Benaulim Beach

It’s easy to get addicted to Benaulim. This beach has that effect on you. Here you’ll find a few odd tourists doing their own thing, some locals playing football, a smattering of honeymooners walking hand in hand – all very different types of people but each getting their one common fix – the Benaulim vibe. It’s a difficult phenomenon to explain and to understand it truly you need to experience it yourself, so try this: drop in here once at sunset and we guarantee that you will find it hard to tear yourself away. The beach is almost magical at this time, and as the warm orange glow of the sun descends behind a blanket of the big blue sea, the calm is almost surreal and even the lashing of the incessant monsoon rains cannot dampen the spirit of Benaulim. Come season time and Benaulim Beach is abuzz with shacks that set up shop for the tourists, each with its own unique character catering to a loyal crowd that comes here year after year.

Things to do: No talk of Benaulim is complete without the mention of Fiplees, a restaurant that comes much before the beach. This restaurant is a favorite haunt of the locals down south and is the centre of much excitement throughout the year. And if one were to evaluate the shacks on the beach then Pedros and Johncys are the two names that pop up instantly as they too remain open throughout the year and are really popular with the locals as well as tourists. Benaulim boasts of a world class museum, the Goa Chitra as well the Art Escape which, as the name suggests, is a haven for artists of all genres to meet and flourish.

Location:  South Goa, 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Margao and 41 kilometers (25 miles) from Panaji.

Image Credits: Arun Unhale

Planet Goa Team

For us at Planet-Goa, our team is driven by that feeling of exhilaration that one gets when discovering that something ‘unique’ and ‘new’ about Goa for our ever-so-discerning readers.