Quick facts about Palolem Beach

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Quick facts about Palolem:

Some scenes from Matt Damon’s major motion picture The Bourne Supremacy (2004) were shot here,

At the north end of the beach on the island dubbed ‘Monkey Island’ there is a sculpture by famous artist Jacek Tylicki called ‘Give if you can, Take if you have to’. 

Goa is India’s smallest state and Palolem is one of its southernmost beaches

Patnem beach Goa

Patnem beach is much quieter than Palolem and just as beautiful. There are other more quieter beaches close by also. There is more of a breeze in Palolem than Patnem. 
The beaches in most of north goa are nothing as nice as the beaches around Palolem, although when you go as far north as Arambol the beaches here are lovely.

Reviews of Palolem Beach

Check out this review of Palolem Beach Goa.For more info Visit our guide Palolem-Beach.com 

Palolem Beach - Goa - Reviews of Palolem Beach - TripAdvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297604-d482982-Reviews-or6-Palolem_Beach-Goa.html

WOW!!!!! What a fantastic place. As I think happens with a lot of people, we had only anticipated staying here for 3 nights, when in fact, we spent 10 nights here. It is totally relaxing, the beach is fantastic. There’s a great little backwater trip you can do when it’s high tide. (100 rupees per person!) You can walk out…

Review of Palolem Beach

Hi, Here is a very nice review of Palolem Beach Goa.

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Palolem Beach - Goa - Reviews of Palolem Beach - TripAdvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297604-d482982-Reviews-or6-Palolem_Beach-Goa.html

A 3km palm fringed sandy beach that’s a bit of Paradise on earth. India wasn’t the first place I thought of looking for the “perfect beach” but that’s almost what we found in Palolem. A local planning restriction means that there are no permanent brick buildings with eyeshot of the beach, so what has developed is a string of restaurants… 

VideoSniper: Palolem-India

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 VideoSniper: *Palolem*-India

Shots from Palolem, Goa, southern India. Video of beautiful and hospitable people that are living in this former Portuguese colony. Music is a Peace Incantation by the great Ravi Shankar. ...
VideoSniper - http://videosniper.blogspot.com/

Relaxing in Goa — Palolem, India

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 Relaxing in Goa — Palolem, India

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Relaxing in Goa - Palolem, India

Palolem, India

Where I stayed
Palolem Beach Resort Canacona

(Canacona hotels)

After yet another night in the train and now more than 48 hours since our last shower we arrived in Madgaon, Goa. The climate has changed completely now. Suddenly everything is green and the humidity has skyrocketed. At the station we discovered that the bus terminal had been located with typical Indian logic, a mere 6 km away from the station. Soon after we found where to go with the bus and settled in for waiting at least an hour before the first bus for Palolem would leave. Somehow we found out that we could go on a bus immediately that would stop only 2 km from Palolem. Quickly we got on and the conductor promised to make sure to give us a head up and make sure we got off at the right place. The bus soon got filled to the bursting point, as everyone was bringing quite a bit of luggage. In an attempt to fill as little space as possible we tried to put our bags in the top shelves, only to discover that our backpacks where far bigger. So we sat on a 3 person bench with our luggage on our laps trying to take up as little room as we could.

After almost not getting off at the right stop (the conductor had forgotten everything about giving us a head ups) we walked the short distance towards Palolem. All new impressions started to sink in. First was the fact it was humid and green, but also that the culture here is very different. The feeling is in many ways much more European. Painted advertisements, catholic shrines (from Portuguese times), proper roads and no constant sound of car horns. It was also a lot cooler in Goa; around 28 degrees rather than 38. It was delightful.

Finding the "strip" of Palolem proved to be more difficult than expected. All we saw were small huts and not so many hotels and shops. After a while we enjoyed our first rain in India. At that point we were luckily located outside a restaurant. We had a delicious breakfast and we used the break to look in our travel bible Lonely Planet. We determined our location to be at the very south end of Palolem. We walked on to the beach to Palolem itself and discovered that it was indeed the beginning of the season: most of the beach huts were in the process of being built (before the monsoon they are taken down). With our usual determination we walked the full stretch to get an overview. But easy it was not. In the end we sat down at a beach restaurant and order drinks while Vicky went out looking for accommodations leaving the difficult job of sitting with the bags to Tue. After a while the clouds opened again. Vicky came back drenched and with good news. She found a cosy purple cottage in a beach resort, actually on the beach! It was the last one available. We checked in, enjoyed our very necessary showers and went out for a beer. And guess what? There is no tax on beers :-) Beer is less than half price compared to Rajasthan.

This morning we discovered the best breakfast place ever: Euphoria. They serve an endless variety of organic fruit & vegetable shakes, salads and meals. It really is heaven for our taste buds. Even true carnivore Tue loves it. Today we will have a further look around. Until Friday we will stay in Palolem. Hopefully the sun will show itself more frequently. Otherwise there are enough other things to tickle ourselves with: ayurveda massages, dolphin watching, swimming (it is still very warm!) and of course walking…

Shed on Stlits — Goa , Goa, India

Hi, here is a very good article about beach huts accommodation at Palolem Beach, Goa

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 Shed on Stlits — Goa , Goa, India

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Goa , Goa, India

We are sitting on on the deck of our beach hut, which if you know your beach huts is basically a double garden shed on stilts with a jax stuck on to the back of it, with the arabian sea softly mashing up the sand below us. I'm just back from having a shave and the kids are asleep under their mosquito nets with the fan gently circulating the sea air over them. Outside on the deck there is very light breeze over which we can occasionally here some techno beats drifting over from the busier Palolem Beach. Our hut is in the middle of a small cove on Colomb beach, we basically have the place to ourselves as it is the end of the season and a lot of people have left, also the chaos caused by the icelandic volcano has meant a lot of people havn’t been able to travel out and the ones trying to get home are in the towns near the airports.

We arrived in Goa town on a flight from Udaipur in Rajastan. From Goa town we decided to go Benaulim in south Goa about an hour from the airport but when we got there we immiadiatley decided to go further south. After consulting with our taxi driver who had already been driving us around for an hour and a half we decided to head south another 100 kilometres.

We arrived in Palolem about an hour later and found ourselves once again not too sure if we wanted to stay where we were first brought to. It was looking a bit too crusty our liking. We asked to be brought two most family friendly looking places we had read about, Shiva and Baktikutur. Both these places have there entrances directly opposite each other on a laneway at the back of the beach. Lisa being the accomodation commandant on the trip had the job of flitting too and fro between both places checking out the rooms and the facilities. I could sense on this occasion some hesitation on her part, Shiva was newer, Baktikutur was cooler, better eco-credentials, however, both were in the middle of the jungle, '’awoomba awoomba awoomba awoomba, In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the spiders sleep tonight’’. Lisa has a serious phobia about arachnids which the children have inherited, not good in the tropics. All three of them frightened the shit out of the driver who brought us here with a screaming fit in the back of his cab, he must have thought there was a tarantula in the back with the level of hysteria. He pulled over and jumped out ready to save them only to find the tiniest spider trying to escape from them. I nearly puked from laughing so much.

Any way we decided on Baktikutur because it’s restaurant was open, as it does not close down for the monsoon. For 10 euro we got a big hut in the middle of the jungle. They would all have to get used to sharing their living space with other beasties. This place is run by a german lady who has been down here for 25 years and does some seriously good food,

We had always said we would look for other accomodation after we settled in and found this place Green Park Cottages a couple of days later It was better for us in that it was directly on the beach which allows for some cooling air in the evenings. It also was going to set me back by about 8 euro a night, a saving of 2 euro, enough for Kingfishers x 650ml x 4, not bad.

This place is perfect for the next few days. The kids are having a ball, the water is the right combination of waves for Axel and his boogey board. Elka demands I bring her in as well, for hour upon hour. The food is varied enough for their fussy pallets and the sun shines.

Right now I am sitting with the said Kingfisher’s looking out over a picture perfect moonlit cove deciding whether to have the kingprawn’s tomorrow, or the the Goan seafood curry.

Lisa has gone to bed and I am off to join her.

The Goan Story - I've still got sand in my shoes — Palolem, Goa, India

Hi, here is a very nice article about  Palolem Beach, Goa

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The Goan Story - I've still got sand in my shoes — Palolem, Goa, India

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Palolem, Goa, India

For the past one month, I googled everything under the sun to make my trip to Goa all the more worthwhile. I couldn’t find a beach that matched the perceived image of Goa that bore in my mind since I don’t know when. After running through a whole lot of web pages, I finally saw Palolem beach on the Internet. That was it…’I am so very going to this place’, I told myself.

The day before I left for Mumbai, I turned a little kid, excited, oblivious and nervous. Me and my friend left for Mumbai on March 7. There is something about traveling in trains that excites me. ‘IF YOU ARE TO DISCOVER INDIA, the way India is, YOU OUGHT TO TRAVEL IN TRAINS’.

We reached Mumbai on March 9. An hour and a half long taxi ride took us to my grandmother’s place. That very day at 2.30 AM, we left for VT station, where we had arrived from Kolkata a few hours back. I used the ATM counter there, had some coffee and waited for the Big thing…..Goa. Goa was calling…

The train ride was smooth. The Western Ghats looked gorgeous and Goa was all Green. There was a visible transformation in the landscape when we were entering Goa – the dusty golden brown landscapes gradually turned Green. We finally reached Madgaon at 2.20 PM.

I had researched about this place to such an extent that once I reached Goa, I felt as if I had been there a million times before. I headed straight towards the auto stand, took an auto that dropped us at the bus stand. We settled for a bus that took us to Chaudi, a few minutes walk away from the desired beach, Palolem.

It was a great ride up to Chaudi, something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. The bus snaked up the hill, beyond which was the great sea. On arriving at Palolem, we got to the hotel in no time. We left our bags, undressed and headed for the sea.

Chattai was where we stayed - absolutely an absolute delight to an urbanite. Be it the wash basin, the bed, the mosquito net or the large sit out area…everything was in place….the evenings were just about perfect.

The chic restaurant offered great ambiance and the food served was lip-smacking.

Circled by coconut trees, the large sit out i.e. the roof top was one of its own kinds. A perfect place to unwind...If any of my ex-Compare mates is reading this out…I must say - Remember the numerous articles we wrote about the hotels in Goa….the surrounding places…and all....well I have experienced all of that right here.

This was it….can this be true…..after visiting millions of web pages, settling for back to back train journeys, and having planned and sketched every move…here it is The Palolem Beach,,,’Thee’ place I was dying to see… All I could say at that point of time was just WoW…losing my speech temporarily out of sheer excitement…my eyes could hardly measure and soak up the depth and pulse of this Promised Land. How I wish, if I were to stay here for the rest of my life….though I do realize that it sounds unrealistic.

We bathed, bathed and bathed…the white sands, the twirling waves and the gigantic backdrop (thanks to the twin hills)…this place was just WOW…I keep repeating myself.

The sun had already gone down, so I couldn’t take any photographs.

We headed for one of the restaurants and treated ourselves with Kingfish, spicy noodles, port wine and salads. Then we went to the local market, bought a few bottles of Port wine, not to mention a whole lot of snacks. I shopped a white kurta for myself,,,,tested my bargaining skills here and eventually got it for a mere 90 bucks.

We wanted to get drunk very badly and so we did….the rest…certain things are better not to be told….Gluttons we are…so much so that we had specifically chalked out how much we would spend on food for this trip. We ordered parathas and Chicken vindalu at the restaurant in Chattai, where we stayed.

The next morning, I knew I had no option but to click some great photos. It was such a beautiful place; the pictures would automatically come good. I knew that even if I did not click good photos, I would not be disappointed, because all that would matter to me was how much I had enjoyed.

We had sandwiches for breakfast. Then followed the photo shoot.

We went back to Chattai, and had fish curry and rice for lunch - a must-have Goan cuisine. We geared up for another dip in Palolem.

At noon, we had some coffee at a café. Then the shoot began - sunset, the red ball, beach action, molten gold,,,,,I did not know which one to click.

"Nothing gonna change my love for u" - I spotted two beautiful people in love on the beach - There was something about this couple that took my attention…endearing in many ways than one…

Port wine was in the calling, once the sun went down. We had sizzlers, noodles, grilled snapper and salads for dinner. This time round we had dinner right on the beach amid a candle light setting. We were exhausted or may be just as we realized that this was technically the last day in Palolem we were disheartened.

The next morning we packed our bags to leave this place. We felt so bad. ‘HAPPY DAYS ARE SHORTLIVED WHILE SAD HOURS STAY LONG’. The ten minutes walk down to Chaudi from Chattai was something that I just cannot forget. We knew that the beach was close by and we could have had visited it for the last time, we looked at each other’s faces and said nothing, both of us knew what we felt.

It was a beginning - I know I have to travel to a lot of places, I cannot stick to one. But I will surely treasure this experience for the rest of my life...

Great video of Palolem Beach Goa

Here's a cool video I wanted to share with you all - it gives you an idea of what Palolem Beach Goa is like. 

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Lifes A Beach — Palolem, Goa, India

Hi, here is a cool article about beautiful life on the beach in Palolem Beach, Goa

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 Lifes A Beach — Palolem, Goa, India

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Palolem, Goa, India

Palolem is beautiful.
bars all along the beach and food is lovely and cheap! Beer is 80p a
bottle and its buy one get one free before midnight! :)
We found
accommodation as soon as we got off the bus. R300 between us per night
which is 4 pound 30 (no pound sign here on keyboard). lovely room.. even
had a TV!!
So we stayed there 6 nights... had intended on 4 but we
met lots of cool people n got to know the place that we found it hard to
leave. We visited the beach next to it called Patnem which was more
secluded. We saw dolphins one early evening which was cool... especially
as Stine and I had stayed up till 7 next morning to see them as they
apparently come onto the shore.. but not that morning,
There are
animals everywhere!! especialy dogs. There are cows just walking down
the street, even queuing up to get into the resturants. I was walking
back to the appartment one afternoon on my own when a HUUUUGGEE Camel
walked around the corner on its own. Very bazaar!! But thats Goa!!
We

got the bus up to North Goa today, Baga. Were not too impressed so were
gonna move further north tomorrow to Anjuna , stay there a few nights
and then the relaxing ends and we head up to Rajasthan. thats is for now
really!!

Life on the beach... — Palolem, Goa, India

I've just found this really cool article about life on the beach in Palolem Beach, Goa

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Life on the beach... — Palolem, Goa, India

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Palolem, Goa, India

While we were still in Anjuna we rented a scooter for the day for Rs 200 (just under £3.00) and went up to the north of Goa to have lunch in Arambol and a wander down the beach. Luckily people drive a little bit better than they do in the big cities like Delhi or Jaipur or I don't think we would have even contemplated it! After Arambol we made our way back down the coast to visit Chapora fort, which is an old ruin of a Portuguese fort which looks out over the north Goan coastline with panoramic views. We then jumped back on the scooter and headed down to look at the shops in Calangute before returning to Anjuna.

We were both quite sad to leave Anjuna which had been such a welcome break from the madness of Rajasthan, but on the Saturday we once again packed our bags and took the bus down to Benaulim. Our first night there we ended up staying in what was initially described by the owner as a 'Coco hut,' which in fact turned out to be more like a box made out of corrugated metal, with less than sanitary bedding and ants everywhere you looked. As taken as we were with our 'coco hut' we made the decision to look elsewhere for the second and third night and ended up in a much nicer less rusty place called Tansy's. There were two real highlights while staying in Benaulim; meeting a rather interesting dude called Shiva who ended up giving us an Indian cooking lesson, and visiting the spice plantation just outside Ponda.

Shiva is a guy who basically is a bit of a local entrepreneur offering cooking classes, organizing day trips and taxis all over the place for tourists that he bumps into drinking down on the beach in Benaulim. His English is impecable, and his knowledge of the UK was actually quite scary. When he found out where we were from he was able to name individual postcodes for areas of Edinburgh and Warrington off the top of his head and new the names of their local newspapers! So on our second day we went for a three hour cooking class which he only charged us Rs 650 for both of us (around £9) at the end of which we got to tuck into a rather tasty three course meal including chapatis, vegetable masala, Sara (a lentil dish) and a really good cabbage bajhi. Can't wait to get the chance to try them all out for ourselves. It also transpires that Shiva knows Rich and Elli and met them three weeks ago while they were here on thier honeymoon- its a small world...

The spice plantation was also an amazing experience. We took the bus from Benaulim to Margao, then Margao to Ponda from where we took a tuc-tuc to the plantation. We had a really good guide all to ourselves who showed us round telling us all about the different plants and trees growing in the plantation getting to sample things as we went along. We tried a fruit which we'd never heard of or seen before called a Rose apple which looked a bit like a tiny pink marrow but tasted like a cross between an apple and a mellon. At the very end we had an really tasty meal which was included in the Rs 400 ticket price, all made with spices from within the plantation.

On Tuesday we took the bus from Benaulim, which took about an hour and a half to Palolem where we are currently staying. Palolem is by far the most picturesque place we've visited up to this point with a beautiful sandy beach hidden away in a cove protected from the choppy waters of the Arabian sea, lined with coconut palms and beach huts- one of which we're calling home for the time being. Our hut is less than 50 meters from the waters edge and we're waking up to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, which is a rather chilled out way to start the day. There's more European travelers here than any other part of India we've been to so far and we've befriended a group of people from Finland, Denmark, Germany and Holland. There's a small Island at the north end of the beach we've all been wading out in the evenings to watch the sunset before heading out to grab some food and beer.

This morning we all clubbed together to hire a boat to go up the coast to try and see if we could see dolphins- a success and a really good start to the day! I think Palolem is is going to be even more difficult to leave than Anjuna and I think we probably both wish we could have a bit more time here, but at the same time we're really looking forwards to heading onto Hampi before our epic two day train/coach journey down to Trivandrum in Kerala for the last leg of the Indian part of our trip.

I can't remember if Kat's already mentioned, but due to all the problems in Thailand at the moment we've had to have a rethink that part of the journey and we've decided to go to Malaysia for two weeks instead. It was a tough decision but somebody had to make it. We'll try to be in touch soon- probably when we get to Hampi, hoping that everyones well back in the UK.

Take care

Ewan and Kat

we love this photo taken in Palolem...

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