A Guide to South Goa Beaches

When it comes to comparing South Goa and North Goa beaches, they are completely different in their characters. While South Goa beaches are cleaner, pristine, with soft powdery white sand perfectly suited for laid back family travellers, North goa’s more happening beachfronts allure the young crowds looking for nightlife and adventure sports but lacks in sand quality and cleanliness.

The sunset at Utorda Beach

So it doesn’t make any sense to compare north goa beaches with the south goa ones. In this write up I will be comparing the best beaches in South Goa, so that you can select the beach best suited to your taste.

Even though they are pretty similar, but there is subtle difference between them, which might become a deciding factor for you to choose your base in Goa.

I visited most of the South Goa beaches starting from Arossim in north to Palolem down south this November. The season had just started, and the beaches with the newly built shacks were getting ready to invite the tourists for the upcoming peak winter season.

Arossim – One of the northernmost beaches in South Goa. Very near to the airport. It hardly takes 20 minutes to reach Arossim from Airport. The beach is clean with powdery white sand typical of south goa, and has a considerable presence of coconut trees on the shore, making it picture perfect. There is a hillock on the northern side of the beach, so in total it’s a pretty scenic one. The newly refurbished ITC Grand Goa is at Arossim Beach.

Palm Trees & Beach - Near ITC Grand Arossim

White Sands - Arossim Beach

Utorda – Another extremely clean beach. In my opinion probably the cleanest beach in Goa. The beach has some very good 5 star resorts with direct sea beach access. It has some good shacks and a sea side restaurant in Zeebop. The locality is very peaceful and perfect for peace loving family crowd. The sand and water quality is similar with Arossim, however the hill in northern side is further away, and also there’s less coconut tree on the beach, so it’s not as picture perfect as Arossim.

The white Sands of Utorda Beach

Cleanest Beach in South Goa - Utorda

Betalbatim – Similar to Utorda, and have good restaurants in the locality in Martins corner and Fish Ka. However doesn’t have the same quality of 5 star  resorts like Utorda, and looks flat in both northern and southern side due to lack of any hillocks

Colva – The busiest beach in South Goa, and hence lacks a bit on the cleanliness quotient. However with its long stretch of coconut trees along the shore, looks pretty scenic. Not the best suitable one, if you love serenity. Sand quality of Colva and Betalbatim are similar, but not as good as Utorda/Arossim.

Benaulim – Probably the best beach for sea bathing, in South Goa. The waves here are pretty gentle, and the quality of water is extremely good. The quintessential aquamarine color of the sea is pretty prominent here, because of water quality. It also has good shacks. Both Colva and Benaulim are very long beach, which gives people a very good opportunity to have a stroll along the shoreline.  The extremely famous Taj exotica is situated in Benaulim.

Best beach for bathing in Goa - Benaulim

Varca – As a beach Varca is similar to Utorda and also has a distant hill on its southern side, which looks picturesque. To me it’s the cleanest beach after Utorda, with soft white sand. The uniqueness about Varca is its casurina trees along the shoreline, instead of the usual coconut trees, which gives varca a distinct look. Lot of high end hotels with direct beach access is present in Varca, so another ideal place for peace loving tourists. The locality around Varca is extremely picturesque with picture perfect bungalows situated amidst huge courtyards.

The clean & serene Varca Beach white sands

Cavelossim/Mobor – Very close to each other but I liked Mobor more than Cavelossim. Mobor possibly has the whitest sand in entire south goa, specially the beach in front of Leela Goa, is extremely broad, and very clean and white. On the southern side there is the same hill, which is distantly visible in Varca, but is much closer in Mobor, and hence gives it a feeling of a beach tucked away on the lap of hills.  

White Sand Mobor Beach with hills on the south

A walk down the mobor beach will take you to the Sal river estuary, so it’s an extremely picturesque place, with a combination of White sand, turquoise water, hill and river. Only problem with Mobor can be it’s a bit isolated so might not suite everybody.

The vast expanse of Mobor Beach

Another problem with Mobor is lack of decent mid-range staying option, as both the properties Leela and Holiday inn are high end and expensive

 Agonda – Probably the most picturesque beach in South Goa, at this moment, situated in a small little cove, and guarded by hills on both side. There are some huge rocks in the sea, which gives Agonda a special look. The sand however is not whitish here, and compared to other south goa beaches, it’s a bit yellowish. The staying options in Agonda beach are decent, but there’s a lack of high end resort, and the approach road to the beach is somewhat difficult to locate. The locality is rural, and not the most picturesque.

The Picturesque Rocky Agonda Beach

Agonda Beach - Guarded by hills on both sides

 Palolem – Once the most picturesque beach with white sand, crescent shaped shoreline, and a thick coconut tree cover, is losing its charm, because of excessive commercialization. It’s a favorite among the day visitors, so remains busy throughout the day. But on the flipside are the heckling adventure sport vendors, who always run after you. The beach might still be extremely beautiful during early morning or late in the evening, but might not be the best place to stay, and can be used as a day visit option.   

Palm trees of Palolem

Turquoise water of Palolem 

Overall south goa is a very peaceful and picturesque place to stay and spend some quality time with your loved ones. Select the beach and the accommodation as per your taste and enjoy!!