TRIP TO GOA -A PERFECT HOLIDAY DESTINATION – PART 2

DAY 2 : NORTH GOA TRIP

North Goa.. Fully Sunny ,Crowded, lot of beaches and water sports .

When in goa, for traveling you can choose either city buses, taxi or hot Favorite 2 wheelers.Most of the people enjoy moving around in Goa in 2 wheelers.Bikes can be rented on a per day basis for Rs 250 to 400 approx.Your hotel manger will be able help you in this provided you have a valid DL.But since we were 4, we dropped the idea of traveling in a 2 wheeler and asked the hotel reception to arrange a cab for our stay in Goa.Whole North Goa tour costed us Rs 1500.

Our first destination was DOLPHIN SPOTTING @ COCO BEACH :

Hotel manager informed us that to spot dolphins properly, we need to reach coco beach before 9.00 AM. So we left our hotel by 8.30 AM.Coco beach was already crowded.Dolphin spotting is done here on a boat. You have to pay abt Rs. 300 for this and we were fortunate enough to spot atleast 10 dolphins.The trip was definitely worth it .En route you get to see Fort Aguada ,Goa central Jail, Aamir khan ‘s house,Jackie Shroff’s house,”hassena man jayegi “movie shooting spot all from outside.The trip lasted abt 30-40 mins.

In the boat at Coco beach

Uff!! the dolphins were so quick, before we could click, they were gone

Goa central jail n fort Aguda at back

House where “haseena man jayegi “movie was shot

Aamir Khan’s House

Jackie Shroff’s House

Next Desitanation was Fort Aguada :

Fort Aguada was a Portuguese fort and is now protected by the Archaeological Society of India. A nice view of the Arabian sea can be obtained from here. – See more at: http://thetravellerweare.blogspot.in/2012/10/north-goa-full-of-sun-sea-and-good-food.html#sthash.wpwYXrEO.dpuf

Fort Aguada was a Portuguese fort and is now protected by Archaeological society of India . The word “Aguada “means ” watering place ” in Portuguese.It served as a chamber for storing fresh water and also was a guard against the Dutch and the Maratha’s.Now part of it a Jail and part of it open for visitors A nice view of the Arabian sea can be obtained from here.A scene from the famous Bollywood movie ” Dil Chata Hain ” was shot here.

Outside fort aguada

Inside fort aguada

Inside fort aguada

The Famous “Dil Chahta hain” movie Spot

View of Arabian Sea from fort aguada

We spent a good 1 hour roaming in the fort and it was time to move to our next destination Sinquerim Beach :

Sinquerim beach lies close to Fort Aguada and is silent when compared to other North Goa beaches. Candolim beach is very near from this.It is a beautiful beach that has a spectacular stretch of sand.Part of the beach connects to the fort and is very scenic.This is not yet commercialized ,no shacks or restaurant on the beach yet .Near this beach , there is the famous Taj Vivanta hotel .

Sinquerim beach

There were many water sports available there , but reserved those options for our next destination Baga Beach :

It was already 1.00 PM . Sun and humidity of Goa was at its peak. In the afternoon beaches are one of the worst places to be at.Moving around in the car enjoying the breeze was very pleasing. When the Baga beach came, my kids had no mood to get down from the car. We had decided to go for water sports at Baga as Baga was one of the famous place for water sports in Goa. As soon as the kids heard the word, they jumped out of the car.

As seen as we entered the beach , we realized why people say Baga was crazy. You could see lot of sea shacks all around, beaches fully crowded , shops fully crowded, bikers buzzing around… it was indeed most happening beach of Goa. After bargaining a bit we finalized para sailing for Rs 1000 for 2 people and jet ski Rs 450 /person. First we went for the Para Sailing and My God !! what an experience.Far in the ocean,sailing over the sea…Didn’t feel like coming down..feeling of flying like a bird in the sky is unimaginable!

Para sailing at baga beach

Next was Jet Ski. It was thrilling and adventurous ride .But felt both the rides was for very short duration. I think not more than 2 mins . Before you start feeling and enjoying your ride, it would be over and you  would be back to
pavilion. There was some more activities like banana boat ride,motor boat ride etc.We didn’t try those as we were getting late. After a nice lunch and some shopping we headed towards our next spot Anjuna Beach:

This beach is nearby Chapora fort and our driver told that Anjuna beach is popular with the younger generation.We didn’t spend much time here as the beach was rocky and also we could see some small crabs in the water.

Anjuna beach

From there our next destination was Chapora fort :

Our driver was not that interested to take us to that fort. He was telling us  “What is their sir ? its all ruind “. Thats the fate of this place,fully neglected by locals, highly rated by tourists..We reached Chapora fort around 5.00PM. A short trekking up to the fort was little strenuous but the views from the fort was worth the effort.One you enter the fort and all that you can see is a  spread out field, with less than knee high green grasses and red gravel all over. Fort overlooks the famous Vagator beach and Arabian Sea.Atmosphere over there was very peaceful,serene and breezy.Do not miss the sunset, else you may regret your visit to the fort. Chapora Fort is one of the most photogenic places to visit in Goa.

Inside Chapora fort

Rocky steep path to chapora fort

Chapora Fort

Sunset at Chapora Fort

Fully mesmerized by natures beauty at Chapora fort , we headed towards our final destination for the day , 

Vagator Beach :

Vagator was again a rocky beach but not as rocky as Anjuna.It was an awesome place ,quite far from the hustle-bustle of crowds .Loved the peace and calmness over there with drowning Sun at the backdrop.For me it was one of the most beautiful beaches of Goa.Though we had visited many a beaches since morning, i ha dent allowed kids to enter any of them as i knew once they get in it would be tough bringing them out and move to next spot.But now since it was our last spot , we all thoroughly enjoyed letting us loose at vagator.It was a much needed one after our busy travel schedules through out the day .

View of Vagator beach from Chapora fort

At Vagator Beach

Headed to our hotel bidding goodbye to Day 2 @ Goa, along with the birds and Wow !! what a day it was…

Also see :

TRIP TO GOA…A PERFECT HOLIDAY DESTINATION — PART 1

TRIP TO GOA -A PERFECT HOLIDAY DESTINATION – PART 3

also .. check to stay in private villas
or check villas for rent long term