Vagator in North Goa

This August, I took time to visit Goa. It’s the monsoon season and it rains almost every day. Monsoon season is Off season in Goa and you get the beaches all to yourself – deserted, pristine that have picturesque shorelines from the hilltops. During this time, roads are calmer, most of the happening places are shut and the best food is hard to find. And, on that odd day when it doesn’t rain, Goa can be explored in best ways possible.

I spent most of my time in North Goa. Most of the touristy places and most visited beaches are here. This has been the base of hippie crowd that made Goa its home in the 60s. The most prominent being Anjuna. Besides Anjuna, there are bigger and more popular towns like Candolim, Calangute & Baga that are most visited with many of the Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, Parties & Beach activities happening here.

While in North Goa, I stayed in Vagator – a calm beach town in the Bardez Taluka. The vicinity along Vagator and Anjuna have popular hangouts including the highly popular rave joint 9Bar. A relatively new and efficient Asterix Hostel in Vagator is setting the benchmark in Indian Hostel scene. It’s a 10 minute walk from the Big Vagator beach and caters to a steady inflow of backpackers. The other popular mid segment stay is the Orzan Heights at a hilltop overlooking the beach with beautiful Palm trees hanging over its cliff.

If you want to laze back and have great food with the right music, head to Tin Tin Bar & Restaurant. It’s the only worthwhile place that offers great food from Avant garde Beef stake to the divine Chicken schnitzel & the perfect o Pepperoni Pizza. With frequent gigs happening at the joint, head to this place for that perfect evening.

Tin Tin Bar & Restaurant

Up North, as you move towards Morjim, you’ll have to pass through Siolim that is quieter and more lush than most of the districts in these parts. The food you get here is typical Goa specialty. Remo Fernadez hails from here and Siolim is known for some of the best Feni in Goa. The beaches from here are lined in the order of Morjim, Ashwem, Mandrem & Arambol that are rather clean and beautiful. You find sizable foreign tourists here, especially the Russians.

Beaches of Morjim and Mandrem

Hire a Bike and ride the many village roads and long beach stretches. You can take a Houseboat around Morjim and enjoy boat rides through many interior canal systems. While it rained for the whole week, I thoroughly enjoyed my North Goa stay. Will be pitching in South Goa on a brighter and sunnier time. Hope to make good on that very soon.