Aguada Fort is very popular destination for tourists in goa. It's not only about tourists who love this place but localities and Bollywood keeps showing their love the place. Many of the bollywood movies are shot at this place and 'Rang de Basanti' is known the most among them. Aguada Fort looks awesome during monsoons and exposes to an amazing view of the sea from a high place. This Photo Journey shares some of the moments spent around Aguada Fort through Photographs. All of the Aguada Fort pictures in this Photo Journey are clicked during monsoon season.
Aguada fort is very approachable from different places in Goa like Panjim, Candolim, Calangule, Baga etc. The Fort Aguada is a very well preserved portuguese fort which is there in Goa for last few centuaries. This is actually located near Sinquerim Beach, overlooking the Arabian Sea around India. There is a working lighthouse inside this fort which you must have noticed in the first photograph as well in the photograph just above. Aguada Fort is located around 20 kilometers from Panajim, the Old part of Goa.
Almost every tourist who comes to Goa, visits Aguada Fort. Aguada Fort timings are 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM. It's open on all days of the week. I thought of sharing timings here because, before coming to Aguada Fort we checked for two things - Timings & it's location on Map. Aguada fort map is much needed because in Goa, you get different information about this fort from different sources. We realized that the name Aguada is used by many properties and many times people may guide you to some property.
The Aguada fort was constructed in 16th centuary to guard this land against the Dutch and the Marathas. Aguada was a reference point for the vessels coming from Europe in old days. Aguada is an old Portuguese fort which is on south of Candolim beach and stands at the shore of the Mandovi River.
Above photograph shows amazing views of Arabic Sea... As shown in bollywood movie 'Rang de Basanti', this place expose tourists to some of the unique views & experiences of Goa. We went there in morning and found it best time to visit. Usually Aguada Fort is very crowded with tourists, so it's recommended to reach there early, which essentially means 10 am and explore the place. After our visit to Aguada Fort, we drove to the beach which was near Goa Jail. Many of the folks were doing fishing there and we saw hundreds of crabs on the beach. This was an awesome experience and we shall dedicate a separate Photo Journey to those crabs :)
Many times, Goans confuse the fort with Aguada fort Taj which comes on the way to the fort and it's one of the most popular properties to stay in Goa. Apart from that many folks visit Vivanta by Taj and beaches around it. It has also become one of the main tourist destination. There are few fort like structures around Vivanta where tourists like to visit to witness high tides of the sea.
Name of Aguada Fort is taken from freshwater spring which used to suppy water to the ships coming there. 'Agua' in actually a portuguese means water, and hence the fort was named 'Aguada' to denote a place where water is accumulated. There was time when fort was protected by more than 200 cannons and a deep dry moat, which one still has to cross to get inside. More details about history of this fort can be checked at - http://www.goatourism.gov.in/destinations/forts/150-aguada-fort
Fort has multiple levels and one needs to climb stairs to explore fort, so it's not recommended for folks having trouble in climbing high places and in general one needs to walk a lot to explore the fort.
It seems that the land around the fort is now owned by
The Indian Hotels Company. On the ramparts behind the fort is the Fort
Aguada Beach Resort. This property is owned by Tatas and is part of an 85+ acres complex overlooking the Arabian Sea. It is situated on Sinquerim Beach and looks beautiful from road. Fort Aguada Beach Resort looks awesome with beautiful villas and cottages, with unmatchable views of Arabian sea.
We didn't spend much time around Aguada Fort, as the list to do was long and there were many more exciting things in our mind. But it was wroth visiting Aguada Fort for short splan of time... On the back journey we noticed a beautoful beach with lot of ships parked there and planned to visit the same. It was Coco beach and following link shares the exciting experience with fishermen on the Coco Beach.