Agonda beach, a beach for Olive Ridley turtles
Personally, I feel that there is no such thing as a secret hidden beach in Goa any longer. The more the beaches have got discovered, the more they may have got destroyed with the rampant commercial tourist activity. It’s a hard truth and let me present to you the Agonda beach to drive my point home.
I believe that southern Goa still retains the old Goan charm. The villages very much resemble the unique Goan winding roads leading up to white sandy beaches. I also like the beaches down south as I find the sand is much softer being finer in texture. I have yet to cover the entire coastline of Goa, but the stretch at Agonda beach was one that I heard much about a lot and wanted to really visit.
Being a really popular beach, I supposed that the beach would be crowded naturally and never really ventured in that direction, until the Covid pandemic hit and tourism came to a standstill. Taking a ride one Sunday, after the second wave was on its way out and tourism had still not opened up, I found myself heading in that direction of sand and surf finally.
With all commercial tourist activity coming to a total halt (due to the pandemic), the attractions of Agonda on the hoardings pointed out the direction towards the famous place. Oddly as I reached the spot, I found that the entire area was actually enclosed by the commercial establishments and cordoned off to the point that I had to walk along the road to find if there was some pathway or entrance leading to the beach. Walking along, finally I found one narrow muddy pathway that finally took me to the beach. This was definitely not the grand entrance to any beach worth its sand.
On the horizon, Agonda beach appears like a tiny bay, beautiful as ever. The waters are gentle and inviting. The scene was really serene as the beach was totally devoid of any type of activity. However, the scene on the shore was a stark opposite. The CRZ violations have led to razing down of the structures all along the beach. It looked like the modern ruins of some disaster. I believe, post Cyclone Tauktae, the sand erosion on the beach and destruction of sand dunes has become an even more serious concern to the scenic beauty of the beach.
The Agonda beach is otherwise along with Galgibaga, well known as an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. And despite the clutter, noise and lights on the beach, the turtles have come in during their nesting period, the most recent being March 2022. There is care that the activity at the beach is much restricted in these parts where the hatchings are protected till they return to the sea again. In fact, if one is at the place at the right time one maybe even a witness to this sight.
The vibe at Agonda is lovely as it is quite compact like at the main beach but as the beach opens again post pandemic, hopefully there is some thought process to the amount of tourist activity it can sustain in the long run. And more importantly visitors to the beach have to be conscious that none of their footprints will be detrimental to the mass Olive Ridley turtle nesting sites that come alive during the months of February and April every year.