South Goa is known for its beautiful calm beaches and lush green forests. Combined with the great waterfalls, this place is heaven. So we started our journey by train. You can reach Madgaon by train, bus, or drive yourself through beautiful Konkan, but we chose the train since we were only 2 people and the train is the most affordable option. Our journey began at around 5:30 pm from Pune Junction and we arrived in Madgaon by morning 6 am. Then, we changed and got fresh in the executive lounge that you may find on platform no. 1 which has excellent service and also at a good price. We then kept our bags in the cloakroom and exited the station.
Now the real hunt began, since it was a long weekend and we had not booked our scooty beforehand, no shop near Madgaon had the vehicle for us. After roaming here and there and speaking with so many shopkeepers, we finally found a scooty which cost us Rs. 600 per day. My suggestion would be to book it beforehand so you can start your trip without any delay.
As soon as we got our vehicle, we headed straight to Kolva Beach, the nearest beach from the Madgaon Railway station. We spent some time relaxing there and also had our breakfast there. The place is clean and the weather was so pleasant.
Since we were only going to visit places in South Goa in the coming days, we decided to take a detour to the north to visit two beautiful places. First, we went to Fontainhas, which is such a beautiful town and around 38 km from Madgaon station. The road from Madgaon to Fontainhas is also a national highway, so the place can be reached easily.
After reaching Fontainhas, we were awestruck by the beautiful architecture and the colors of the buildings. Not only the exterior but also the interior of the cafes and restaurants were beyond beautiful. We spent almost 2 hours here exploring every single corner and building.
After having our minds full with this beautiful place, we started our journey to Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, which is around 7 km from Fontainhas. The best part about this sanctuary is that it is located across the backwaters. So we need to take a ferry to reach this place.
We reached the entrance of the Bird Sanctuary at around 1 pm. The sun shone with its entire strength since it was the month of March. But once you are inside the Sanctuary after paying a small entry fee, the trees will protect you from the scorching heat with their shades. The nature walk, which is a major tourist attraction, was closed since there was not enough water there due to the current weather. Otherwise, we could spot birds and many mangroves. We had a very nice time there.
We had wandered our way into North Goa, when our plan was to visit South. So now we started getting back to Madgaon Railway station which was 38 km from here and stopped on the way to have lunch. Soon we picked up our bags from the station and went ahead to South Goa. Our hostels were booked in The Lost Hostels Palolem. They had very affordable hostels as well as hotel rooms. Now after a tiring journey of more than 35 km from the station to the hotel, we finally reached our hotel which was located just 5 minutes from the beautiful and calm Palolem Beach. After a quick nap and exploring the area outside our hotel and the beach, we called it a night to start our journey early in the morning the day after.
We started our day early in the morning because we wanted to cover many places. The first place that we visited was Palolem Beach itself since it was nearest to our hotel. We had a quick dip in the water, came back to our hotel, and freshened up for the next destination.
On our way to the 2nd point, which was the Butterfly Beach, we stopped at a small Udupi restaurant and had their special breakfast of puri bhaji and buns. The route to Butterfly Beach can be done in 2 ways: by boat from Palolem or by Scooty itself. There are marked arrows everywhere showing the destination for this beach. Once you park your Scooty and walk a small distance, you reach Butterfly Beach. In my opinion, this is the best beach in Goa.
Our 3rd stop was the Agonda beach. This is a very long beach, and you can enter it via many alleys, so don't keep on finding a place to park your scooty. Just park it on the side of the road and sit on this beach to enjoy its magnificent waves with a background of small hills on the right.
The 4th spot was Cola Beach, this beach is very special since it hosts both sweet water and salt water. This has a backwater and also a big beach. Once you park your vehicle near the beach, which is a little bit outskirts location and do a small trek downwards you reach this spot. This place is where I spent my best afternoon.
We took kayaking and were off in the backwater under the shade of the coconut trees. They charge per boat and not more than Rs.500, so it's a very good deal for 1 hour of peaceful ride.
Moving on to our 5th spot, which was Kakolem Beach, we stopped midway to have a nice Goan lunch. After having lunch and resting for an hour to beat the afternoon heat, we reached Kakolem Beach. This also is a very large beach, and you need to trek downwards to reach it. At this point, we were a bit tired of beaches, so we just observed this beauty from a distance.
Our final and 6th destination was Cabo de Rama, which is divided into the fort, beach, and a sunset point. We entered the Cabo de Rama fort at 4 pm and this has a very historic significance. You can read all about the fort inside inscribed in its old architecture. The fort is vast and also holds a small jungle inside it.
Just outside the Fort, if you follow some steps which lead you to a downward path, you may find Pebble Beach. It is very difficult to stand here without your shoes since there are some sharp pebbles too. But this is a very unique beach and one must surely visit it.
Once the fort closes, you can find a nice spot to view the sunset at the nearby Cabo De Rama Sunset Point. It also has a beach below it. My suggestion would be to find a nice place on the plateau with a cold beer and watch the sun go down into the wavy waters of the beach.
Here's a short clip of the time-lapse of the sunset from Cabo De Rama Point... And with this, our day came to an end.
The next day, after partying a bit, we woke up late since we only had to visit the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, which was about 35 km away from our hotel. It took us more than an hour to reach the main gate of the wildlife reserve, but the roads leading to this place are some of the most beautiful roads I have driven on. Along the way, you will see beautiful trees with flowers on them and cashew plantations everywhere. There is no network here, so keep cash for the entry fee that you need to pay at the gate. Also, don't bring any intoxicants with you since the forest guards will confiscate them.
The two attractions here are the Mainapi and Savari waterfalls, and these are untouched by humankind waterfalls. The way to one of the waterfalls was closed, so we only got the chance to visit the Savari waterfall. After doing a little trek, we reached the waterfall. One can also have a swim in it; there are changing rooms and everything available, but there are fishes in the water.
By evening, we were back and went to Palolem Beach again since it was our last night in this beautiful place. We had a nice swim in the peaceful beach with calm waves, then we tried some food at the restaurants there and did some souvenir shopping.
Then came our last morning here, we checked out with heavy hearts from the hotel. Finally, when reaching Madgaon, we found a restaurant that was serving fresh Urrak. Urrak is one of the local liquors of Goa and it tastes so good when served with Limca, lemon, and chilies. Also, please do not drink and drive. We had returned our scooters and tried the drink. It is one of the drinks you should try, as it is both strong in alcohol content and refreshing. Then we boarded our trains and had a nice view of the Dudhsagar Waterfalls, which we had decided to visit on our next trip here.
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