Description:
The Miramar, The Dona Paula, The Calangute, Anjuna Beach and the Sinquerim beach.
The Northern beaches of Goa start just outside Panaji, from the Aguada Fort and the sand stretches to the borders of Maharashtra.
The Miramar Beach is very beautiful and equally commercialized beach of Goa. Its proximity to the capital, just 3km from Panaji, has made many big hotels and rich people’s bungalows stand here. This beautiful beach lies adjoining the estuary of the river Mandovi as it opens into the Arabian Sea and was originally known as the Gasper Dias Beach. From the beach across the river is an excellent view of Aguada Fort.
Popularly known as the Lovers’ Paradise, the Dona Paula Beach is a rocky hammer shaped headland where Goa’s two rivers Mandovi and Zuari meet the Arabian Sea. There is a myth attached to this beach. It is named after the Viceroy’s daughter Dona Paula de Menezes, who fell in love with a local fisherman. When her family did not give consent for heir marriage she jumped off the cliff. Her ghost still haunts the place, it is said. The beach is beautiful and has some facilities of water sports as well.
The Calangute Beach is known as the queen of beaches. Just 15 km from Panaji, this is the most famous and thus most commercialized beach in Goa. This huge seven km stretch of sand is therefore always overcrowded. The village of Calangute is well equipped with all the amenities a tourist might need.
About 18kms from Panaji is the village of Anjuna, a five square mile enclosure nestling between the Arabian Sea and the Hill, overlooking the Anjuna Beach. The beach is known for its swaying palms, soft sands and has an unusual rocky formation overlying a cove of white sand and black rock that juts into the Sea. There is more to Anjuna than the beach and that is the Flea Market that takes place here every Wednesday. Earlier, a hideout of the hippies, this market was started by them when their pockets were empty. The hippies started selling everything they had and thus began the market, which is now flooded with artisans from all over India.
The Sinquerim Beach is located some 13 km from Panaji. With a magnificent 17th century fort which has now been converted into a prison. It is one of the best beaches in Goa with international class facilities for water-skiing, para-sailing, fishing, scuba-diving and wind-surfing.
