sitting in the Arabian Sea in all its formidable glory. Sad, we couldn’t visit it this time as it was closed but it was lovely to  see the fort from a distance – the fort which till date remains invincible fort in Indian history!

We largely stayed in the property enjoying the view, good food and the beach. It was a great little experience, especially after the lockdown 🙂

Some memories captured by us:

The little sitout in front of the villa

The Space in front of the villa

The beach in the evenings

The Dighi Harbour on the other side. Agardanda harbour is just a short walk along the beach.

The entire beach to ourselves!

Nemo and my son

Pros: 

Proximity to the beach; its seclusion; good cook and a caretaker; spotlessly clean place; pet friendly.

Cons: 

The room could have been a tad bigger to accomodate the two of us and our son. It is ideal for a couple but is a tight squeeze for a family of three.

The garden in front can be better maintained. I guess the lockdown had just ended and that might have caused the garden to be a bit neglected.