Beaches of Goa

… and a little about Goan cuisine.

It is inevitable that my first post on India is about Goa—every Indian’s favorite holiday destination. Goa is the top choice when it comes to beach vacation in India, and also to ring in the new year in one of the many parties.
Calangute, Baga, and Anjuna may be the most visited and famous beaches of Goa; but here I have a few beaches that I love going to. These beaches are unfrequented and slightly out of the public eye. Some of these are not commercialized (yet); so you might want to take pack your own snacks and drinks.

Beaches of Goa starting from south to north:

Palolem beach

Palolem is frequented by tourists and a well known beach in the south. Palolem made it to my list for only one reason: dolphins. One early morning in the month of October, these gentle creatures put on a great show for us. We hired a local boat for dolphin watching and also stopped at Butterfly island. Palolem beach is calm in the mornings, and as the day advances it’s filled with travelers and hawkers.

Agonda beach

Agonda beach is very close to Palolem, but is quite different. Agonda is un-spoilt; there are no hawkers, just some locals and very few tourists.

If your plan to chill at this beach, it is best to get your own food and picnic by the beach. Agonda is close to one of my favorite view points in Goa: Cabo de Rama.

Cola beach

This unspoilt rocky beach is a few kilometers off Agonda. The drive to get here is very scenic and it was worth all the effort of finding and getting to. Apart from a few resort construction workers there wasn’t anybody on the beach.

Cola beach has a few rustic tented resort accommodations right on the beach. This is one place I would love to go back and stay for a few days.

Morjim beach

Morjim is the ‘Little Russia’ of Goa. Here, you will find restaurants with Russian menus and the beach is frequented by Russians. I have stayed in a little hut on this beach and enjoyed walking in the shallow waters during low-tide. Morjim has a vibrant night life and is the place to be for party-goers. For great food visit the adjacent Ashwen beach.

Ashwem beach

Ashwem is much quieter than its neighbour Morjim. Ashwem has this French restaurant I love going back to, La Plage. There is also a nice patisserie nearby- Delicieux.

Mandrem beach

Mandrem beach is by a small village of the same name and has no stay options right on the beach. We stayed at a B&B in the village and walked to this beautiful deserted beach in the mornings.

Goan cuisine

My top reason for going to Goa? Goan cuisine. Most of the restaurants and shacks near the beach do not serve authentic Goan food, except for a few, one is Souza Lobo on Calungate beach. So, if you are on a Goan cuisine expedition try some of the restaurants listed below:

Ritz classic in Panjim – The seafood appetizers and fish thali are a must here.

Viva Panjim – In my opinion, this place has the best mackerel recheado. Their prawn curry is delish too.

These are some of the dishes (that are my favorite) that you should try out: fish recheado, goan prawn curry, chicken xacuti, cafreal, and pork vindaloo. Wash this down with a solkadi, a slightly spicy drink good for digestion or a sweet kokum juice.

For dessert, I would pick Dodol over Bebinca (go find out for yourself).

Want to have a typical Goan breakfast too? Try the Goan bread called Pão (that’s Portuguese for bread) with chana (green peas curry). You will find this in small tuck-shops; best to check with a local.

I have lost the number of times I have visited the smallest state in India, but I still look forward to go there and indulge in delicious Goan cuisine.

Which is your favorite place in Goa?

26 thoughts on “Beaches of Goa

  1. Have been twice to Goa, but haven’t seen the Goa you have seen..!! This blog is making me plan for an other trip to the unexplored Goa..!!:) The cuisine part is amazing, I knew nothing but fish and prawns here. Overall you are the best traveller I have met..!!

  2. Atlast I read a post of yours . Good one .I have been to few of those beaches in Goa. The rest will be included in the next trip when ever that might be ?

  3. Great post Anna..I wonder when will I get to go there! My parents had taken me with them when I was a toddler and we have no photographs of that time. So it would be a complete new world to me when and if I go!

    1. Thank you. Yup definitely a new world as you wouldn’t remember anything from your toddler days there. But ya Goa is not changing rapidly like the big cities. I was there 2months back after a gap of two years and things were pretty much the same! The only thing is more people coming in.

  4. Your pictures are amazing! This is what I’m aiming to show on my blog; the Goa not many people know about. I might reference this fabulous post at some point on my blog as well, if that’s okay.
    Souza Lobo is one of my favourites too! <3

      1. Good question. I was on quite a few. I was on Anjuna, Baga and a few other beaches near Baga. I stayed there for a few days before heading south. I’m pretty sure I was on Agonda and I think Morjim and Ashwem.

        Lovely spot.

    1. Thank you. There are quite a few number of tours which offer Dolphin trips at different locations. However we took a boat directly from Palolem beach one early morning. Negotiated the rate a bit and we set out looking for Dolphins with a stop at two nearby islands – Honeymoon and Butterfly. There are many fishermen boats along the beach and most of them are eager to take you for a fee.

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