Travel to Goa - Calangute Beach

Calangute Beach is the most popular and populated beach in Goa. Tourists from all over the world come down here every year during December. There are many accomodation options here, from the cheapest inns to the relatively more expensive star-hotels. Alcohol is very cheap here, like in the rest of Goa. Beer, vodka, wine and of course Goa's own distinctive cashew feni and coconut feni are available at prices that are a fraction of the prices in Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi.

Calangute Beach is some 44 kms or 28 miles from the Panjim airport. When you arrive in Goa, the only practical way for you to get there is by cab. Cabbies will charge you anywhere between Rs. 600-1,000 depending on whether you're an Indian tourist or a foreigner. You can share cabs with 3-4 other people. If you're from India, you'll probably get a better deal. When you get into a cab, you'll notice a meter and the rate of Rs. 8 per kilometer painted on the dashboard. Yet cabbies will usually charge you a flat sum for the trip to or from the airport or anywhere else. This is blatantly illegal, but it goes on and there's no choice for the tourists.

You can rent a car with a driver. This costs between Rs. 800 and Rs. 1,500 a day. The Maruti Omni Vans are the cheapest at Rs.800 a day while a Toyota Qualis rents at about Rs. 1,200 a day. These are the prevalent rates and if you're asked to cough up more, you can bargain and get the price down usually. This rent covers 80 kms to be covered over 8 hrs. If you retain the car for longer, you're billed an extra Rs. 50 for an hour. Prices can be higher in the peak season, which is October to December each year. The Christmas to New Year weekend is when you'll find tourists all over the place and bars, restaurants and hotels bursting at the seams.

A pint of beer in a restaurant like Calangute's renowned Souza Lobo or Capricorn Bar and restaurant or Asia's will cost you Rs. 30. A full bottle of beer (650 ml) is for Rs. 50 or so. While Souza Lobo's faces the sea, Capricorn Bar is about two hundred metres away from it.

There are many bars and restaurants along the beach that have lounging chairs placed outside them. These are available on rent for as little as Rs. 40-Rs. 50 each for the day. You can bargain a little, as what matters more for these beach inns are the booze and food orders that come in from you while you're lounging and watching all those bikini clad girls and other typical beach frolickers go past. The only drawback is that every few minutes you'll have someone trying to sell you something from cheap plastic earrings and boiled groundnuts to pineapples or a massage.

You can opt for cheaper options like the 'Public Bar', a stone's throw away from the shore or for Ekta Bar and Restaurant about half a mile from the shore. These places are essentially wine retail stores that have a few chairs in their premises or just outside where you'll find American and European tourists sitting in their shorts, gulping chilled beer all day during the season.

Alex's bar near Calangute Beach is another cheap hotel. They offer rooms with attached bathrooms and hot water. They also have a bar at the back and bikes available for hire. This is a very basic place.

Many restaurants and bars in Calangute as on other Goan beaches are open only during the season. Many restaurants at Calangute give preference to foreign tourists over Indian tourists. This is partly because many foreign tourists, out of ignorance, leave a larger tip than others. In many countries, the norm is to tip between 10%-15 % of the total bill, and when followed here, it becomes very lucrative for the restaurant owners and bartenders. In India, Indians rarely leave such large tips except when visiting
four-star and five-star hotels and restaurants and even then, many don't. So, you'll see a definite bias, at some of these restaurants like Souza Lobo and Capricon Bar and Restaurant, for foriegn tourists and against Indian tourists.

Apart from lazing on the beach and boozing, you can also go swimming. We don't recommend that you go swimming after a boozing session and you'll see boards warning you about this on Calangute Beach. There are also motor scooterrides and motor boat rides available. You can even go paragliding. You can also just lie down under the sun and get a good tan to take back home.

You can buy multi-colored skirts with prints, for as little as Rs. 250. The quality isn't much but they're good for a while. There are t-shirts available with slogans about Goa printed on them. These are mostly to promote Goa tourism and are available for Rs. 35-Rs. 50 for each. The Calangute market is a long stretch and interesting to stroll along. You'll see many stores selling apparel of varying quality. Apart from the dozens of restaurants and bars there are also coffee shops such as Cafe Coffee Day, Internet cyber cafes, car rental shops, money exchangers, handicraft shops, shops selling carpets and pashmina shawls from Kashmir, long distance calling phone booths etc. etc.

You may be able to save some money travelling to Goa if you're travelling in a group. Check into an inexpensive hotel and share a room with 2-3 of your friends and the cost comes down considerably. Travelling by cabs locally is expensive for a single traveller but quite affordable for a few people together. Similarly meal costs come down.