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Calangute Beach
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In North Goa located about 16kms from Panaji, the Queen of Goa's Beaches and the
most famous of all beaches in Goa and most commercialized. It is one of the top
ten bathing beaches in the world. The beach is much crowed during daytime with both
locals and tourists who hang by the beaches until late hours of the day and night.
Calangute is the perfect tourist haven, completed with shacks and stalls under the
shade of palm trees selling everything from fried prawns and beer, to trinkets made
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seashells. If you want quite and piece skip Calangute. |
Shopping
The road from the town to the beach is lined with Kashmiri-run handicraft boutiques
and Tibetan stalls selling Himalayan curios and jewelry. The textiles are from Rajasthan,
Gujarat and Karnataka, and are generally of high quality. Haggle hard and don't
be afraid to walk away from a heavy sales pitch.
Eating Out and Nightlife
Calangute's bars and restaurants are mainly grouped around the entrance to the beach
and along the Baga road. Restaurants serve seafood, Goan dishes, and few vegetarian
dishes. Western breakfasts are featured prominently.
Due to repeated crackdowns by the Goan police on parties and loud music, Calangute's
nightlife is surprisingly tame. All but a handful of the bars wind up by 10.00 pm.
One notable exception is Tito's at the Baga end of the beach, which stays open until
after midnight in the off-season and into the small hours of the morning in late
December and |
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January. Few other hippy hang-outs are open late; Pete's Bar and Bob's
Inn. |
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One of the places worth visiting nearby is the St. Alex Church. The Church of St
Alex greets the visitors with its two towers and a magnificent dome gracing the
façade. The inside of the church is a display of the line and beauty of its architectural
style and attractive altars.
To escape the hawkers, head fifteen minutes or so south of the main beachfront area,
towards the rows of olf wooden boats moored below the dunes. In this virtually hawker-free
zone, one'll only come across teams of villagers hauling in hand nets at high tide
or fishermen fixing their tack under bamboo sun shakes. |
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