Note: I’ve posted a Itinerary to North Goa earlier. You can read it here
Making of the South Goa Plan
Recently, At my niece’s birthday party, 10 of us cousins met after a long time.
Cousin 1 – “Hey let’s plan for a trip now that we are all here”
Me – Hmm. This isn’t the first time we initiated this. In fact we planned at least thrice earlier, but the trip never happened.
Cousin 2 – “How about we book the flights tickets within a day? So that no one can back out “ (At least not without a cost attached)
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Me – Not a bad idea, looks like it’s actually going to happen this time.
Cousin 3- “We decide the place tomorrow and book flights first, and hotel by the second day.”
Me – Okay then, Let’s meet tomorrow at my place to geek out the details. Everyone’s attendance mandatory. Over and out.
The Checklist
Place? – South Goa.
Flights? – Booked.
Hotel? – Beleza by the beach, Betalbatim. Booked.
Itinerary? – Search for good food, Laze around at the resort, Repeat .
Heavy rains? – Rent Cars.
All set!!!
The South Goa Itinerary
Fair warning – All 10 of us are hardcore foodies , so our itinerary was based entirely on the two things that are most dear to our hearts – Lunch & Dinner
Sightseeing, Beaches, Shopping and any other activities people do in Goa are optional to us. Nothing comes between us and our food!!!
Day 1
Arrive at the airport and travel south to the resort.
We started in the evening so arrived around 8 pm to Goa. We flew an extra hour over Goa as we were not allowed to land due to the heavy rains.
Upon arrival, took a prepaid cab to South Goa.The drive is traffic free, a stark contrast to the crowded North Goan roads.
The Resort
We arrived at Beleza resort, betalbatim , a 40 minute drive from the airport.
Our stay is the highlight of our whole trip. The resort is big, full of amenities, luxurious rooms and has access to a private beach.
Guess what everyone of us liked about it in common? The HUGE bathrooms!!! (Weird,but true)
We wanted to go someplace nearby for dinner, but couldn’t get cars for rent at that time. Also, it was raining heavily.
So we settled for the restaurant at our resort, food was surprisingly good. Much to the delight of our group.
Spent the night chilling at the same place.
Day 2
Breakfast at the resort itself, the spread was quite nice.
The Private Beach
The walk to the adjacent beach in heavy rain was totally worth it. The pathway felt like a scene out of some movie.
The Beach itself is calm, private and very clean. Spent a good amount of time goofing around under the drizzle.
By now, we got our cars on rent.
Note: You have to pay the whole rent and the security deposit in advance.
Then, it’s time for lunch!!!
Lunch at Martin’s Corner
This place is highly rated in South Goa and so we came here first, it’s just a 15 minute drive from our resort.
The lunch was pretty ordinary, everyone felt the place was overrated.
Back to Resort
Spent the evening lazing around by the swimming pool and playing carroms/snooker at the coffee shop by the pool.
Dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf
This is another well rated place nearby. Definitely had better food than our lunch, but still felt that the resort’s restaurant was better.
Also the sound of live music was a bit too loud to our liking.
Came back to the Resort. Spent the night playing dumb charades and card games.
Day 3
By now, We realized that apart from beaches ,there isn’t really much else to our interest in South Goa.
So we decided to go back north to the one place we know that never disappoints.
Lunch at Britto’s
Most of us have been here before and it’s one of the best food joints in Goa.
We drove 1.5 hours to reach here and the food was exactly like we expected it to be. Awesome!!!
The Casino
On our way back we decided to visit one of the casino’s on Mandovi river.
We chose Big Daddy casino, a new entrant and a competitor to the well known Deltin group of casinos
Spent the evening here. Won some/Lost some at the tables and when few of us were just on the positive, called it a day and left back to the resort.
Day 4
The last day!!! 11am was our checkout, so we booked a late check-out in one of our rooms. Dumped all our luggage in that room and checked out of others.
Note: Negotiate for late check-out, otherwise you’ll be advised/forced to pay for an extra day.
Time for lunch!!!
Lunch at The Black Sheep Bistro
Black sheep bistro is THE best restaurant of goa.Period.
We ordered around 20 items and all of them were above average. The food, presentation, ambience and service were just perfect.
Finally a lunch that satisfied all of us completely. Our hour long drive in heavy rain was justified.
Back to the Resort
On the way back, did some shopping and spent the rest of the day at the resort playing card games.
By evening, returned our cars, packed our bags, and headed to the airport for our flight back home.
See you later, Goa !!!
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