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.
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| 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.
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| Palm Trees & Beach - Near ITC Grand Arossim |
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| 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.
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| The white Sands of Utorda Beach |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The Picturesque Rocky Agonda Beach |
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| 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.
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| Palm trees of Palolem |
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| 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!!
