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About Goa
Hotels In Goa
Holiday Packages In Goa
With its fluorescent painted palm trees and infamous full-moon parties, Anjuna 8 K.M west of Mapusa is Goa's most alternative". Designer leather and Lycra may have superseded cotton kaftans but most people's reason for coming here are same as they were in 1970: drugs, dancing and lying on the beach. One of the main reason of Anjuna enduring popularity as a hippy hangout is the beach. Bathing is generally safer than at most of the nearby resort especially at the southern end. The season in Anjuna starts in early November when most of the long staying regulars show up. Anjuna's Wednesday flea market is the hub of Goa's alternative scene and the place to indulge in souvenir shopping. Buses from Panaji & Mapusa drop passengers at various point s along the tarmac road across the top of the village. The cross roads have couple of small stores and a taxi stand.
10 K.M west of Mapusa is basically an extension of Calangute, you can't find out where Calangute ends and Baga begins. Lying in the lee of a rocky, wooded headland, the only real difference between the two is that the scenery here is marginally more varied and picturesque. A small river flows in the sea at the top of the village. Most of the action revolves around the sandy square and the bus park close to the river mouth, below a broad spur of white sand. Baga has developed more rapidly than anywhere else in the state and now the main road running across the village is lined with gaudily lit bars, tandoori terrace and handicraft shops. One of the few developments of Baga's burgeoning tourist scene has been the emergence of the flea market, held here on Saturday on the headland beyond the box bridge, it kicks around 4 p.m and lasts till the cool hours till 11 pm. All the usual handicrafts, jewellery and snacks stalls are represented and there's temporary stage for the visiting local musician. Baga's nightlife is the liveliest in Goa. Here you will find the perfect blend of Western and Goan culture.
A 45 mints. bus ride from the state capital, Calangute is Goa's busiest and most commercialised resort of the state. The Charter boom, combined with a huge increase in the number of Indian visitors, is burden on Calangut's infrastructure. Buses from Mapusa and Panaji pull in the market at the centre of Calangute. The beach is walkable distance from here. The road from the town to the beach is lined with Kashmiri -run handicraft, boutiques and Tibetian stalls selling Himalayan curios and jewelry. The quality is high and so are the prices. The beach itself is nothing special - its sand shelves steeply but is more than large enough to accommodate the large number of high season visitors. To escape the muddle, head fifteen minutes or so south of the main beachfront towards the row of old wooden boats moored below the dunes. This is virtually hawker- free zone, you will only come across team of villagers hauling in hand- nets at high tide or fishermen fixing their bamboo sunshades. Night life here is mostly restricted to Tito's which is in Baga Beach, open until 11 p.m., other popular hangouts are Pete's bar and Bob's Inn.
Candolim at the far southern end of Calangute beach is a surprisingly sedated resort. Now with the increase in tourism the beach has been slightly transformed, to some for the best, to others for the detriment. To the south of Candolim, along peninsula extends into the sea, bring 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. On the north side of the fort, a rampart of red-brown laterite juts into the bay to from a jetty between two small sandy coves. This picturesque spot is Sinquerim Beach.
Miramar beach is located south of Panaji with a 2 K.M of dark sand stretch overlooking Aguada Bay. Though the beach is noisy and less attractive than other places in Goa, if you want a quick escape from Panaji, this is an ideal place. The best time to be there is in the afternoon when you will only find the fishermen fixing their nets and few odd cafes serving the tourist. It would be a waste spending your holiday near this beach. Buses to Miramar ply from the Kadamba bus stand every fifteen minutes.
The first tourist beach of North Goa is also the site of Aguada Fort, one of the best preserved Portuguese coastal forts. West of Reis Magos, a long laterite Peninsula extends into the sea bringing the seven kilometers long Calangute beach to an abrupt end. Fort Aguada which crowns the rocky flattened top of the green headland is the largest and best preserved Portuguese bastion in Goa. Built in 1962 to guard the northern shores of the Mandovi estuary from the attack by Dutch and Maratha raiders, its name derives from the presence inside of freshwater springs-the first source of clear drinking water available to the ships arriving in Goa after long sea voyage from Lisbon. Now is the Goa's largest prison.
The beach runs around in a bay from Dona Paula is Vainguinim beach where hotels stretches along much of it. The beach is totally safe from beach traders. The Jesuits had occupied this area towards the end of the 16 th century. It was an orchard, watered by two springs, that were surrounded by an acre grove.
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