For this section we will look at the Northern Goa Beaches from Tiracol Fort to the Mandovi river at Panaji

Querim

The most northerly of Goa's beaches, go any further north and you will be in Maharashtra. 

Arambol

Beautiful curved beach, very similar to Palolem in the south, at the northern end of the beach beyond a headland is the famous sweet water lake and mud pools, it is said that in the undergrowth to the rear of this live the true hippys of Goa.

Ashvem

Unspoilt beach with as few shacks and overnight huts, interesting volcanic rock formations

Mandrem

Morjim

Long curved beach, with up to twelve or so shacks at high season, little in the way of sanitary arrangements, great for walking and dreaming

Turtle

Located at the souther end of Morjin, Turtle beach is a nature reserve, and is the laying area for the Olive Ridley Turtle, there is a small visitor centre, much of the beach is fenced off to protect the laying areas, please respect the rarity of the turtles...http://www.cccturtle.org/olive-ridley.htm

Vagator

Anjuna

Home of the famous wednesday flea market, hippys and loud trance music, you will either love or hate this place. having said that a visit should be made to the wednesday market.....just to say you have been....and to tell others what to expect....see markets section

Baga

Very popular and busy beach, here you will find high quality beach shacks and restaurants, the beach is wall to wall sunbeds, every beach trader in India has found this beach, so expect to be hassled from sun rise to sunset, this beach could be in any popular holiday location ie Turkey, etc.

Calangute

The Goan's call this the "Queen of Beaches", every weekend what appears to be half the population of India decends on this beach, it can get very busy, it  has a great holiday atmosphere, the area to the south of the main beach is not to crowded and is a great place to people watch, it is also the location of the best beach shack in Goa (its my secret) the steps at Calangute were our first view of the Arabian Sea on our first visit to Goa, so we have a great soft spot for this beach.

Candolim

Candolim is similar to Calangute but much quieter, good place to relax and not to far from hotels and shopping

Candolim Beach March 2007

Sinquerim

This beach is the location of the Taj Hotel and Fort Aguada Hotel, so the beach has good security and is regularly cleaned, it is also the resting place of the grounded bulk carrier "The River Princess", this ran aground in 2000, it is due to be removed in March 2007 (maybe!) but in the mean time has managed to cause great erosion to the beach, making some sections of the beach into a mini Himilayas.

Sinquerim  Photo taken in November 2007

Coco

This beach is located on the northern shore of the Mandovi river, it is tidal in nature and is downstream from Goa's capital city Pajim (draw your own conclusions) it is never the less very popular


All the beaches listed in BLUE are on one continuous , near straight strech  of beach it is 7 miles long and makes a great walk, choose a time near to low tide this will give access to hard sand near the water line, any later and you will find yourself walking through the sun bed areas, remember to carry some water and wear a hat, i'll see you about halfway along.