Colva Beach, Southern Goa

After landing an unexpected 4 day weekend, and that too at very short notice, we were stumped as to a suitable location. Everything was either too far or too close for our liking. In the end we decided to take a chance and visit Goa, a good 800 + km away from Kochi. Due to lack of direct transport at short notice, we decided to get there via Mangalore.

DAY 1

After a night long bus trip (an extremely uncomfortable bucket of bolts at that; courtesy the Kerala Transport) and we spent the day at Mangalore. We spent day shopping for trinkets and sheltering from the heat in the watering holes of Mangalore. Late evening, before departure we managed to catch some action at a dance bar. At that time, Mumbai's Dance bars had been closed and most of the girls had shifted base over there. They charge you 150 per head and exorbitant rates for drinks and snacks.

The night's journey again by bus was very comfortable, though at almost double the price. We were tired enough to be knocked out after being deprived of sleep the night before and a full day of hectic activity.

DAY 2

We landed at Madgaon in the wee hours of Friday morning. The seven of us were total strangers to the area, and what information we had was gleaned from the web. We had pinpointed Colva beach, claimed to be the most popular in South Goa. We managed to snag an Omni Taxi to take us to Colva. However we goofed up by paying the rogue Rs.200 (when the actual cost comes to half that for the 6 odd km trip.) After an hour or so of pre dawn sleepwalking we managed to land up at "Fishermans Resorts" a budget place close to the beach. Double rooms were to be had for Rs.300. The owner Mr. Chris is a decent enough fellow and provided us with enough advice to tackle the days ahead.

After a bath, we set out for a walk along the beach and ended up at the local hub: The parking lot / Circle / Bus Stop all combined into one. Being the beginning of holiday season (Nov - Apr), the place was busy. Colva though has more domestic tourists than foreign. The centre houses a number of eateries with a wide variety of food items to suit every palate. Alcohol is available freely and they serve you beer at the restaurants. Faced with Rs.10 for coffee and Rs.25 for 200 ml of King's beer, most of us, needless to say opted for the latter.

Our second mistake of the day was to join a Private Tour of the Southern Beaches. As we soon realized, its a total waste of time and money, not to say exhausting. You take hours to reach a particular beach and are allowed only 30-45 minutes at each stop !!! And for us landlocked imbeciles, if you've seen one beach, you've seen them all. The only highlight of the trip was a visit to Fort Aguada, the one seen in "Dil Chahta Hai". You can also glimpse the seaside summer dwelling (more like a palace) of Vijay Mallya from the top. It was quite late in the evening that we got back. After a full days travel in a rickety tourist bus that too under the blazing sun, we were totalled and hit the decks after grabbing some food and a couple of nightcaps.

Day 3

The following morning saw us up bright and early. The Beach was just behind our place of stay and ambled along the coastal line and got back by the time it started to heat up. The beach is lined with make shift Bamboo & Coconut leave thatched pubs / bars where they serve you liquor and food. Some of them provide lodging in adjascent concrete buildings too. Most of them play good western music of the soft rock / techno variety. You can relax with your drink of choice, put your feet up, lounge in the beach chairs set up in front, gaze upon the sea, drift off in the breeze etc. etc.

We had to visit Madgaon for making the arrangements for our return trip, and caught a shared taxi (Rs.7.50/- per head) which dropped us off on the outskirts of the town. While in town we had lunch at the Pocathinjo's (i'm not sure if I got the name right) and also a couple of drinks. Again cheap by our standards. The food and ambience was excellent at the over 50 year old establishment. The town is modern in every aspect and you would be hard pressed to not find anything you require.

Day 4

We loitered about the beach / town buying knick knacks for most of the day. A few of us bought liquor to take back home. If you buy them from a licensed outlet, they'll issue you a permit (Rs.10/-) which allows you to take 3 bottles with you to any part of the country. We caught a train back to our hometown and managed to leave with some quite pleasant memories. We plan to revisit the region, this time with a more planned approach.

A few tips that I would like to share.

1. In the holiday season, everything costs more. Even then we found food & accomodation quite cheap at Colva. You can get decent fish curry & rice for under 30/-, north indian or south indian food for around Rs.50 per head. The rates are very much down in the off season even though the choice might not be aplenty.

2. Liquor is dirt cheap, and that too, all around the year. You can buy most reputed brands (750 ml) for below Rs.150/- !!!

3. Most hotels / rentals are willing to accomodate 3 people in a double room.

4. Do not take liquor in restaurants / bars. It gets damn expensive.

5. Goa is very tolerant. You Bachelors can very well enjoy a night on the beach as long you do not disturb others.

6. Smoking is banned outdoors.

7. For Tours, use the Tourism Dept and go for one of interior Goa rather than the beaches.