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Calangute Beach

Calangute and Baga lie on the shores of the Arabian Sea of North Goa in India. Calangute is also known as the Queen of Beaches. They are encircled by the villages of Arpora-Nagoa, Saligao and Candolim. Agarvaddo is full of picturesque agors (saltpans), Maddavaddo is full of madd (coconut trees), Dongorpur skirts a bottle-green hillock and Tivaivaddo laces the beach. The gaudds or milkmen ran dairies lived in Gauravaddo. The Calangute Beach is a spotless stretch that is 7 km long.Calangute was the first hippie beach resort in India during the hippie era. And as the hippes faded from the forefront, domestic tourists recognized the potential of the pleasures offered by Calangute and turned it into a paddling, snacking, shopping, picnicking, vacationing beach. Calangute is usually crowded and the small resorts do a thriving business during the holiday season. It is one of the most popular beaches in Goa with a host of facilities to cater to visitors, including beach and water sports. The best attraction here is the beach itself. For a stay on the Calangute beach essentially means feasting on good Goan food, spicy delicacies, lobster prim rolls, and guzzling feni! Kids can be seen building endless castles in the sand, the adults strolling, the young and old alike lazing on the sands, and the hippies reminiscing their hey days.
Calungate is the perfect tourist haven, completed with shacks and stalls under the shade of palm trees selling everything from fried prawns and beer to trinkets made of seashells. Its rainbow hued canvas has welcomed everyone to it always though it became popular across the globe only after the hippies discovered it in the ‘60s.
Some of the places worth visiting near by are the St. Alex Church with its two towers and a magnificent dome gracing the façade. The inside of the church is a display of the line and beauty of its architectural style and ornate altars. In 1996, Calangute celebrated the fourth centenary of its parish church.The Kerkar Art Complex is the one and only of its kind on this beach. It is a popular center for exhibitions of arts and crafts of local artistes. On Thursdays and Fridays, connoisseurs of Indian classical music and dance can be an audience to various concerts.
Calangute Beach and Baga Beach can be visited at any time of the year, though the monsoon months, which bring heavy rains, are best avoided. The period from November to February is the most pleasant for a visit here.

Colva and Benaulim Beaches

Colva is the most popular beach among the Goans with its white powder sands on the shores of the Arabian Sea. Colva is Goa’s longest beach with 20 km of virgin white sands that are fringed with palms and drenched with the sun. The small village of Colva is located in south Goa, 39 km away from Panaji (the old name for Panjim) the capital of the state of Goa. Benaulim is 2 km further ahead of Colva.The Colva Beach is broad and beautiful, and has a stream coursing through it. Sadly, its beauty has made it popular and its popularity has cheapened it: its off-beach shops and restaurants, brightly lit and crowded, give it the feel of a funfair rather than a serene, unwinding beach. This is essentially our domestic tourists’ paddling beach.
The Nossa Senhora de Merces (Our Lady of Mercy) Church in Colva is famous for its annual religious event-Fama of Menino Jesuse (Child Jesus)-since the 17th century. It is one of Goa’s most popular feasts when a big fair is held on the occasion.
Bullfights can be seen at Benaulim from early October to late May. The bullfights are usually held in an old rice field with no fences or barricades just outside a village, to the beat of taped Konkani music.
A walk on the beaches is full of delights. Shimmering silver carpets of bangdde (mackerels) lie drying on the golden sands. 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.
The Beach Bonanza fair that is held on successive Sundays from mid-April onwards on the Benaulim beach is a must not miss! Frenzied visitors dance in merriment and other entertainment.
There are plenty of resorts and low-budget hotels in and around Colva. Benaulim too has a few hotels. Besides it is possible to rent houses for a longer stay.

Important Beaches of India

Goa

A travel holiday in Goa is like finally living your dream! For Goa is the perfect tourist destination that is an internationally recognized haven for tourists from all over India as well as abroad. Travel in Goa is a multi faceted and versatile experience that lets you indulge in a variety of activities that will have you in raptures of delight! From relaxing quietly by the seaside with your favorite book to trying out the wildly exhilarating sport of bungee jumping, in Goa you can do it all! All you need to dream your biggest dream holiday, and Goa will serve it to you, garnished with beautiful palm fringed beaches and wonder-blue seas! It is no wonder then Goa is fast becoming the ultimate travel destination for tourists raring to get away from their routine life and let themselves loose!
Goa is the smallest state in India that was also the last bastion of colonialism in the Indian sub-continent. It was under Portuguese possession till as recently as 1961. It was conferred statehood and Daman and Diu was made a separate union territory by the Indian Government in 1987.
Goa is, of course, most famous for its beaches. Indian as well as foreign tourists, travel from around the world and flock here every year to enjoy the sun, sand and beach parties. Tourist package tours and travel tours have become increasingly popular and there are more and more charter flights being booked from Europe to Goa. But besides the beaches and their markets, the other outstanding feature of Goa that make it such a well-loved travel destination is the all-embracing and cheerful Goan hospitality. The Goan community is a naturally warm and vibrant one that likes to set its own pace in life. The people are intrinsically carefree and no one can hurry them on their way. They sing and dance untouched by the rat race and blithely merry make their way through life. Just a brush with these bohemian people and a little bit of the pixie dust rubs off on your life. Long after you have returned to your reality, carefree memories will bring you a smile.
Travel in Goa is an enjoyable, comfortable and convenient experience that has become increasingly easy with the increase of tourism here. Travel and tour facilities are well developed and the markets are well equipped with all the possible items of tourist needs. The infinitely cosmopolitan atmosphere makes it easy for persons of all nationality to fit in and feel at home. Add to that the bonhomie and camaraderie of the locals and you have a truly utopian set up where everyone is present with the single minded intention of enjoying!
So the next time you want to take a break and get a real taste of adventure and fun in your life, think Goa! This almost pagan paradise with its rave parties and midnight revelry will get you addicted and craving for more

Agonda Beach

The Agonda beach is a small, picturesque and secluded beach 37 Kms from the town of Margao where nature lovers can find peace of mind. It is relatively deserted due to its distances from the main cities and is the next beach after Palolem when are driving towards Panaji.Agonda Beach is a three-kilometer long and lonely beautiful cove of white sand that is fringed with palms and casuarinas. It is dominated by a large hill to its south. There are very few facilities available here with few tourists, no souvenir stalls, and no restaurants. It is also not safe to swim out too far on this beach.The fort of Cabo de Rama is not too far from Agonda beach. It is as yet undiscovered by most visitors. The fort is named afterLord Rama, the central figure of the Hindu epic Ramayana. According to local legend, Rama stayed here with his wife Sita during the period of his 12-year exile. The atmosphere of the fort creates a sense of history and drama that takes you back in time.

Anjuna Beach

Anjuna is a small village in north Goa and is popularly called the freak capital in the world. 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.
The Wednesday Flea Market of Anjana os famous for its bric-a-brac and the eclectic items that are on sale. Any and everything under the sky can be found here, and lines of vehicles full of tourists start virtually raising clouds of dust. Form used paperbacks to haircuts, everyone can shop to their hearts content here. The flea market is a heaven for shopping addicts and good bargainers, to bid on wonderful blends of Tibetan, Kashmiri and Gujarati trinkets and handicrafts, European snacks, cassettes of a noisy brand of music called 'Goa Trance', artificial ornaments carvings and T-shirts. Elephant rides, photographs with fake sadhus or fake snake charmers can also be found here.
Anjuna is also known for the full-moon (acid house) parties that are held here for young tourists. Famous all over the world, they are a major source of tourist attraction around the world. Campfires burn bright all through the night and the music and merriment carries on till the wee hours of the morning. Facilities for bungee jumping are also available here due to the initiative of a private tour operator.Anjuna Beach has been the haunt of the flower generation in the sixties and is now popular with the younger generations. It became popular because of its Trance Parties and the Hippies who tried to fuse the Eastern spiritual traditions with Western music, ideas and art.
There are plenty of guesthouses around the Anjuna village, and even a couple of hotels. If you are planning to stay for a long time, you should consider renting any one of the many houses that are on rent there.