Pousada by the Beach

Pousada by the Beach is the antidote to the busy heart of Calangute. Tucked at the end of Holiday Street in Gaura Vaddo, you reach it by walking toward the sand, turning right and passing a couple of shacks until you find a green garden dotted with fishing boats and a gate flanked by two terracotta Portuguese soldiers. Beyond it is a calm, sea-facing garden restaurant and bar that feels a world away from the crowds a few hundred metres north.

The format is relaxed daytime beach dining: a garden of tables looking out to the water, plus sunbeds and umbrellas you can take for the day (a per-person charge that can be offset against food and drink), with showers, changing rooms and toilets on site. It opens late morning and runs into the early evening, so it is built for a long, unhurried lunch and a sundowner rather than a late night. The kitchen does Goan, seafood and international dishes with veg, vegan and gluten-free options, and reviewers single out the fish curry and prawn balchao.

Gaura Vaddo lies at the southern, quieter end of Calangute, part of the North Goa second-home cluster of 130 curated homes with a median around Rs 3.60 crore, most price-on-request - the kind of tucked-away sea-facing corner that gives the area its appeal.