Goa Vacation

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agupta02

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So I'm Planning a 5 day Goa vacation for Mid-November. Its been quite some time since I've been to Goa so am not that familiar with it now. And since a lot of TE members are from Mumbai, was hoping if some of you could pitch in with some advice about a couple of things:

1. I am planning to stay in South Goa instead of the North. Any suggestions on good accommodations available there? I am not very budget specific but obviously value for money counts. Looking for some good beach front properties in 3 - 4 star category. Would have consulted Trip Advisor but most of the reviews are by people of questionable sense of quality (read backpakers or hotel owners themselves) so can't really rely on them.

2. Transportation: Any suggestion towards a good service provider with clean cars? Also should I go in for the Self-Drive option or is chauffeur driven best? Its been quite some time since I've driven a motorcycle so I am not too sure if I can handle it and hence don't wanna count on it. (yeah yeah Goa looks different from behind the handle bars rather than the steering wheel and the wife will definitely appreciate reliving some college moments but then again she would NOT appreciate us lying on the side of the road with aches and bruises ;))

I am looking to spend a total of 3 nights in Goa and then would move further down to Karwar to stay on one of those newly launched houseboats. They're trying to create the backwater houseboat experience of Kerala and while they don't quite nail it, I've heard its pretty close though. Now the challenge is that when on the houseboat, I would not be using the car which means I would hv to take a one way taxi for both legs of the journey. Any idea if there is a regular taxi service to Karwar from Goa or do I have to take the private taxi and pay extra on account of the one way?

Thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it.
 
PM Anish - our in-house tourist guide/DJ for Goa. :P

Shripad's native is Goa IINM. You may ask him as well. :)
 
@Connect: Every trip of ours is a honeymoon in itself ;), but seriously we haven't been to Goa for a holiday together so.......

@Desecrator: Dude thanks for the info but I don't know either of them personally so really would not feel comfortable PMing them. But thanks anyway.
 
lol @ knowing people personally to ask :P , you are in Techenclave , how much more personal you want to get :D
 
agupta02 said:
So I'm Planning a 5 day Goa vacation for Mid-November. Its been quite some time since I've been to Goa so am not that familiar with it now. And since a lot of TE members are from Mumbai, was hoping if some of you could pitch in with some advice about a couple of things:

1. I am planning to stay in South Goa instead of the North. Any suggestions on good accommodations available there? I am not very budget specific but obviously value for money counts. Looking for some good beach front properties in 3 - 4 star category. Would have consulted Trip Advisor but most of the reviews are by people of questionable sense of quality (read backpakers or hotel owners themselves) so can't really rely on them.

2. Transportation: Any suggestion towards a good service provider with clean cars? Also should I go in for the Self-Drive option or is chauffeur driven best? Its been quite some time since I've driven a motorcycle so I am not too sure if I can handle it and hence don't wanna count on it. (yeah yeah Goa looks different from behind the handle bars rather than the steering wheel and the wife will definitely appreciate reliving some college moments but then again she would NOT appreciate us lying on the side of the road with aches and bruises ;))

I am looking to spend a total of 3 nights in Goa and then would move further down to Karwar to stay on one of those newly launched houseboats. They're trying to create the backwater houseboat experience of Kerala and while they don't quite nail it, I've heard its pretty close though. Now the challenge is that when on the houseboat, I would not be using the car which means I would hv to take a one way taxi for both legs of the journey. Any idea if there is a regular taxi service to Karwar from Goa or do I have to take the private taxi and pay extra on account of the one way?

Thanks for all your help guys, really appreciate it.
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1. Check out Majorda Beach Resort, Kenilworth, Club Mahindra, Radisson, Pearl's Oceanique Resort.

2. Ask to Hotel to hook you up with a self driven car. Self driven is a good option in Goa since there's hardly any traffic (We have only ONE traffic signal in the whole state FFS) but the roads can get confusing so unless your up for some adventure a chauffeur maybe a safer bet.

3. You'll need to take a private cab to Karwar, no idea about a regular taxi.

Hope this helps :)

LOL @ Gannu and Kippu :P
 
Personally, ( though I've been to Goa only for 3 days till now :ashamed: ) I felt that South Goa is a much better option than North Goa. North Goa is generally crammed with Indian tourists (who litter with Lays packets everywhere!). I'm not being judgmental or racist, I'm an Indian tourist too :P

Calangute beach (North Goa) was horrible. There were people and garbage everywhere and no decent place to sit and enjoy. At the same time, Paloloim beach in South Goa was sooooo calm and beautiful. There are shacks all along the beach, though we stayed in some really questionable ones. Reminded me of some rooms I've seen in movies filmed in Bangkok. :P But there were fewer people, most of them foreigners. Lots of nice places to eat and the guys in the restaurant don't even bother you. We sat for breakfast at around 9:30 A.M. and left at around 2:30 P.M. We had to literally beg the waiter to get the bill. :P
 
If you can afford and drive a car, do it yourself.It's so much fun to drive in goa all by yourself.Carry a details map locally available.People are helpful when it comes to directions.Once in Goa locally, scooters and motorcycles are better, easy on the pocket and more fun than driving.

Wouldn't know much about South Goa since I've never been there.More of a North Goa guy( Calangute to Arambol) but I've always meant to check out South Goa.May be this time.
 
I stayed in South Goa for 5 days last year during New years.
Renting a Car is divided in three categories
1) Full Day rental
2) 9-5 Rental
3)KM based rental

Mostly 9-5 rental is common in GOA and they charge you a lot for it. For a swift its something like 1200 rs(Fuel additional).
Kms based is mostly Cabs which again is rare to spot and i dont have a Idea about its cost.
Full day rental is only available at cheap rates if you know the locals and all. I shall dig up my contacts to find some a self driven car for you if possible.

Car Charges for full day
600-800 rs - Santro
800-1000 - Swift

Petrol is additional and make sure you get a Full tank done in the city since near the beaches there arnt any petrol Pumps.

For the Accomodation i say get your selves some cottages near the Beach. Explore south goa a lil bit. There are some very good stand alone off the beach restuarants there,i forgot the name.

I would say that if you want a relaxing experience then its much better in the Colva and Varca than compared to the rest of the GOA.
If you are going to Karwar its better if you stay in Palolem.

Hope this helps.
 
South Goa or Old Goa is more popular for churches and goan "villages" and sight seeing.Feels great to be driving around in a bike or scooty.

North Goa is mostly beaches,rides,football on the beach,great food and did I mention booze.

Also,even though they're easily available, I'd prefer a bike or scooty over a car in Goa any day.
 
In a nutshell, South Goa beaches are clean calm quiet and less crowdy. Beaches in North Goa are dirtier than south beaches, overcrowded particularly Bagha candolim and Calangute though these are more lively with lot of water sports activities.
 
1. Check out Majorda Beach Resort, Kenilworth, Club Mahindra, Radisson, Pearl's Oceanique Resort.
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Awesome resort, this one.

It's so much fun to drive in goa all by yourself.Carry a details map locally available.People are helpful when it comes to directions.Once in Goa locally, scooters and motorcycles are better, easy on the pocket and more fun than driving.
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Spot on! Explore it on your own...nothing like it!

If you can afford and drive a car
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Although two-wheelers would be a better option, get a Jeep (Mahindra, Gypsy) if it's on four.

P.S: Be sure to have a whole lotta fun! :D
 
Thank you all for your response. I REALLY appreciate it.

@Swordfish: I feel IndianMike is kinda geared more towards foreign tourists with info coming mostly from other foreign tourists and serves mostly backpackers and budget travelers. I base this assumption on the advice I've read on the site about Delhi and surrounding areas which while accurate, will serve foreign budget tourists well but is not really geared towards people like us.

@Anish: Wouldn't it be more expensive to rent a car/vehicle through the hotel as opposed to booking one from a standalone operator? Do you know of any good car rental operators who would not stiff me on charges and provide a clean car? I would probably need a pickup at the airport too and while the hotel can arrange that, it would be better IMO if we could get picked up at the airport by the operator and then we can pick up the car from him and drive to the hotel ourselves. We can also go for the taxi to Karwar through him only probably using the same car we have at our disposal. We could either drive to Karwar ourselves or he could send over a driver who can drop us and then pick us up 2 days later. That way transport could be through one operator and seamless. What do you think? Thanks for your suggestions on the hotels, will check them out.

@apextwin146: I think having a car at disposal rental as opposed to a 9-5 rental would work better for us as we would like to explore the area at our leisure. Also, we would like to keep our option of having dinner or some night entertainment offsite open and for that we would require some sort of transportation for the evening (hence the idea of renting a car rather than a two-wheeler). Do you have any contacts available for the people from whom you rented your vehicle?

South Goa huts by the beach are pathetic BTW. A friend of mine just went down to Goa and stayed at a place called the Chhatai Huts at Palolem. If you visit the website, the huts are right on the beach and look awesome (and thts why he chose them, romantic setting and all) but he told me that they were actually crap, more like jhuggis on the beach with not even basic conveniences. The beds were crap, the bathrooms leaked and the mosquitoes were everywhere. Plus you could hear everything from outside and everyone on the outside could hear you on the inside. Not very ideal if you're with company. Needless to say, his GF, who accompanied him, was not really hot on ANY ideas he might have had for the trip :D. According to him, most of the so called beach huts are like that so I guess I'll pass on them for this trip.
 
agupta02 said:
@Anish: Wouldn't it be more expensive to rent a car/vehicle through the hotel as opposed to booking one from a standalone operator? Do you know of any good car rental operators who would not stiff me on charges and provide a clean car? I would probably need a pickup at the airport too and while the hotel can arrange that, it would be better IMO if we could get picked up at the airport by the operator and then we can pick up the car from him and drive to the hotel ourselves. We can also go for the taxi to Karwar through him only probably using the same car we have at our disposal. We could either drive to Karwar ourselves or he could send over a driver who can drop us and then pick us up 2 days later. That way transport could be through one operator and seamless. What do you think? Thanks for your suggestions on the hotels, will check them out.
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I usually recommend this guy to most friends who rent cars, great service. - Goa Car Rentals - Joeys Goa Car Rentals

Airport pickup will be complimentary from the Hotel most probably so don't fret too much about that.
 
Sorry to hijack, but where can I find a jeep/gypsy for hire in Goa? Last time I went, our group really felt like hiring one for a day atleast but we couldn't find any car rental service that had jeeps.
 
viralbug said:
Sorry to hijack, but where can I find a jeep/gypsy for hire in Goa? Last time I went, our group really felt like hiring one for a day atleast but we couldn't find any car rental service that had jeeps.
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Walk through Baga and ask the guys who rent bikes.. You'll find tons of places that have bikes for rent. You can also ask you hotel guy who help you out.
 
agupta02 said:
South Goa huts by the beach are pathetic BTW. A friend of mine just went down to Goa and stayed at a place called the Chhatai Huts at Palolem. If you visit the website, the huts are right on the beach and look awesome (and thts why he chose them, romantic setting and all) but he told me that they were actually crap, more like jhuggis on the beach with not even basic conveniences. The beds were crap, the bathrooms leaked and the mosquitoes were everywhere. Plus you could hear everything from outside and everyone on the outside could hear you on the inside. Not very ideal if you're with company.
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I can vouch on that. The huts are crap. Similar to slums . Actually more or less the same. And they weren't cheap either. 1000 bucks a day for the conditions described above. Really pathetic. :|

The beach is awesome. It's quiet, got loads of nice places to eat and there are reclining chairs everywhere. IIRC, North Goa you are charged for using them. Here, no one bothered! And there are many quiet places to sit and relax without people disturbing you.

btw, are there any good hotels in Goa near Palolem beach? Talking about 4 star and 5 start hotels.
 
The Lalit resort is best 5 star property nearest to Palolem. I stayed there and it is huge property with about 1 km long private beach, golf course ........... Place is extremely calm and there is virtually no option but to spend time in resort only because of farthest away from happening places in Goa.
 
+1 for Club Mahindra. In regards to eating out, Martin's Corner is the only place I can think of in South Goa.
 
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