more in between calangute and baga, but we always use lucky star, at the bottom of titos roa d

At the bottom of holiday rd.beside the Golden Eye and th Goan Heritage you'll find some great ones including Johneys a Jolly Jacks Its a slightly quieter bit of the beach and consequently the sun beds are'nt packed in quite so close and there's not hoards of Indian tourists trying to snap the girls, as at the steps at Calangute. Alan

The Buzz Beach Shack is definately worth a visit..its at a quieter stretch of the beach between Baga and Calangute

Fishermans Shack...down track opposite St Anthonys chapel! Taxi drivers will know it!

The department of tourism have put up 200 meter bathing zones at various spots of the beach this season. Speadboats and jetskis are not allowed into these areas so it is much safer for swimming. In Calangute the first one you come across (if you are walking towards Baga) is one that starts at The Hangover beach shack and ends around Swallys (I think). This part of the beach is a bit quieter as well.
As I've just read on another holiday site that a bather was hit by a jetski last week, I think they should look at introducing more of these safe swimming zones.

I hope the swimmer zones are a bit more policed than the so called lifeguards at the steps at calangute. I used to stop during my beach walks to watch the crowds in the sea at the steps in calangute at Diwalli time and the jet skis and the paragliders diving in and out of them, a real recipie for disaster. I fear anything other than a complete ban, and that wo'nt happen, will be a waste of time, as there is nobody there to police it and there wo'nt be either until the first fatality and then it's too late. You just have to keep a sharp lookout when you ar swimming and hope for the best. We're back again in a couple of weeks for our long stay but I,ll limit my swimmingto the quieter parts of the beach well away from the jetski operators Alan

It was an accident waiting to happen when we were there just before Christmas! As regular goa addicts will know...the buses come in full of indians who head straight down the steps and into the sea...it can get really busy there! One evening we stopped for a drink and sat in a shack watching in horror. It was dusk..the sea was packed with indians..and jet skis were winding in and out of them..plus a parasailer was taking off! He couldn't possibly have seen anything in the air as it was really quite dark!!! A real recipe for disaster!

There are buoys in the sea which create these zones and I didn't see anything other than swimmers going into them. Simon, who owns the beach shack that I use, said that no boat/jetski owner would go into these zones because they would have to pay a heavy fine if they were caught. It did seem to be working and at least it's a start to tackling this dangerous problem.

I wouldn't rely upon the safety of those swimming only zones. At our end towards the Taj, the zone was clearly signed and packed with jet skis. Who hands out the heavy fines anyway? With the average rental fee of 1000 rupees for fifteen minutes, fines would be easy to pay anyway.The damn things are real nuisance but nothing will be done until someone is killed and I don't think that will be too long now.

I've just read in either the online Herald or Navhind about an Indian who was hit by a jet-ski while on holiday. He lived, but...
Take care.
I wade out and swim quite far and always have a sub-conscious fear about these jet-skiers. It IS dangerous, stay close to shore.

the beach shack that we use is planetgoa the food is great and the lads that work there are great seela the lady that works there does a mean massage also, we will be there in march. roll on

I have noticed a theme here on the discussion boards. When someome asks about Baga or Calangute, why do people have completely ignore the question about Baga or Calangute and answer the question with something about Candolim???

I know a lot of people love Candolim and quote 'prefer it because its not as hectic as Calangute or Baga'. But some people, like myself prefer the Apora/baga/Calangute area, because of it is different from Candolim.

So please when some one asks about Baga/Calangute, reply about Baga /Calangute!

As in answer to your question about beach shacks..
I found the 'Edge' beach shack great, run by the same people who own Indian Impact on Csm road. Travllers Rest and Hard Rock Cafe are also good towards the Baga End.

Further down off of Csm Road, the Big Banana and Boscos are always popular, although they seem a bit too crowded with the English tourist. However you know what you are getting at the Big Banana, that's why it remains so popular.

Bosco's does boat trips and some watersports. Look out for the little Goan bloke with the really big belly!

whizzylizzy
must agree bosco's is a popular shack,good food and very friendly.got loads of pics of the the guy with the belly,funny guy as well,going back out there in march so should be fun..will try some of the other shacks as well this year...

the little guy with the big belly is called pedro

I'm not sure about whizzylizzys complaint re this post wandering off target To the best of my knowledge all the shacks mentioned were in fact either in calangute or baga The only one I'm not sure off is Planetgoa but I rather think it is too I also prefer baga/calangute but thought all the posts here valid and interesting Alan

yes gramps planetgoa is on calangute beach about 4 or 5 shacks down from the stairs.

Hey, just got back and we used Sea Pearl beach cafe which is left when you come down the steps, it is about the 5th one down, we didnt get any hassel from anyone as the guys there were fantastic and kept them at bay. I found it much busier towards baga way to that is why we kept with the same one. Stick with what you know! The food there was excellent too. You could get a full body massage if YOU ask for it, they cost 300 rupees. They do not bother you unless you want something! There service was outstanding and were always refilling your drinks. So very cheap too!

I agree with Ally. We used the Sea Pearl nearly every day. They are lovely in there and have good music on. They are amazing at recognising old faces and we had some great evenings there as well.

I've got a few favourites in Calangute... my favourite though is the SeaKing. Just about four shacks up (in full season) from the steps, it's just far enough away from the hectic nature of the steps but peaceful enough to sunbathe without the intruding cameras photgraphing me (although I've never had that trouble!)
Also, the Seaking has the distinction of being one of the very, very few shacks on the whole Sinquerim-Baga stretch of beach that is open ALL year round. Jack (aka Sajit) is a very efficient beach waiter. Worth chatting to.
One of the reasons I like this shack is that the card-trick gamblers (3 cards, find the lady...) always position themselves directly in front. I can't believe so many people fall for it!