[Rehaan]

A few weeks back I had the chance to escape from the daily grind and head for the hills to a brand new adventure / recreational retreat between Khandala and Lonavala. I had heard whimsical stories from my uncle about people there whose only job was to fly R/C planes all day, and others present just to manage the garage full of ATVs. That in addition to the list of activities offered made this place sound a little too good to be true. I got the opportunity to have a sneak peek, so ofcourse i had to go check it out!!


“Della Adventure” is the brain-child of Jimmy Mistry. You might have read that name in our superbike discussion threads as he owns a Harley, Ducati etc and seems to have a keen interest in motorbikes. He wanted to create a place where the full family could go and have a fun time – so he built this.

As I quickly noticed, what was really impressive, more-so that the scale of the place or the vast number of activities on offer, was the attention to detail and the go all-out attitude that went into every little thing there. No cutting corners anywhere. The overall quality of the place really took things to another level.


What do they have there?

- Radio control car track (with a huge selection of cars)
- Radio control airstrip (with selection of helis and planes + flight simulator)
- Volleyball court
- Paintball arena
- Artificial rock climbing wall
- Rappelling (on the actual hillside)
- Mountain biking
- Mini golf / snag golf
- Zorbing
- Bungee trampoline
- High-rope / low-rope activities (for team building etc)
- Flying fox
- Archery
- Videogames
- Cow milking (!!!)
- Net cricket
- Dog walking
- Play-room for little kids
- Horse riding
- Etc

That's a lot of stuff, so I chose to concentrate on my (our?) areas of interest. Namely, things with wheels! Read on.

[MX6]

Seems an amazing place! Zorbing to Milking! Just the story I need. Eagerly waiting for the rest.

[Rehaan]

Along the main seating and snack area was a room that caught my eye. It had several R/C planes hanging from the ceiling and the showcases were lined with dozens of radio controllers.

“Radio controlled planes / Para-gliding” said the sign.



Inside, they had a large selection of planes and helicopters. Though I have an interest in this stuff, I’m no expert – but I could tell that they had indoor electric copters, electric planes, gas powered planes, electric gliders, and more.







Here’s a gas powered chopper with carbon fiber propeller blades!
We did take this out for a spin, and attached a video camera to it as well. Check out the video later in the post.



This one is not quite the jet engine it looks like. Kiran, the man in charge of the R/C stuff told me that it’s actually propelled by ducted electric fans.



If you want to go para-sailing, they tie you to a jeep that pulls you along.
I think paragliding is also done here, not sure.


Here’s a “stunt” plane. From what I was told – that means it has larger ailerons, which make its movements much faster and make it more sensitive to smaller controller inputs.



The runway made specifically for the radio controlled aircrafts.



In addition to strapping my video camera to the helicopter shown earlier, we decided to do the same on this plane in the hopes of getting some nice footage from the skies.



Fly time!



Here’s the video. It includes some aerial footage of the whole adventure zone from the camera on-board the heli & plane.

YouTube - Radio Controlled Planes and Helicopters in Lonavala w/ Aerial footage

Right next to the air-strip was the radio control track. You’ll understand what I meant when I said “go all-out” earlier. Here’s the selection of cars they had! A couple are electric powered and the rest are gas.



I took an electric one out, as it was “slower” than the others but better for me to get used to the track. The track seems like a pretty basic oval, but I’m sure it could be changed into something more interesting depending on the skill level of the drivers. For me however, the dirt track + constant electric-motor torque + heavy right finger caused donuts at almost every corner . Fun.



Right next to the R/C plane room they had 3 simulation / video game bays like these :



From what I could tell of the posters on the wall, each one was themed: Motorsports, Sports (golf/tennis etc), flying (for required flight simulator training – before getting to the planes), etc.
One bay had these go-karts fitted out with Logitech steering wheels, gearshift & pedals Racing seats too.

[Rehaan]

And now for the main reason I visited this place :


Pretty unreal garage for somewhere in the middle of Lonavala, right?


They had two big CFR 250R motocross bikes, and a smaller Honda XR and a Yamaha



Look at that lineup!



Five 90cc ATVs – followed by the big boys



Don’t get your hopes up. You'll probably need special permission to ride these Atleast the one on the right.



The 700cc Yamaha Raptor. Maybe next time I’ll get my hands on this one.



And the 800cc 4wd Polaris (though it doesn’t seem as sporty as the Raptor)



Yep. There’s a Jet-Ski there too. 1600cc. Turbocharged. 250bhp!



Pedal power works too. Bike helmets provided as well. I believe there’s a trail going along the mountainside.



Two seater buggy. Was built in pune.



Uses an auto rickshaw engine and gearbox. Not the fastest thing, especially on the track that is designed mostly for motocross bikes and ATVs.



Once again – about the attention to details and going all out. If you want to go on an ATV ride, they suit you up in full Fox protective gear!



That’s me, taking the 90cc ATV out for a quick warm-up.



90cc…meh… I got finished with that pretty quick. Moved on to the 200 which was a lot more fun. A quick push of the throttle on turns had the tail end swinging out a little. I had to behave myself though, so tried to keep it nose forward for the most part



The track itself was an oval shape and on an incline, looping around the ATV garage. Not a full-scale track in any way, probably around 400-500m in length. It had larger bumps on the outside (ie for the pros) and smaller bumps on the inside. Even the smaller bumps were pretty harsh when on the ATVs, especially on the smaller sized 90cc with less suspension travel, so I’m not sure how pleasing these ATV rides will be for the regular crowds due to the way the sharp bumps on the track are currently constructed. I had a good time though.

Here's a quick video to give you an idea of the track layout. It serves its purpose as one activity amongst many others, but if you're expecting an extensive track – be warned that this falls short of that, so don't expect too much.

YouTube - Team-BHP: ATV Riding Track in Lonavala @ Della Adventure

[phamilyman]

This is a simply crazy place. Makes men 2 boys :d

[Rehaan]

Archery




Cricket net



The more treacherous, make you sweat activities in the center of the ATV track.



Team-building military style!



Rock-climbing wall.



View from the other side with the ATV garage behind me. You can see the ATV track going around this area.



Bungee trampoline



Paintball area (those flat orange and blue things are inflatable obstacles.)



Beach volleyball



Zorbing. (a.k.a. Barfing in some languages. Best done with a partner you despise)
[For those who don’t know what this is: they strap two people inside a transparent inflatable ball and roll you down a hill!]

[Ardy]

That does seem like an amazing place to spend weekends. There are a lot of things / activities to keep one occupied for the entire day.

Fantastic.

Cheers,

[drifter]

I've heard good things about this place. But didn't know it was this good. In fact, we are supposed to be going there this weekend.

Drifter

[spiff]

any idea how to get this place?

[Rehaan]

And for the more family & laidback stuff :

Snag golf. Never played it, but I think it involves hitting fuzzy balls onto a Velcro pole or other targets, instead of into a hole like typical mini-golf.



These St. Bernards are chilling under the A/C vent. There are Alsatians and other dogs too which can be taken for a walk. (As a charged activity ofcourse).



Emus! No. You can’t take them for a walk, or ride them. Or even eat them. Maybe you can feed them. Not sure.



And now for the most interesting one – Cow milking!!



The cows were a little camera shy, so I took a picture of the equipment instead.



The stables



Siddhant and Boss weren’t camera shy at all



If you want to let your kids play while you have some fun, they can be dropped off here. There is a maid to take care of them as well.



The kiddy play room comes complete with a bathroom that has a mini potty that looks like a frog…



The kiddy playground right outside



Really useful for the accident prone people



An ambulance, in case it’s serious. They’ve covered all the bases, really.



They have a sense of humour too



The fine dining restaurant “PNF Grill”. Those are TVs on the wall.



Cool seating at the counter (saddles)



Interesting décor too



I spent the whole day at this place and barely even managed to partake in half the things i wanted to. Despite that + the summer heat, I loved it. I really haven't seen or heard of anything quite like it anywhere else in India.

Tip - In the summer, its worth getting there at about 5pm as the sun starts to set and it begins to get cooler. If i'm not mistaken the place is open past midnight, and looks really spectacular all lit up at night.


Quite an apt answer to the eternal question of “what should we do this weekend?” !

Thats all for now.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by drifter

... In fact, we are supposed to be going there this weekend.

Cool. Do put up anything i missed.

Originally Posted by spiff

any idea how to get this place?

When going from Bombay, get off the expressway at the (first) Khandala exit. Drive straight (past Kamats etc on your left). Within the next km or so on the road between Khandala and Lonavala, theres a smaller road that branches off to the left and goes sharply downwards. It has a big red banned above it saying "Della Adventure / Della Enclave". Keep following the signs after that.

cya
R

[pradipk]

Hey Rehaan,

Nice info. Now this is what I call it as a DREAM PLACE. Planning to take break sometimes in may/jun from routine and go out for Coorg/Goa but it seems you saved my money. Will definitely plan for this place & hope it will be finalized. BTW is it fully functional now? I mean I just now checked their site, info on packages are like "Coming Soon".

Once again thanks for sharing the info.

[sen2009]

How expensive is the place?
I'm sure it won't be cheap by any means. If it's not expensive, I am gonna become poor soon enough.

[ampere]

What is this place! Wow !
Is Jimmy Mistry the the same guy who acts?
(If I recollect East is East; The Guru etc)

[MX6]

Just like Bhalu says in jungle book, "I'm gone man. Solid gone!". Never knew such a place existed. But I'm sticking to my resolution of not going on a trip till month end or 1st week of may.
The military style team building looks amazing.