Information about Beaches of South Goa

South Goa leads a charmed life —its coastal villages have been inundated by tourists and taken over by hoteliers but it manages to retain an aura of normalcy! Sun drenched crescents of sand edge little villages of whitewashed churches and chapels, rice fields and narrow lanes shaded with rain trees, coconut palms, mango, jackfruit and plantains groves. Streams trickle indolently towards the sea through a tangle of undergrowth. Days are spent toiling in the sun, sowing or reaping paddy fields or sailing the sea in search of silver shoals. Children play catch and boys football in the village maidan while women go about their daily routine. Lazy evenings slip quietly into nights as the village gathers around the local watering hole to catch up on the day and watch tourists promenade in the square.

Unlike their northern counterparts, the beaches of South Goa escaped becoming a fixture on the hippie circuit. Instead, the coastal villages of Majorda, Colva, Benaulim, Varca, Cavelossim and Mobor became the preserve of the middle class tourist and the up market traveller who came looking for leisure holidays away from the madding crowds. They found the perfect answer in South Goa with its offering of every sort of accommodation from deluxe resorts to budget lodgings, facilities for water sports, parasailing, yachting, windsurfing and deep sea diving and towns and villages deeply enriched with a hybrid cultural cocktail of Indian and Portuguese civilizations.

Here is Information about Top 9 Beaches of South Goa

Majorda

The beach that belongs to the resorts! Majorda is God’s best known beach catering to staggering numbers of tourists, domestic and foreign. Time share to luxury, state of art, sybaritic to spas, if it’s got to do with leisure holidays, you will find it around Majorda. In keeping with the fitness of things, the Jesuits founded Majorda not because they fell in love with its vivid beauty but because its coconut trees yielded the best toddy. When fermented, the toddy acted as a leavening agent that was a prerequisite for the bread the good brothers could not do without! The Jesuits passed on their baking skills to the local folks who earned the Goans their reputation for being the best bakers in India.

Old Timer :- Majorda beach was ‘discovered’ by Rama, incarnation of Lord Vishnu when he was looking for his abducted consort, Sita. Sita had been carried away to the island of Ceylon from the forests of central India and Rama while searching for her, is believed to have sojourned at Cabo de Rama- the headland at the southern extreme of the coastline of South Goa.

Colva and Benaulini

Blue, silver and feathery green come together to paint a near perfect picture at Colva. Enormous breakers of frothy white come surging into Colva Bay, slow down to a wave and gently wash ashore on the gleaming white sands of Colva beach. Coconut trees slender as reeds crowned by swaying fronds filter the sea breeze and provide little islands of shade on this beach, the biggest and the best in South Goa, if not the most beautiful in all of Goa. The beach with its gently tapering shoreline is safer for swimming than many others in Goa, but has a lethal undertow. The wide beach is the domain of fishermen. Their graceful fishing boats are beached at the high tide mark where the day’s catch of mackerel, tuna, crab and shrimp is sorted and sold. Nets are strung out to dry, and off duty fishermen can be seen repairing the tears in preparation for another night at sea.

Miracle :- The grand old lady of Colva is The Church of Our Lady of Mercy (1581) dedicated to Menino Jesus. Father Bento Ferreira brought the idol of Infant Jesus to Goa from Mozambique. The idol, believed to have miraculous healing powers was later removed to the seminary at Rachol where it lost its effectiveness. A new idol adorned with the diamond ring of the original was placed in the church at Colva and miraculously found to retain its healing powers. The most happening time for this whitewashed church is its annual festival, the Fama of Menino Jesus in October.

Colva has gone about the process of commercialization in a subtle and less blatant style than Goa’s other beaches. Quieter than its cousin Calangute, Colva is patronized by regulars who return to their favourite shacks and preferred hotels. The congregation of hotels, apartments, guesthouses, restaurants, pubs, cafés, shops and stores are set deep inside — a fair distance from the beach but close to the village centre, if Colva still qualifies as a village! The shops here are a class act — many more of the pricier and stylish up market boutiques, antique shops, bookshops, bars and multi-cuisine restaurants are found at Colva than most places in North and South Goa.

Benaulim

The silver sands of Colva extend to Benaulim, the beach the world forgot or overlooked much to the delight of the local residents! Palm fringed and pretty, Benaulim’s greatest asset is its aura of mystery, its air of solitude and exclusivity! Residents walk their dogs on the beach; kids play football and shack-wallahs dismantle their bamboo and palm thatch creations and steal away to enjoy somebody else’s hospitality. The rustic appeal of Benaulim is reinforced by its culture, which reverts back to its agrarian roots every so often. Bullfights are a regular feature in the evenings between October and May but these are no Iberian style man vs beast fights. The bulls of Benaulim fight to the rhythm of Konkani music belted out from loudspeakers strung from poles and trees and the venue is no stadium but a fallow paddy field outside the village. The crowds are as lusty and loud as any and the excitement is infectious especially since this is no blood sport, no do or die venture just a lot of dust churning, foot stomping, horn-locking, snorting and bellowing!

Myth and more :- Benaulim holds a special place in the origin of Goa – `Banauley’ means the place where Lord Parshurama’s arrow landed during his creation of this coastal paradise.

Benaulim also offers excellent rosewood furniture in contemporary and old designs. The craftsmen of Benaulim follow a familial tradition that is all but gone, overtaken by the easy earnings from tourism.

Varca, Cavelossim and Mobor

This long stretch strings together three of the most beautiful beaches in Goa, cleaner, quieter and safe for swimming. Enclosed by black lava rocks and curtains of palm and casuarinas trees, the beaches at Varca, Cavelossim and Mobor qualify as under developed even though there are good hotels (superb, in the case of Mobor) and resort complexes not far from the beaches. Patronised by affluent tourists, these hotels have designer pools with modish bars and cushioned sunbeds, which their resident guests much prefer to the somewhat dubious delights of sand and shell encrusted beach with an odor of fish!

The villages of Varca, Cavelossim and Mobor may have been taken over by the rich and famous of the hospitality industry, but not their beaches. These beaches for those day-trippers who can dispense with regular offerings of cold beer, fresh pineapples and papayas, curried fish and steamed rice and indefatigable masseurs whose fingers ease the pain and soothe the spirit.

Varca-Cavelossim

The best ‘developed’ beach for non-resident visitors is the 10km long Varca-Cavelossim stretch. It has a reasonably good selection of shacks, an excellent frontage and a plethora of interesting activities. Dona Sylvia, the best-known resort at Cavelossim is the hub around which all the action happens. There are a number of reasonably priced cafes around the village square offering good food, drinks and inside information.

Mobor

Mobor village spreads around the curves and contours of the River Sal. The beach at Mobor is the last of the trio and lies next to the River Sal, where it encroaches on the territorial waters of the Arabian Sea. Forming a natural barricade between Mobor and the beaches across the Sal is a dense green headland crowned by the fortress of Cabo de Rama. The long finger of the Cabo Ramos peninsula extends deep into the sea and bestows on Mobor a rare beauty. The fortress ruined and racked by time and salt air but still in use by some obscure government agency, is a great excursion and photo op providing spectacular views of inland and coastal Goa.

Another great way to idle away an evening or the entire day, is to opt for a cruise on the River Sal. Day cruises promise dolphins while evening cruises, magnificent sunsets! Organized fishing and sailing expeditions are also available, check with the locals for their recommendations. Betty’s Place, a shack outside the impressive Holiday Inn Hotel is a good place for a meal, a chilled drink and information on river cruises.

Betul & Agonda

On the opposite bank of River Sal lies the village of Betul, a small community of fishermen and farmers still content with the money they earn from their traditional occupations. Tourism remains a distant dream as life in the village of Betul revolves around fishing, farming and eking a living from the bounty of sea and land. The jetty on the riverside is abuzz with activity — when the brightly coloured motorised crafts leave for the day or when they return home laden with the rewards of their labour.

Agonda

Next door to Betul is the relatively obscure village of Agonda fronted by a pristine 2-3km stretch of sand. The connecting road from Betul to Agonda winds over laterite cliffs and low hills and goes past the old fort of Cabo de Rama. Remarkably enough, both the beach and village retain their untouched quality despite the advent of the 21st Century. Agonda’s near-total isolation ensures the beach is free from tourist buses, souvenir stalls, shacks and restaurants – the adventurous who scooter or bus their way here discover a beautiful cove and white sand beach secluded behind a hedge of palm and casuarinas trees. The beach is great for sunbathing and quiet interludes away from hordes of sun worshippers. Swimming is another story — the undercurrent and drag are strong at Agonda making it pretty hazardous, even for good swimmers.

Palolem & Rajbag

Against the backdrop of verdant Western Ghats is a crescent shaped beach that offers solitude, space and safe swimming. So far south that it is almost in Karnataka, the village of Palolem houses the impossibly beautiful silver beach confined by two headlands that encompass a little bay sprinkled with tiny islands. The islands appear to be easily accessible from the beach and some folks swear they have swum across, but smart people simply ask a fisherman to row them across. First discovered by day-trippers escaping the crowds at Cavelossim and Colva, Palolem has since become the favourite of long-term visitors who can camp here for weeks, if not months, at a fraction of the amount they would spend elsewhere. The accommodation available is restricted to rooms in guesthouses in the village or huts/ shacks and tents near the beach. A couple of kilometres south of Palolem is Rajbag, an exposed but isolated stretch of sand.

Hotels in Goa

Goa is a leisure traveler and hotelier’s dream comes true. The former gets an enormous range of hotels to choose from, the latter gets the perfect locales to build magnificent sprawling resorts, luxurious hotels and small guesthouse. So Goa is certain to have just the kind of accommodation to match both budget and requirement-be it an international resort, an up market luxury hotel, villa, apartment or more modest accommodation.

Given below is a sampler – just few names to begin with!

Goa Tourism Development Corporation provides a range of moderate hotels and cottages with comfortable rooms and public areas including coffee shop, restaurant and bar. But accommodation is at a premium because room numbers are limited, the locales first class and the tariffs reasonable. Check them out first.

Here is list of luxury hotels in Goa at Swan Tours – Swan Tours one of the leading travel agents in India.

Taj Exotica Goa , Vivanta by Taj Holiday Village Goa , Vivanta by Taj Fort Aguada Goa , W Goa , Ramada Caravela Beach Resort , Kenilworth Beach Resort & Spa , The Lalit Golf & Spa Resort Goa , Alila Diwa Goa , Zuri White Sands Goa , Cidade de Goa Beach Resort and Whispering Palms Beach Resorts Goa