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Anjuna Beach: The beauty of the white waves rushing to embrace the golden sand on the beach can be witnessed in full form at the Goa Anjuna beach. Goa Anjuna beach comes to life with the flea market and the full-moon beach parties that continue through out the night. 18 km north of Panaji, Anjuna beach is the most popular hotspots of Goa and India tourism.
Natural Beauty: One of the main sources of Anjuna's enduring popularity as a hippy hang out is its superb beach. Fringed by groves of swaying coconut palms, the curve of soft white sand conforms more closely to the archetypal vision of paradise than any other beach on the north coast. Bathing is generally safer than at most of the nearby resorts, too, especially at the more peaceful southern end, where a rocky headland keeps the sea calm and the undertow to a minimum.
Tourist Spots: Its significant tourist spots are the magnificent Albuquerque Mansion built in 1920, flanked by octagonal towers and an attractive Mangalore tile-roof, the Mascarenhas Mansion, and the Chapora Fort. Anjuna is the least likely place to find peace and quiet.
Baga Beach: Baga Beach is part of a 30-km stretch of beach coastline along the west coast of Goa by the Arabian Sea, 10-km west of Mapusa, is basically an extension of Calangute beach. Lying in the rocky, wooded headland, the only difference between this far northern end of the Baga beach and its more congested center of Calangute Beach is that the scenery of this beach site is more varied, unspoiled and scenic.
Scenic Beauty: The quiet atmosphere and isolated location of Baga, beside the scenic beauty that surrounds it have contributed to the beach being a favourite among the beach lovers. Baga beach is more popular with western tourists who love to use it as a base for water sports and fishing in the area. Baga has arguably the best range of restaurants in Goa, from standard beach shacks to swish pizzerias and terrace cafes serving real espresso coffee. Tourists can opt for a candlelit dinner at the beacheside, or a traditional Goan meal at the shacks and restaurants offering continental as well as tempting seafood.
Nightlife: Baga's nightlife is the liveliest in the area. Most of the travellers end up at Tito's, which has the only dance floor and hefty sound system outside a big hotel for miles.
Benaulim Beach: Derived from Sanskrit word "Banali" and later corrupted by the Portuguese to Benaulim, the beautiful beach lies in the centre of Colva Beach, 7-km west of Margao. Only a decade ago, this fishing and rice-farming village, scattered around the coconut groves and paddy fields had barely made it onto the backpackers map. This beach remains a peaceful and welcoming place to unwind.
Shimmering Beauty: Either side of the sand blown beachfront, the gently shelving sands shimmer away almost to the horizon, litered with photogenic wooden fishing boats that provide welcome shade if the walk from the palm trees to the sea gets too much. Moreover, the sea is safe for swimming, being generally jellyfish-free, while the village itself boasts a few serviceable bars and restaurants, several telephone booths and a couple of stores.
Restaurants: Benaulim's proximity to Margao market, along with the presence of its Christian Fishing Community, means its restaurants serve the most succulent, competitively priced seafood in Goa. However, one'll find better food at lower prices in the smaller terrace restaurants further along the beach and scattered around the village.
Calangute Beach: Calangute beach is one of the Goa's busiest and most commercialized beaches. This peaceful fishing village was a favourite hideout of the hippies in the 70's and 80's. Today, Calangute beach symbolise Goa's reputation as a haven for beach and coastal splendour. The beach itself is nothing special, with steeply shelving sand, but is more than large enough to accommodate the huge numbers of high-season visitors.
Water Sports: Calangute also makes a perfect beach site if you want to indulge in some water sports activities. Parasailing, water skiing and wind surfing at the Calangute beach starts in the afternoon when the wind is blowing just in the right direction and it goes on till sunset. Calangute's nightlife is surprisingly tamed and provide a nice break from the wild parties at Anjuna. All but a handful of the bars wind up by 10.00 pm.
Bars and Restaurants: Calangute's bars and restaurants are mainly grouped around the entrance to the beach and along the Baga road. As with most Goan resorts, the accent is firmly on tempting seafood, though many places also serve vegetarian dishes.
Cadolim Beach: Four or five years ago, Candolim, at the far southern end of Calangute beach, was a surprisingly sedate resort, appealing to an odd mixture of middle-class Bombayites, and Burgundy-clad Sannyasins taking a break from the Rajneesh Ashram at Pune. Now, large-scale package holiday complexes jostle for space behind the dunes and the increasingly crowded beach has sprouted ranks of sun beds.
Restaurants: Candolim's numerous beach cafes are a cut above your average seafood shacks, with pot plants, state-of-the-art sound systems and prices to match. The main road is also dotted with restaurants serving the usual selection of fresh fish dishes, with a handful of continental options thrown in.
The Aguda Fort: Immediately south of Candolim, a long peninsula extends into the sea, bringing the seven-kilometre white sandy beach to an abrupt end. Aguada Fort, which crowns the rocky flattened top of the headland, is the best-preserved Portuguese bastion in Goa.
Colva Beach: The Colva Beach is broad and beautiful, and has a stream coursing through it. Colva is the oldest and largest of South Goa's resorts. Its leafy outlying 'Vaddos', or wards are pleasant enough, dotted with colonial style villas and ramshackle fishing huts. The beachfront is a collection of concrete hotels, souvenir stalls and fly blown snack bars strewn around a central roundabout.
Natural Beauty: A walk on the beaches is full of delights. Fishermen's motor trawlers lie anchored in a line offshore. Tourists in colorful dresses throng about and several of them can be seen sunbathing in the glorious sun. Trinket stalls and drink stands on the golden sands make a moonlit evening on the Colva Beach utterly romantic.Colva can be a pleasant and convenient place to stay for a while. Swimming is relatively safe while the sand, at least away from the beachfront, is spotless and scattered with beautiful shells.
Restaurants: When the season is in full swing, Colva's beachfront sprouts a row of large seafood restaurants on stilts, some of them very ritzy indeed, with tablecloths, candles and smooth music. Although never an established rave venue, Colva's nightlife is livelier than anywhere else in south Goa, thanks to its ever-growing contingent of young package tourists.
Dona Paula Beach: 7-km from Panjim, nestled on the south side of the rocky, hammer-shaped headland that divides the Zuari and Mandovi estuaries, Dona Paula Beach is an idyllic spot to relax and sunbathe. Water scootering facilities are also available over here. Named after Dona Paula de Menezes, this place is called the Lovers Paradise due to a myth that has been attached to this place. According one legend the Viceroy's daughter after facing objections from her family about her love affair with a poor fisherman jumped off the cliff.
Water Sports: Tranquil and blue, Dona Paula unravel the ultimate in aquatic sport and fun.Dona Paula Sports Club, Dona Paula offers some of the best water sports facilities to the sports enthusiasts including Water-scooter rides, Motor-boat rides, etc.
Shoppers Paradise: There are several shops along the beacheside, which sell variety of goods ranging from eatables to clothes. Fishermen-turned-local vendors also sell straw hats, lace handkerchiefs, and spices in these shops. Feni and port wine-the two Goan liquor specialties-are a must buy and local liquor is easily available. Indian handicrafts and jewellery are available at the Indian Arts Emporium in Dona Paula.
Bogmalo Beach: Bogmalo is broad, flat and open beache that lie close to the port city of Vasco and are ideal for picnickers. Though popular, it is less heavily frequented among the prominent beaches of Goa.
Natural Beauty: A former fishing village, it is still present at Bogmalo, complete with a tiny-whitewashed Chapel and gangs of hogs nosing through the rubbish, but its environs have been transformed. There are small clusters of beach shack restaurants and a few fishing villages scattered under the coconut palms here. The Bogmalo beach though has the Bogmalo Oberoi hotel located on it and caters to the leisurely needs of its visitors. Shipwrecks stuck in the silt can be seen from here.
Dives: A small dive school recently opened up in Bogmalo and is one of the few places in India where one can do PADI-approved Open water diving courses. Operating out of Joet's guesthouse, at the far end of the beach, the British run outift also offers half day "Try Dives" for novices, guided dives to shipwreck sites and coral beds off the coast and tuition for more advanced qualifications.
Places To Stay: As this is primarily a package tour destination, walk in accommodation is very limited and best booked ahead. There are few luxurious option present over here, overlooking the beach. Bogmalo's other mid range guesthouses, are much more comfortable for short stay purposes.
Majorda Beach: Bogmalo and Majorda are broad, flat and open beaches that lie close to the port city of Vasco and are ideal for picnickers. Though popular, they are less heavily frequented among the prominent beaches of Goa.
Located in Salcete, Majorda is one of the smaller developed beaches of Goa, albeit the whole area possesses a lot of character, with small fishing villages scattered around palm groves. The villages in the area are relatively prosperous, partly because many families have men working in the Gulf, and many traditional mansions of wealthy families stand out.
Water Sports: The Kenilworth Beach Resort offers a water sports center managed by professionals which is open to non-residents too.
Restaurants and Nightlife: Apart from the excellent restaurants at the resorts, there're a few clusters of beach shacks close to the resorts offering good choice from the cuisine of Goa, India and Europe. Betalbatim has a few good restaurants and beach bars. Interestingly designed as a pirate ship, Treasures is a popular casino cum disco at Majorda Beach Resort Goa. It's also the only disco in Goa or India from where you can send an Email
Palolem Beach: Palolem is a beach of white sand facing a blue bay between two headlands. The little wooded islands on the northern headland look interesting but as we've never ventured onto any of them we don't know what landing on them would be like.. Tourists have discovered Palolem and so there are a few shacks selling seafood snacks, souvenirs and clothes of the shapeless, bright, informal kind. Palolem beach is an ideal beach that any tourist would be looking for. Besides relaxing on the beach you can also venture into the sea where you will be able to spot the dolphins.
Scenic Beauty: Palolem beach is one of the most ideal beaches in this Indian state of Goa. It has a crescent shaped bay lined with swaying coconut palms hemmed by a pair of rocky crags. The white sand beach in an arc is picture perfect. The village located nearby has several cafes and souvenir stalls catering to day-trippers and vacationers who arrive in droves on sightseeing tours of the beaches.
Boat Trips: The local fishermen offer dolphin watching and fishing boat trips. The closeby Agonda beach is one of the best spots for sea angling in Goa or India. Soormai, salmon and mullet are amongst the catches.
Food and Drinks: Shacks line the northern end of the shore and serve reasonably good food and drinks. The shacks at the southern end offer better ambiance.
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