Hello
Mark is the resident Goan expert so he will be able to give you lots of advice but my thoughts for what they are worth
If you've only gt 5 days, definitely spend them in North Goa - there's a lot more to see and do and it's got a lot more character than the South imo, which I personally found quite sterile. Palolem (which is probably the main tourist area) is just an identikit backpacker resort, you could have been in Haad Rin or Sihanoukiville for all the Goan charm that remains there.
My favourite place to base ourselves is Little Vagator, which is a laid-back village with lots of character. One of the reasons we love it here (which will be of no interest to you
) is that it's home to one of the best vegetarian restaurants I've ever eaten at (Bean Me Up). There's also some pretty decent nightlife. On Sundays just outside the village at Hill Top there is a big outdoor Goan trance rave - even if the music isn't your bag it's a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and evening dancing outside. It costs about 50 rupee (75p) to get in and that includes a free 2 litre bottle of water
It's open from 2-10pm if my memory serves me correctly and it attracts all kinds of weird and wonderful characters.
In Vagator itself, there is also a place called Nine Bar - which is an outdoor bar/club on the edge of the cliff so you get the most stunning sunsets while you have a bit of a boogie. It's free to get in - sometimes there will just be a handful of people there and sometimes it's like a full on rave, it's a good place to start the evening regardless with a couple of Kingfishers.
For other nightlife just keep an ear to the ground, there's often things going in Anjuna and Arambol so if you want that side of things, it's easy to find it.
Other things you must do:
Duduhsagar Falls - DON'T go on a tour as you'll get there with the masses and it will be like Picadilly Circus, hire your own driver, get him to pick you up ridiculously early (think we got picked up about 5.30/6am) and it's about a 90 minute drive there, but by beating the tours you get the place to yourself and can swim in the water and under the waterfalls
Anjuna Market - This is a huge market on every Wednesday which attracts traders from all over India, Irina will absolutely love it - it's heaven for stocking up on dresses, accessories etc etc - I literally fill half a rucksack full of stuff up
Anything else you want to buy (spices, house stuff etc etc) you can get here and it's all so ridiculously cheap - make sure you barter for everything (that's Tom's job
) Get there about 3pm, spend a few hours wandering around as it's got so much character, then finish off at one of the bars (Shore Bar is good) for sunset and dinner
There is also another market on Saturdays but it was shut due to the Mumbai terrorist attackst the first time we were there and our flight arrived too late the last time, Mark will know the name and that's meant to be similar to Anjuna
Hire a bike/driver to take you to different beaches - our favourite is Mandrem which is always deserted (save for a few cows
) but I'd suggested heading up to the top to Arambol and work your way down and finding your favourite
Yoga class - Not sure if it's yours/Irina's bag but if you like yoga, do a class before breakfast - you'll see classes advertised all over the place and you can just drop in
Old Goa - Spend an afternoon/evening in Old Goa - there's a lot of stunning architecture and history to the place and then eat out there in the evening
Dolphin watching - What's not to like about spending half a day on a boat watching dolphins and drinking Kingfisher - you can arrange this from any beach
Goa is fantastic - excellent food (very little or no meat I'm afraid if you go to traditional Goan restaurants
), cheap beer (a 600ml bottle of Kingfisher will set you back about 50-60 rupees) and the people are superfriendly (most will try and sell you something initially) but they also love talking to people - if you like cricket they will talk to you all day, Tom always had a gang of boys wanting to talk the IPL with him, and football is pretty big over there as well so they love to talk about the Premiership.
I'm sure I've missed loads of stuff off but hopefully that will give you a starter for 10