Coz you shouldn't miss the REAL GOA!

If you are someone who's looking for a beach vacation, but do not want to venture in the noisy bustling party beaches of North Goa, then let me take you to a Goa afar from North, not only in distance  but also in spirit. South Goa is perfect for people who want to idle away in the  peaceful lap of nature.
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We started our journey from Dabolim and as we headed far south, the rustic charm of Goa kept sinking in slowly and gradually. We spent three days hopping around the clean beaches of picturesque South Goa. Let me travel back in time and share with you the three days we spent there.
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Day 1

Agonda beach :-
Agonda beach is by far undoubtedly the most serene beach of Goa. The vast expanses of white sand and the sunlight playing along the waves of long shoreline present an enigmatic picture. It feels like you are in a beautiful bubble of your own where the maddening noise is filtered out from reaching inside.

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Our stay for first day was planned right by the Agonda beach. After a long journey, we were tired. So we got freshened up after reaching our room, and had something to eat at the shacks of our stay. By the time we finished our meals, the sun had slowly gone down. Not yet setting, but the brightness was subdued by now. We found our spot to sit for a while. I find it amusing somehow that the pictures we click by the sea are not all so different yet if we sit down to watch carefully each picture is different in terms of the depth and the reach of the waves and a different interplay of light is almost always there. However, a picture can never capture the essence of sea which is eternally moving and yet so still.
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As the sun started setting, we started to walk along the shoreline and holding hands we walked the entire length of it, sometimes chasing the waves, sometimes clicking all those repetitive photos of sea from different angles and finally seating at a perfect rock near the end of the shoreline. It was my favorite time of the day. When we started the walk back, it was already dark. We had candle light dinner at a shack near to ours. It was so different from the shack dinners of North Goa. There was no maddening music, no loud titter-tatter. The shoreline was only enlightened with the lights of shacks and there wasn't any light pollution except that. The calming sound of the waves and a candle light were our companions for the night. Soon after dinner, we  retired to sleep.
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Day 2

Cola Beach :-
My day started with a silent walk at the Agonda beach and a meditation on the sound of the waves while I waited for my hubby to get ready.

Getting a scooty in the season can be a hastle. So thats one point to be kept in mind and try enquiring in the early morning because almost all scooties will be booked out by the daytime. After a good hastle, we got a scooty for two days.

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We had a nice breakfast at one of the restaurants in the Agonda market and by the time we started for Cola it must have been around 11:00  A.M. The last 2 to 3 km distance leading to cola beach is an unpaved dirt road  with quite a lot of bumps and downhill slope. We parked our scooty about 1 km above at the shed where a coconut water vendor was selling coconuts. He asked us if we would do the kayaking. On our affirmative response, he  showed us the shortcut hike to the beach and called his wife who would show us the boat down there.

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As we reached down there, the view of the beach hidden beyond the palm trees and vegetation was splendid. The sea was magnificent and the waves were glorious than any other beach of Goa. The shoreline had a slide dip and rose again. It was like a tiny valley which extended along the shoreline. No one was venturing inside the waves since they were hitting with full force. The sea shore was lined with thick palm trees and on one side of the shore, there was a bluish green water lagoon formed like the backwaters  surrounded by palm trees on the three sides. The water of the lagoon wasn't salty and it was a great amusement for every visitor. The kayaks were floating along. Our kayak guide recognised us and prepared our kayak for us. We had fun kayaking and we bumped into many inside the water. After kayaking, we frolicked inside the water for quite some time. There were people in kayaks and outside kayaks. Some people were knee deep and face deep in water playing the disc throw game. We cherished our time in the lagoon and then we proceeded towards the beach. I could keep looking at these waves but it was hot as well. We walked along the coast, drank coconut water, dried ourselves and bade goodbye to Cola beach.

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Cabo  de Rama Fort and Pebble beach :-

We had our lunch at a dhaba located at the junction where diversion to Cola beach extended on the left and Cabo de Rama was straight ahead. The food was surprisingly very nice. On the way there's this very famous restaurant and resort Cape where everyone was taking selfie at the gate. We reached Cabo de Rama fort just before 4.00 p.m. The road led from in between the palm trees and a church to a long set of stairs midst palm trees with a drone eye view of the beach that was sitting beautifully  at the base of these beautiful stairs. There were juice, snack vendor, selfie points along the way. We reached down and the sea was rightly named as the pebble beach. The rocks and stones were the only shoreline with no sand around. We climbed the rocks, secured a spot, chilled for a while and climbed up. Pebble beach is actually surrounded by the remains of the Cabo de Rama fort on all sides and the walls of the fort present a bird eye view  of the beach. The sunset looks beautiful here. We headed back after sunset. The day had no further itinerary and the plan was to grab a dinner and rest.

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Day 3

Butterfly Beach :-

Our day 3 started early. We were at the agonda beach by 7.30 A.M. all ready for a boat ride to butterfly beach. The name of the butterfly beach always comes up when we search for the hidden gems in Goa and rightly so. More than the beach, it is the experience of reaching the beach that is more special. A one and a half hour boat ride through the rising and falling waves of the sea makes it a cherished experience. All the beautiful colors of morning sun and the light reflecting on each and every wave the boat touches on its way is like a treat to be devoured upon. Dolphin sighting is also an amusing activity along the ride. The boat passes by the honeymoon beach and the huge turtle rock. It finally parks itself by the butterfly beach. It is and very small beach but beautiful nonetheless. After spending some twenty minutes there, we headed back to Agonda in our boat.

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Galgibaga beach:-

After our short trip to butterfly beach, we had to pack up because our stay at Agonda was over. We were to head farther south towards Rajbagh beach. We had actually not booked our stay for the third day in advance. This was a mistake because it was a season plus the weekend combined and there were hardly any property available one day prior. Nevertheless we managed to get a good stay near Rajbagh beach. When we reached there, the previous occupants had not yet vacated the room and we were made to wait for almost an hour which we did without complaining and chatting away with the owner.

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After settling in the room, we took the ride to the Galgibaga beach. Although it was sunny, the beach was wondrously clean and lifted our spirits. No doubt, it is labelled as the cleanest  beach. It is also a nestling site for olive ridley turtles. But I must warn you beforehand, if you like me are interested in sighting of turtles, it won't happen. The turtle sighting happens in a particular season and that too when the turtles find no one around so they can drop their guards to be by themselves. There was a netted area inside which turtle eggs were kept inside sand for them to be hatched with due labels and the dates when the eggs were laid. There's a guard there who can apprise you of the facts related to turtle nestling.

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Along the coastline of Galgibaga beach and parallel to sandy shore, there runs a stretch of forest land with paved pathway for walking midst the shade of the trees and vegetation. This feature of the beach lured me a lot and we sure went for a long walk in the shade of trees watching the sunny beach frolicking alongside.  This beach is not least bit commercialized and there is only one shack where we had our lunch and bid adieu to the most clean and beautiful beach.

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Talpona beach:-
Since it is near to Galgibaga beach, we thought it only fair to have a look and it is only for a look we stopped there and proceeded further to Sadolxem bridge.

Sadolxem bridge:-
Sadolxem bridge has been made famous by the movie Love you Zindagi. The ride to the bridge is a scenic one and we were riding just along the blue waters of talpona river. The blue water surrounded by the green vegetation had a pleasing appeal to look at. The sadolxem bridge is a blue colored iron bridge with blue waters of the talpona river underneath lined by the thickly grown palm trees. There are strong currents of breeze that refresh your mind in every way and someone like me can also loose their hat to the strong breeze and the river. We clicked pics and headed back

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Rajbagh beach:-

We stopped on the highway to eat Snacks at an udupi restaurant and then went on our way back. Our hotel was located near to the Lalit Golf and Spa Resort on the Rajbagh beach. Although the way to beach is through the Lalit, the Rajbagh beach is open to common visitors and one has to go through the Lalit to access the beach. Some ladies were selling coconut water by the beach and there were chairs lined up on thd sand for people to watch sunset. Sun was about to set. We decided to go to hotel, change clothes and come back to frolic in water. Rajbagh beach was also one of my favourites. One of the less crowded and majestic beaches, the trip to this beach proved to be detoxifying and relaxing.

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Palolem Beach:-

After we went back from Rajbagh beach, we settled on our comfy bed. But Palolem was our last haul of the day where we decided to spend the night and have dinner. Palolem is a bustling place. If there is a place for party in South Goa , it is Palolem. It is much commercialized beach and has a huge market. We didn't see this beach in daylight but it looked like a dirty beach. We roamed about, ate, let it all sink in, had dinner and slept off calling it a day.

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We had to return the scooty in Agonda next morning. So we did just that, had breakfast at Agonda, and took the cab to Majorda which is still South Goa but more like north of South Goa.  So thats our short 3 sweet days at South Goa.

The End.