Baga Beach, Goa

                                          Baga Beach 

    (Named after the Baga creek which meets the Arabian Sea at the north end of this beach)

Description : This is a salt water beach and has its name carved in the list of the most popular beaches of Goa. The beach is quite clean and the water is clear making it favourable for a lot of foreign as well as Indian tourists. The beach is a part of the 30 km long coastline along the west coast of Goa.

Location : Located in Baga town in Bardez, North Goa district of Goa, India.

Getting there : The beach is well accessed by roads and thus you can easily get there by car or bike. Local buses also take you close to the beach leaving you a small distance to walk ahead up to the beach.

Approx. 1 hr ( 40 km ) from Panjim , 1 hr 15 min ( 48 km) from Goa airport, 40 min (18 km) from Madgao Railway station, 15 min (8 km ) from Mapusa city

Best time to visit : Almost throughout the year ( there's no rule for visiting Goa ). However from February To May and from October to January is favourable as the beaches are closed for swimming during the rainy season due to uncertainty of tides.

People are not allowed to enter deep waters after 6 pm.

Peculiarities : It is a salt water lake and unlike most beaches in Goa, it is relatively clean. It offers a number of water sports and shacks providing delicious food to relish upon making it a hot favourite amongst visitors.

Food and drinks : There are a lot of shacks on the beach offering variety of sea food as well as Indian and Continental food. Vegetarian food is also available. A wide variety of cocktails, mocktails as well as hard drinks are available. There are budget friendly shacks as well as shacks that could make your budget turn unfriendly.( so choose wisely)

Fun & leisure : You can hire beds for as cheap as 100 rupees ( if you can bargain of course ) for the entire evening. The entire beach is covered by umbrella beds for enjoying sun bathing.The owner of the beds takes responsibility of your belongings and thus it is pretty safe. Many of the shacks have DJs playing all kinds of songs at high decibels for the enthusiasts to shake a leg.(making this beach a perfect no-no for the quiet peacelovers)

Activities : The main attraction of this beach is the water sports it provides. Right from sailing and banana boat ride to parasailing and jet skiing and a lot more, you've got it all. Island trips for snorkeling, dolphin cruising are amongst the most loved activities. The rates are also affordable. Also adequate safety is provided. All the water activities cease after 6pm.

Safety : There are life guards monitoring the beach 24/7. Constant announcements are made to warn people about high and low tides.

Parking : You can pay and park for Rupees 20 ( the time I visited) right outside the beach.

Rest rooms : Every hotel provides its own changing room and wash rooms. There are common washrooms present as well.

Places near by Baga beach : Its twin brother Calangute beach is just 4 km ( 15 min ) from the beach. Also Mackie's Saturday market ( offers beautiful hand made Goan artefacts) which opens at 6pm every Saturday from November to April is just at a 10 min walk from the beach. There are many beach resorts present in the vicinity which can be availed at reasonable rates.

Personal response : It is a must visit for youngsters or should I say "young at heart" people who love an adrenaline rush. For the easy-going chilled out ones, who'd love to watch the mesmerizing sunset whilst sitting on the sand sipping wine..there are other choices for you such as Arambol (Harmal) beach , Vagator beach.