Baga Holidays

Baga isn’t the big kahuna on Goa’s sun-baked coastline – that prize goes to neighbouring Calangute. That said, it’s certainly earned its stripes. Baga Beach’s blanket of toffee-tinted sand slithers along the shore for over a kilometre. A team of shacks, selling everything from fresh coconuts to Goan fish curry, have set up camp along the prom, while watersports huts take care of the adrenaline-pumping activities, like jet-skiing and banana boat rides.

If a nose around nature is more your cup of tea, you’re in luck. Baga’s named after the creek that runs through the town, which flows into the Arabian Sea at the north end of the beach. It’s not afraid to show off its good looks, either. The river’s nestled between sandy banks, and every colour of the rainbow is represented in the fishing boats that bob along the water.

Goa was once known as the land of hippies and free love, and this spirit lives on through the town’s bohemian nightlife. Baga’s one of the go-to places for an old fashioned knees-up in Goa. Take your pick between buzzing bars and clubs along the strip, or dance on the sands at a neon-themed party – glowsticks optional. Full Moon parties are in full swing around November time, too.

Goa’s capital’s a 40-minute drive away. Not sure it’s worth the trek? Imagine an old Portuguese town, throw in a few hundred tuk tuks and coconut palms, and you’ve got Panjim. The city covers off an old town where cobbled streets knit together red-roofed bars and ice-cream-coloured shops. It sits on the southern banks of the Mandovi River and has beaches that rival Portugal’s patches.