Known for its beaches and located on the west coast of India on the Arabian Sea, Goa attracts about 10 million visitors a year. With a blend of Indo-Portuguese culture, historical sites, nightlife, nature, and an interesting food scene, it offers something for most visitors.

We spent close to a week exploring Goa and chose to add it to our itinerary to relax before heading home after spending time in Rajasthan. To help you decide if Goa is the right destination for your next vacation, here is our honest review based on our most recent visit.

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Getting Here – Is It Easy to Get to Goa?

Goa has flights from both domestic and international destinations. You can easily get here from most places in mainland India within a few hours. For international destinations, there are also non-stop flights from the Middle East and seasonal service from some European destinations. Even from Canada, it is possible to get to Goa with just one flight connection.

Goa has two international airports: Goa International Airport (GOI), also known as Dabolim Airport, located near the capital city Panaji, and Manohar International Airport (GOX), also known as Mopa Airport, in the north.

The Verdict: Because Goa has been developed as a domestic and international tourist destination, it is very easy to get here compared to other places. One downside, however, is the process of getting a visa to visit India, which we discuss in our other post.

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Itinerary – How Long Should I Stay in Goa?

We spent 8 nights in Goa and divided our stay among three areas: Vagator/Anjuna, Majorda, and Mobor Beach. Since we chose to stay in three different spots, this was the perfect amount of time to get a sense of the different locations and their vibes.

Visiting Goa is very popular with domestic tourists, and many people go for a long weekend to relax and escape the city. We know some people who go for 2-3 weeks for various reasons. For the average tourist, we think 5-7 days is a good amount of time to relax and explore.

The Verdict: Goa is great for both short and long getaways. We recommend adding some time here for relaxation and a slower pace if you are visiting India.

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Weather – When Is the Best Time to Visit Goa?

Most travel guides will say that the best time to visit Goa is between November and March. The monsoon season runs from June to September and brings very heavy rains. During our visit in early October, we had about two days of rain showers and sporadic thunderstorms.

The Verdict: The weather is very pleasant in Goa, but it is hot. Heavy rains can make it difficult to explore and enjoy the outdoors. Visit between November and March for drier weather. Here’s a link to weather stats on Weatherspark for more information about what to expect at various times of the year.

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Beaches – What Are the Beaches Like in Goa?

Goa is known primarily as a beach destination in India. It has a little over 100 kilometers of coastline with beaches, though not all are connected. The beaches range from popular ones with services to others that are undeveloped with no tourist infrastructure.

During our visit, we spent time in the following beach areas: Vagator Beach, Anjuna Beach, Mobor Beach, and Majorda Beach.

We visited during the period known as the “retreating monsoon,” which brings windier conditions and rough surf. There were also moon jellyfish present during our stay on some beaches. As a result of these conditions, we did not get to swim in the ocean as much as we would have liked.

The beaches we visited had similar characteristics: long stretches of flat, golden sand with calm to choppy waves. Due to the choppier waves and some rain, the water was not clear in some spots because of the constant churn. We only ended up swimming at Vagator Beach, as the surf was calm and the water was very clear. This beach was within walking distance of the JW Marriott Goa where we were staying.

As for beach services and infrastructure, it ranged from luxury resorts with chairs and umbrellas on their property with a view of the beach, to rustic beach shacks renting chairs and umbrellas and offering food and drinks. Some of the small, rustic beach shacks offer showers if you pay for food and drinks or rent chairs and umbrellas. People will also constantly try to sell you things on the beach, which is understandable, but annoying.

Some aspects of the beach scene reminded us of spots in Bali, but much less developed and more mellow. However, considering how far Goa is and other places we have visited, we enjoyed the beaches more in Mauritius and Sri Lanka because we were able to enjoy swimming, snorkeling, and other water activities there more.

The Verdict: Depending on what you are looking for and enjoy on a beach vacation, Goa’s beaches may leave you wanting more. If you are just happy being by the sea, you will enjoy what Goa’s beaches have to offer. However, you cannot expect a beach scene like in the Caribbean, Mexico, or more touristy spots in Thailand.

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Where to Stay – What Are the Best Places to Stay in Goa?

We stayed in Vagator/Anjuna in the north, Majorda more centrally, and Mobor Beach in the south. We also visited the capital city of Panaji for a day. Each place we stayed at and visited offered a different experience, and we will share more information on each one.

We found our stay at the JW Marriott Goa at Vagator Beach the most convenient, as it was easy to walk to things within 15 minutes of the hotel, to Anjuna Beach. When it worked, Goa Miles was a great option to get to other spots, like Candolim. By comparison, other places in Goa felt more remote.

Our stay at the St. Regis Mobor Beach was in the most remote spot. If you plan to just stay at the resort or venture out to a few restaurants nearby, this spot, about one hour south of Panaji, will suit you.

Our stay at the Alila Diwa Goa offered seclusion but also the opportunity to spend time in Panaji more easily than other spots. This area was still somewhat secluded but also had more walkable options. Majorda offers seclusion but with more things within walking and driving distance.

We did not get to stay in Panaji, but if a suitable hotel option existed, we would have loved to stay for 1-2 nights to explore this vibrant, quaint, and scenic city with great restaurants and bars.

We spent most of our time by the ocean, but there are other places to stay, like in the forest and Goa’s highlands area.

The Verdict: Various spots in Goa offer different experiences. If you are not driving yourself and don’t want to take taxis all the time, staying in the Anjuna/Vagator area is the most convenient. If you want more peace and quiet, going further south is recommended.

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Budget – Is Goa Expensive?

Similar to other places we visited in India, Goa can be as inexpensive or as expensive as you want it to be. Overall, we found it to be very reasonable from a budget perspective. Goa is also popular with backpackers, and there are options to suit every budget. Food was especially very affordable, including the meals we had at hotels. Our hotels were very reasonably priced compared to what we are used to paying in Hawaii and Costa Rica, and generally, the quality of the accommodations was very high. The flights to and from Goa were also cheap, as were our booked transfers and tours, and our fares using Goa Miles.

The Verdict: If you are coming from North America, your flight to Goa will most likely make the trip more expensive than other destinations, but once you are in Goa, you can find budget options for almost everything and decent standards for a non-backpacker traveler.

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Food – What Is the Food Like in Goa?

We loved the food everywhere on this trip, but we did find there was more diversity in Goa. With the Indo-Portuguese influences and even a Burmese population, we had some of our favorite meals here. We were so happy eating all the exceptionally delicious vegetarian food in Rajasthan, but some of the Burmese, Sri Lankan, and Goan dishes were equally memorable. Don’t worry, you can also still find traditional Indian favorites in Goa! We even had very good pizza.

We’ll just share information about some of the meals we had in Goa to put it into perspective:

• Goan Thalis are very popular and include a variety of things, like a main (either seafood or vegetables), rice, and accompaniments. The one we had at “Spice Studio” at the Alila Diwa Goa Hotel was under $10 CAD.
• Spicy seafood with recheado and sides. Recheado is a spicy masala in Goa made with chilies, garlic, ginger, spices like cumin, coriander, and peppercorns, and vinegar (if you are familiar with and like Indian vindaloo and Portuguese peri peri, this will be familiar to you). As there was a Fisherman’s Wharf located within walking distance to the St. Regis, we decided to have a meal here and enjoyed it very much. We had recheado prawns with peri peri fries, coleslaw, and a Portuguese bun. This meal combined things we liked from Indian and Portuguese food!
• Vindaloo has roots in India and in Goa. In India, vindaloo is a more generic term to encompass various curries with a more tangy, vinegar-based sauce. In Goa, vindaloo is usually more part of a specific dish, “pork vindaloo.” The pork vindaloo we had at “Martin’s Corner“, a popular local restaurant serving a variety of things, was a delicious concoction of lean and fatty pork parts in a rich but tangy and spicy vindaloo sauce. Their fish recheado was also pretty phenomenal.
• Slow Tide has a great vibe and also serves up some amazing Goan, Keralan, and Sri Lankan food. We stuck to the more Sri Lankan dishes and would go back to Goa just to eat here again. We had fresh seafood, spicy and umami-rich sambols, with tasty cocktails and a view of the sea. After not having pol sambol since our trip to Sri Lanka in 2018, our taste buds and memories were delighted!
• There are a few popular and renowned Burmese restaurants in Goa. As this is not something common at home, we decided to try Sopo. We enjoyed everything we had: vegetarian salads to delicious chicken, and even a beef salad.
• There is a brewery in Goa, and we just had to visit 7 Rivers Brewing! In addition to good beer, the snacks were delicious! We had fried okra, which paired well with the beer.
• Goan sausage is also very popular, and we decided it would be less blasphemous to have a pizza that at least had a local ingredient on it! We enjoyed Como Agua pizza nearby Vagator Beach.
• Feni is the local cashew liquor of Goa made from fermented cashews. It tastes similar to other strong and clear liquors, but is a little sweeter. It is not as common to go to a bar, including a hotel, and order a feni cocktail, but if you are in Panaji, it is recommended to visit a feni bar, like Joseph’s Bar and order a feni cocktail.
• Portuguese food can also be found. The menu changes often, but we had some Portuguese food at Praca Pazeres in Panaji.

The Verdict: If you like to try different kinds of food and are adventurous, Goa is a great place to visit. Restaurants cater to a variety of tourists and dietary preferences. Compared to the other places we visited in India, there was more diversity here.

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Culture – What Is Interesting About the Culture in Goa?

Things feel slower in Goa, but might still feel crazy for you, depending on where you have been and what you are used to. “Susegad” is a Goan term that denotes slower living, quiet, and contentment. This concept, though, does clash with some of the overtourism aspects of Goa. Some locals are upset about the development of natural areas for tourism, and some locals are upset about the disregard for their homes by tourists who want to pose for photos in front of businesses and homes in Panaji.

Religious diversity is present in Goa: while Goa is still predominantly Hindu, 25% of its people practice Christianity. Things that may be more taboo elsewhere in India seem to be more accepted in Goa, even during the observance of religious holidays elsewhere in India.

Goa is many things: long stretches of underdeveloped beaches, small feni bars, restaurants and bars geared toward domestic and international tourists, people coming from other places in India for jobs in tourism, and unspoiled nature that might be developing faster than people are comfortable with.

The Verdict: Overall, the culture in Goa is interesting and friendly towards tourists. There may be less fanfare than elsewhere in India, but people are still eager to share their culture and welcome you.

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Things to Do – What Fun Things Are There to Do in Goa?

You can go to Goa just to enjoy your accommodations, explore Panaji’s streets, spend time on the beach, visit natural wonders and historic sites, sample tasty food, and visit feni bars. The one challenge to exploring Goa is getting around. Unless you are prepared to drive yourself in a car or on a scooter, you will be negotiating with taxis/independent drivers, booking tours, or waiting fooooorever for your Goa Miles ride (the Goan equivalent of Uber).

The Verdict: There are lots of things to do in Goa. We ran out of time to do all of them and also “chickened out” on driving ourselves, despite getting an international driver’s license for this purpose.

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Getting Around in Goa – What Is Most Practical?

It is probably easier for a tourist to drive a car or a motorbike/scooter in Goa than elsewhere in India. The further south you go, the better, as things are less busy and chaotic. That being said, the rules of the road are more or less non-existent, and random things like cows and bad road conditions will pop up unexpectedly.

When it works, Goa Miles is the most practical way to get around Goa, as it is their Uber/Lyft equivalent and was created by the government tourism authority. Unfortunately, the demand and price structure for Goa Miles is affecting the usability of the system. Drivers/taxis will accept a fare but take longer than expected to pick up the passenger, hoping they will cancel, as they will get paid about 60 Indian Rupees/$1 CAD when the passenger cancels. For example, we requested a ride and saw the driver park about 0.5 km from us for about 20 minutes in the hopes we would cancel. Another time, a driver accepted about 10 rides while we were in his car, knowing people would cancel when it took too long. The Goa Miles customer service is very helpful when you need to refund money you loaded into your account, but the sad thing is, the drivers are “gaming the system.” On average, we waited 20-30 minutes for a ride, unless they canceled when they realized we were not going to surrender in the game of “chicken.”

If you are staying in Panaji, everything is super walkable. When we stayed in Vagator Beach, we found it easy to walk around, and even ventured to Anjuna.

We booked a driver through one of our hotels for a half-day, and the whole thing was unpleasant. Our hotel told us the price, but the driver tried to scam and overcharge us. Eventually, things were resolved, but it was the usual taxi/tour upsell scam that we try to avoid.

The Verdict: Unless you are in a centrally located, walkable area or prepared to drive yourself or negotiate with taxi/tour drivers, or be at the mercy of the Goa Miles app and its drivers, it is not easy to get around Goa.

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Summary

We enjoyed our time in Goa very much, but based on all the spots we stayed, there was not one place that encapsulated the best experience one should have when visiting Goa. We left Goa wanting to open a boutique hotel in Panaji for people to enjoy that atmosphere for a couple of days, wondering what the beach is like at its nicest, what things are like further south than the St. Regis, and wishing we had more ability to enjoy things without needing to depend on transportation as much.

As Goa is so far from us in Vancouver, Canada, and with more difficult visa requirements, there are some downsides to visiting here, especially if this is the only destination in India you plan on coming to.

That being said, Goa is incredibly charming, and we experienced things here we have not experienced elsewhere. If we were closer, we would visit more often. Deep down, a part of us hopes we get to visit again, even if it is not as easy or practical as other places on our “to go back to” list.

Have you been to Goa? What are your thoughts on our comments?

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