Goa Beach Trip Planner

INTRODUCTION:
The state of Goa in India, was a Portuguese colony until 1962, and is famous for its Indo-Portuguese culture and architecture. Goa's beaches reflect its colourful mosaic of history.The combination of the "sosegãdo" or laid back lifestyle, bracing weather and Goa's carnival-like nightlife has been known to lure many into a psychedelic trance.

As you vacation in Goa and feel the soft sand beneath your feet, you'll find that there is no place like a warm, inviting beach in Goa to make you feel at peace with the universe.

The local brews, like cashew and coconut "feni," with their strong aroma, are definitely not for the faint of heart (or stomach). If you visit in the right season, you can sample the local "Urak," a lighter and sweeter-smelling distillate of feni.

How to get there: You can take a cheap flight to Goa from Mumbai. The more adventurous can opt for an eight-hour trip to Goa by Konkan railway or a sixteen-hour bus journey from Mumbai.


Anjuna Beach
Anjuna, 18 kms from Panaji is a popular beach area adjacent to Chapora fort- it was the haunt of the flower generation in the sixties - and is still popular with the younger generation.
In Anjuna there is magnificent Albuquerque mansion built in 1920, flanked by octagonal towers and attractive Mangalore tiled-roof. The Anjuna band plays for the beach party at night. Palm trees stand motionless in the warm air. To the east is a mountain. If you want to return to civilization, climb the mountain to get to Baga where you can catch a ferry out.

This is the Goa Freak capital of the World. Anjuna becomes a fair of colors. Lines of vehicles full of tourists start virtually raising clouds of dust in this area.
Anjuna attracts a weird and wonderful collection of over monks, defiant ex-hippies, gentle lunatics, artists, artisans, seers, searchers, sybarites and itinerant expatriates who normally wouldn't be seen out of the organic confines of their health-food emporia in San Francisco or London.
Full moon, when the infamous parties take place, is a particularly good time to be here if you want to indulge in bacchanalian delights.

Only a Brit would think about raving about the main beach, but it's worth the walk to the small, protected sliver of sand at South Anjuna where the area's long-term house-renters tend to gather.


Calangute Beach
Excellent accommodation facilities are available, particularly at the tourist resort and cottages. Calangute lie on the shores of the Arabian Sea of North Goa in India. It is encircled by Arpora-Nagoa, Saligao and Candolim, in the Bardez taluka. 16 Kms from Panaji. is the most popular holiday resort in Goa and known as The Queen of Beaches.

Being a popular holiday resort, the small houses amidst the coconut groves behind the beach are always in constant demand. Calangute seems to be a distortion of the local vernacular word ‘Koli-gutti’, which means land of fishermen. Some people connect it with Kalyangutti (village of art) or Konvallo-ghott (strong pit of the coconut tree) because the village is full of coconut trees. With the advent of the Portuguese, the word probably got distorted to Calangute, and has stuck till today.

Seemingly not all that long ago, Calangute was the beach all self-respecting hippies headed for, especially around Christmas when psychedelic hell broke loose. If you enjoyed taking part in those mass poojas, with their endless half-baked discussions about `when the revolution comes' and `the vibes, maaan', then this was just the ticket.

The best time of the year to visit this area is between September and March.


Dona Paula Beach
7 kms from Panaji. An idyllic picturesque spot. Command a fine view of the Zuari river and Mormugao Harbour. Water scootering facilities are available here. It is near the rocky point between the Mandovi and the Zuari is Dona Paula, a secluded bay with a fine view of the Marmagao harbour.

This is an idyllic spot to relax and sunbathe. Water scootering facilities available. On the northern banks of the River Zuari, a little away to tie south east of Cabo, lies a large escarpment with a bay and two small beaches which in the old days was part of Oddavel. The Dona Paula bay is at the place where two of Goa's famous rivers meet the Arabian sea.

Named after Dona Paula de Menezes, this place is called the Lovers Paradise due to a myth which has been attached to this place. At the place where two of Goa's famous rivers meet the Arabian sea is the Dona Paula bay.


Arambol Beach
Arambol is along the Goa border with its fresh water lagoon. Due to its isolation, some tourists has been unable to reach this beach.
It is the 16-km-long sea beach. The main beach has adequate body surfing and there are several attractive bays a short walk to the north.
Arambol Beach is 50 kms from Panaji. A unique beach in the North Goa, is both rocky and sandy beach and much sought after. It has a sweet water pond right on the shore.

Beyond an idyllic, rocky-bottomed cove, the trail emerges to a board strip of soft white sand hemmed in on both sides by steep cliffs.
A small fresh-water lake extends along the bottom of the valley into a thick jungle,just behind it. Fed by boiling hot springs, the lake is lined with sulphurous mud, which, smeared over the body, dries to form a surreal, butter-coloured shell.


Palolem Beach
Palolem is Goa's one of the most beautiful and idyllic beach and it has 1.5 km crescent shaped beach. The beach lies on the southern coastline of Goa amidst outstanding natural beauty.
The sweeping crescent of white sand is fringed by a shady rim of coconut palms and the whole beach is hemmed in at either end by rocky crags.
Palolem is about 37 kms from Margao. Just west of Chaudi one of the most enchanting beaches in Goa relatively deserted, with backdrop of Western ghats, situated in Southern Taluka of Canacona.

It is comparatively fast emerging as a popular spot for day-trippers from Colva and Calangute. Many travellers drift down from the northern beaches to spend days, weeks or even months chilling out here.
There is very little development and it's extremely laid-back. Most accommodation is in simple, rickety beach buts or villagers homes, with a handful of more solid guesthouses scattered around.
Palolem Village is nestled in the palms backed from the beach. With the large influx of tourists to the Northern beaches and the resultant increasing commercialisation of these places.


Vagator Beach
This beautiful beach is located about 22 Kms from Panaji and is situated in Bardez taluka. This is part of a 30 km stretch of beach coastline along the west coast of Goa.
The arabian sea that begins at Fort Aguada continues as Sinquerim beach, then as Candolim beach and merges into Calangute beach and then to Baga beach and then Anjuna beach and then to Vagator beach finally ending at Chapora beach and Fort.

The beach adjoining Anjuna is secluded, crescent shaped and situated on the Caisua bay along the Chapora river basin, in the shadow of Chapora fort.
During the tourist season, it is a favorite venue for mid night parties. There are a number of buses that run from Mapusa and Calangute Beach to Vagator. The nearest interstate bus station is at Mapusa, the KTC bus station.


Agonda Beach
If you continue driving towards Panaji from Palolem, the next beach is Agonda. It’s long and lonely, fringed with palms and casuarinas and dominated by a large hill to the south.
It’s not safe to swim out too far on this beach. There are very few facilities available here and you are needed to carry all the essentials. Agonda is a three-kilometer long beautiful cove of white sand, safely secluded in the palms. There are no tourists, no souvenir stalls, no restaurants, nothing.

Just the trees, the beach, the big beautiful ocean and you. It also makes for a great day trip from Colva and Covelossim. For real adventure, hire a tent and camp for the night, listening to the crashing of the sea waves. Not far from Agonda beach is Cabo de Rama, untouched by most of the visitors in this region. The atmosphere of the fort creates a sense of history and drama that very few would fail to appreciate. The fort is named after Rama, hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
According to the local legends, Rama stayed here with his wife Sita during the period of 12-year exile.

The best way to reach this beach is by a scooter or motors bike.


Vagator Beach
This beautiful beach is located about 22 Kms from Panaji and is situated in Bardez taluka. This is part of a 30 km stretch of beach coastline along the west coast of Goa. The arabian sea that begins at Fort Aguada continues as Sinquerim beach, then as Candolim beach and merges into Calangute beach and then to Baga beach and then Anjuna beach and then to Vagator beach finally ending at Chapora beach and Fort.

The beach adjoining Anjuna is secluded, crescent shaped and situated on the Caisua bay along the Chapora river basin, in the shadow of Chapora fort. During the tourist season, it is a favorite venue for mid night parties. There are a number of buses that run from Mapusa and Calangute Beach to Vagator. The nearest interstate bus station is at Mapusa, the KTC bus station.


Miramar Beach
This beautiful beach is located about 3kms from Panaji. It lies adjoining the estuary of the river Mandovi as it opens into the Arabian sea. It was originally known as the "Gasper Dias Beach". From the beach across the river is an excellent view of Fort Aguada. Apart from its proximity to Panaji, it is very much commercialized and a large number of hotels and exclusive homes of Goa's rich and famous stud the area.

The beach is crowded with locals and tourists alike on most days. The Dhempe College of Arts and Science is located here and so is the memorial to Goa's first chief minister, the late Dayanand Bandodkar.
A lovely golden beach of soft sand gridled with palm trees facing the blue Arabian Sea, is the nearest to Panaji.


Colva Beach
This is the most important beach in the south circuit equipped with all modern amenities like air-conditioned resort complexes, tourist cottages, discos, seashell artefact stalls, refreshment stalls, eateries, guest houses, expanding the village enormously. The Church of Our Lady Of Mercy in Colva is famous for its miracle statue of Menino Jesus. The road leading from the Church to the beach is where all the facilities are located.

Colva is a small village in south Goa on the shores of the Arabian Sea. It lies 39 km away from Panaji, capital of the Indian state of Goa. Two km further ahead from Colva is Benaulim. With 20 km of virgin white sands, palm fringed, and sun drenched beaches, Colva is the most loved beach of Goans. Colva, unlike Anjuna or Calangute, gained popularity only lately. It was little disturbed and life moved on quietly. While taking a stroll on the Colva Beach, silver carpets of bangdde (mackerels) can be viewed shimmering on the golden sands for drying. Fishermen’s motor trawlers can be seen anchored in a line offshore. Tourists - Indian and foreigners, as well as locals - can be seen in colorful dresses, coming either for a walk or ‘for a change of air’. Many tourists can be seen having a sunbath on the golden sands.

The trinket stalls and the drink stands on the golden sands under the moonlight make the evening on the Colva Beach utterly romantic.

Goa Beach Trip Planner, Reservation Form

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