The Beaches in Goa

Somehow, we failed to get up to Panjim for too much time. Panjim happens to be the capital of Goa. It's a quaint village of about 50,000 people. On a quick aside, I really do love that about Goa, there is no megacity in this tiny little portugese haven within india.

In Goa, however, the northern end of the state is the party place. Panjim is sort of central, but slightly north. It's where the nightclubs are and very close to the popular beaches. I got no problem with popular beaches, but one will find that they are quite a bit more polluted than the "unpopular" beaches. Like I said before, the beaches in Goa are not as utterly pristine as all the guidebooks claim them to be. They are just pristine in comparison with the rest of India's beaches. HOWEVER, they are clean enough that you can swim in them, and swim in them I did. Also, they are clean enough (being 700 km south of mumbai) that you can eat the seafood.

The beaches in the south are covered with party joints. Many, many seafood shacks serving "beer" and spirits and fresh (right out of the ocean fresh) seafood. In many cases you can find a decent breakfast at any hour of the day on the cheap too. At night, the beaches are quiet, except for the few party shacks that stay open until about 1 in the morning. The only problem on the southern end of the state is that the beaches are not well lit where there are no party shacks. Somehow, this is a bit more ominous than it should be. But the Goans assured me people in Goa are much more laid back and friendly than in other states. I think they're right. Luckily, no ill fortune befell us as we strolled up toward the rock'n'roll sounds and fried fish smells that naturally attracted our attention.

So there's my recommandation. Go to Goa, go the the south of Goa. Drink Fenny on the beach and enjoy ACTUALLY SWIMMING.