This is my 2nd write-up on our Goa trips.  Actually, this was my 4th trip to Goa, the 3rd one being just a couple of months earlier!  Yes, Goa is such an easy drive from Bangalore – 10 hours of good roads.  And this time, we had stopped over at Karwar too (watch out for another post on that).   Pics are taken from my Facebook album where I said “Goa – a vacation we’re always ready to repeat!” 🙂

Having completed a Goa trip just a couple of months earlier, we wanted to take it light and relax this time.  Hence our choice of South Goa turned out to be perfect.  I believe South has lesser crowd and cleaner beaches, while north is the “happening place”.  We were in our own car with a driver from Bangalore.  And this was also my first stay in South Goa, and worth every minute.

Alila Diwa:

We ended up at this resort thanks to a good friend who had an extra room due to a cancellation in his family group.  He got a deal from GroupOn, and I got a deal from him 🙂  Alila is a five star (honestly, I had never heard their name), and the place definitely lives up to its star rating, with awesome rooms, attractive surroundings, amazing breakfast spread, and an astounding pool with bar attached.

Majorda Beach:

Majorda Beach was closest to Alila Diwa, and they had golf buggies to drop us off very close to the beach.  We visited the beach both in the morning and evening, and were amazed at the variety it offered.  Both I and my elder daughter did parasailing in the evening.

If you have that photography bug in you, this might be a good place to explore.  There is a lot to experiment with the setting sun in the background.

Baga Beach and Britto’s Restaurant:

This was our second visit to Britto – just to re-live earlier moments.  The place is very close to Baga beach (click here for Part 1), and usually has a good crowd, especially foreign tourists.  It is supposedly a seafood lover’s delight – you can see aquariums with live lobsters etc. 🙂   We are inside a shack / pandal, but the floor is covered with sand, giving it the beach feel.  Later in the day they probably have live music too, but we didn’t stay back.

Palolem Beach and Café Del Mar:

I’m glad we tried different beaches this time.  Palolem was another peaceful beach, though it has its own little crowd.  We built a sand castle and lazily strolled into one of the seaside shacks.  Our personal photographs include one where we’re seated on the higher floor with fishing nets decorating the area and the beach behind us.  Based on the location and what I can see from Google, I am now able to guess the name of the restaurant 🙂

In this trip we also visited the now famous Chapora Fort or Dil Chaahta Hai fort, and got to sit at the same place as in the movie 🙂