In Baga a blind is usually a piece of business equipment. A restaurant terrace that closes whenever it rains loses its tables for much of the monsoon, and clear PVC monsoon blinds along the weather side keep it trading while diners still see out. They roll up out of sight on dry days. Everything metal must suit the salt: aluminium head rails, stainless or plastic chains, coated brackets. Upstairs, guest rooms want blackout rollers that a stranger can work without instructions and that staff can wipe between stays. Wooden and bamboo blinds are a poor bet here, caught as they are between sea spray and creek damp.
- Restaurant and bar terraces: clear PVC monsoon blinds on the sea-facing side, with stainless fixings and a roof or awning overhead.
- Hotel and guest-house bedrooms: chain-operated blackout rollers on aluminium rails, simple enough to swap singly if one is damaged.
- Rooms and cafes backing onto the creek: PVC-coated roller fabric that shrugs off mildew, never real wood or bamboo.
Baga is the northern end of the Calangute beach, where the Baga creek runs out to the sea below a wooded headland. It is the centre of North Goa's nightlife, crowded with beach shacks, clubs, restaurants and hotels.
Almost all demand here is commercial: hotels, guest houses, restaurants and bars. Restaurants want outdoor blinds and awnings to keep terraces open in the rain, and rooms need blackout and washable fabrics.
Baga has the sea in front and the creek behind, so it is humid, salty and breezy. Mosquitoes breed along the creek.
Sea-facing homes
Steel parts rust within a season near the sea. Ask for aluminium head rails, stainless or plastic chains and brackets, and avoid real wood slats, which warp in salt damp. PVC, faux-wood and coated polyester roller fabrics wipe clean and do not hold salt.
Holiday lets and guest houses
Guests are hard on blinds. Choose chain-operated rollers with metal brackets over delicate slatted blinds, in a blackout fabric for bedrooms. A single damaged roller is quick to replace between bookings.