Goa

Beckiboo said:
I'll break it down for you:

Benaulim - authentic, village-y, great seafood, great beach, beach shacks/bars, Small amount of Western tourists. 20mins walk to:

Colva - slightly more upmarket, bigger hotels/resorts, shops, fancy beach bars. Variable amount of Western tourists

Anjuna - One of the busiest resorts as the most well known. Established hotels / restaurants / markets etc. Decent beach but one of the busiest too (although busy here is nothing compared to busy in Europe!). Lots of nightlife options.

Vagator - very hippy-fied, beautiful beach with a handful of good bars and restaurants - but lots of stray dogs! Quiet in terms of Western tourists but you will get a lot of hippies banging their drums on the beach :lol: Only a 5min taxi to Anjuna

Mandrem / Ashwem - very quiet and chilled, lots of yoga retreats, secluded clean and massive beaches. Limited bars / restaurants, most of the ones there will be veggie / fish and quite eco-friendly. It's a haven for eco-warriors but also heaven if you want to totally chill.

Didn't go to Palolem.

Baga / Calungute VERY busy with Western tourists, but again, the most established resorts in Goa for fancy hotels and bars.

And amazing seafood EVERYWHERE!! Especially in the smaller resorts where the fishermen actually catch it in front of you and bring the fish wriggling into the restaurant, then you choose which one you want. Can't get fresher than that!

Wherever you stay in Goa it's a very cheap taxi ride away to the next town. I personally wouldn't advise too much walking around on your own at night, simply because of the stray dog problems there (we got chased a few times!).

Goa is amazing though, you can't not like it.
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Why so anti palolem compared to say baga? not been to latter.
 
my inlaws go at least twice a year and have been doing for years. They stay same area as they are good friends with a local bloke who runs one of the beach shacks and has some properties. They go to the Majorda beach area which is South I think.

They are going tomorrow incidentally staying in some apartments, they also went in feb and stayed in a really nice boutique type hotel the Alila Diwa

http://www.luxuryholidaysdirect.com/HotelPages/Alila_Diwa_Goa/7499?gclid=CPGI6MvUqawCFZJc4Qod7F4sAg
 
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Loads of stray dogs sounds like a nightmare... My rabies alarm used to go off just going to Europe as a young teenager. Serves me right for watching too many horror films, reading too many horror books, etc.
 
So... is Calangute really that bad?
Sounds busy but also seems a lot of the better hotels in the Anjuna/Baga area are around there :confused:
Looking for a place on the beach but not many good options further north.
 
For $300/night it better be!

A little more than I'm looking to spend, although some friends of mine are staying next door at the Vivanta by Taj Holiday Villages around the same time.
 
Morbyd said:
For $300/night it better be!

A little more than I'm looking to spend, although some friends of mine are staying next door at the Vivanta by Taj Holiday Villages around the same time.
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The Holiday village is great too and has some excellent restaurants, "The Banyan Tree" which serves Thai and is literally buillt under a Banyan Tree.
 
MARKB said:
, I still write to a family I met there last time who invited us to their home for supper. (in fact i paid for one of the daughters weddings last week -probably why they are so friendly haha).
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You rock Sir!!!! 8) Total respect
 
Morbyd said:
So... is Calangute really that bad?
Sounds busy but also seems a lot of the better hotels in the Anjuna/Baga area are around there :confused:
Looking for a place on the beach but not many good options further north.
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Well it really depends what you want from your holiday. I wouldn't go to somewhere like Goa and want to stay in a nice hotel, with fancy restaurants and bars. Not when you can really experience true Goa up the road.

But that's just me, plenty of people go there because it is becoming an up and coming holiday resort for Westerners, and it's cheaper than the UAE, Thailand etc.

If you don't mind a cold shower, no air con, and a cow poking it's head through your bedroom window, head to the North :lol: If you want luxury you will need to stay in one of the more tourist areas.
 
MARKB said:
:oops::oops: It wasn't as extravagent as it sounds, they are very poor, it only cost 15000 rupees (about £200). Lovely family, three generations living in three rooms:eek:, with lots of cats :lol:.
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££££'s mean nothing - what you gave them is invaluable.... Life should be full of gestures like this for me....


More people should give a **** about their lives and the people that enhance them ..... this is my new mantra... ;)

The older I get the more of a **** I give..:lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
Morbyd said:
For $300/night it better be!

A little more than I'm looking to spend, although some friends of mine are staying next door at the Vivanta by Taj Holiday Villages around the same time.
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John you don't need to spend anything like $300 a night in Goa - even accounting that prices are at a premium in December/January you can easily spend £25/30 a night ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM and get really nice accomodation - a lovely beach hut/bungalow with just the sounds of nature around you.

If as you said you want to see the 'real Goa' I don't see any point in staying in a westernised tourist chain hotel. Stay at a little family run place - give your money direct to the people who need it, meet the locals, eat like locals, go to the toilet like locals :lol: Personally I think you'll get a lot more out your holiday that way.
 
I'm all for not spending money as this trip is costing me enough in airfare as it stands.

But at the same time, I need a few basic comforts - hot showers, electricity and Internet :lol: And, as noted, beaches and bars nearby.

Having a really hard time choosing a place!
 
I still think you can have the best of both worlds very easily in Goa.

There are loads of lovely cheap hotels with the usual comforts such as air con, hot water.

You definately don't need to spend $300 a night! (I stayed at the Taj when i went over there to get married)

And if you want the "real" Goa, just stay over night in a village or at a beach for about a few quid.

We caught a boat up to Arambol, hopped onto the beach, knocked on a few doors and got a room overnight for a £5!

I really don't think you can go far wrong, whereever you book - as there is always a beach nearby!
 
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