Hi Martin, I too have a strong dislike of cockroaches ever since I was a nurse in the General hospital! Whilst I have been twice to Candolim I have never seen one . Both times we stayed in the Highland Beach and there were no creepies. I hope you can persuade your wife to go

I cant say I saw one creepy crawlie.

Rats, I saw rats.

Me too, I've seen black rats as big as cats, but very few roaches or creepy crawlies.

we had cockroaches at the hotel santiago !!! but i had brought my RAID spray and that soon disposed of them.

i hate them....

Roaches and Rats are everywhere, they are part and parcel of the place, The normal brown rats especially are everywhere, hotels, restaurants and bars, The BIG black field rats are quite literally the size of big cats, awesome creatures, their tails are thicker than a mans finger! Roaches, well, if you,ve never seen one I think a visit to the opticians is called for, there are a few different species in Goa, not all of them big brown ones, some are smaller and pale, unless these are juveniles? Again everywhere, but hey! they are all part of the natural fauna!

There is a product that is like a chalk and you chalk around the perimiter of your room and and the roaches don't cross it - or they die if they do. Just make sure there are none already in the room or they can't get out!!
Most stores sell it. We also always use "Raid" spray and the spiral burners for mossies.
As has previously been said - roaches and rats are everywhere, you won't eliminate them but you can reduce your chances of encountering them with a few precautions!

Will the chalk keep the lizards out? Can't bear them!

DonaPaula
We welcome the geckos into our room with open arms - they eat all the mozzies.

Polly

Hi,there is a spray you can buy called Dethlac,it is available from hardware stores or ebay.excellent stuff,just spray around doors etc and hey presto no cockroaches,ants,bugs etc. Paula

Never saw 1 in the Casa Seashell. You can get spray killer in the local shops. I sprayed the balcony and all around the door frame every evening on our way out and nothing ventured in. I found your best buying the local stuff as it works and is cheaper in Goa. Also light a couple of coils on the balcony of an evening to keep the mossies away and use a plugin in the room again bought locally.
Saw a massive rat though jump over the wall at the Casa seashell, the gardener killed it with one whack of a stick,, it was like the size of a cat and that was 11 in the morning.

Just to chear Fiona up, Rats are creatures of habit and there used to be a rat run throughh from "The White House" along the path in front of the downstairs balconies, through a small drainage hole in the wall seperating it from "Kingstork" kitchen area. As I am terrified of Rats I allways made a point of banging my feet as I came off Holiday Road, much to the amusment of the owners, who just found their presence part of life. So keep your eyes peeled Fiona, and you may get a glimpse of one of the giant Goan Rats Alan

just off to request an upper floor

Think i will as well Fiona,shall be there at the end of Jan.
Ann

Only ever seen one cockroach in Goa, at Molly Malones (remember it came flying out of the AC Irishcolleen )
Ive bought Dethlac spray as well, it is quite effective. Bought mine off Ebay for a few pound.

.....OH Gemma ..I had forgot about that if we had seen the bug*** coming at us we could have had the shoe off .....will you bring that stuff you bought of e bay with you on st Patricks night in march cus cockroaches or not I will be in Molly Malones on the 17th of march ....with my green dye for the beer ...colleen

Never seen a cockroach in Goa. Seen the giant rats a few times and a couple of sea snakes.. My strangest beastie experience was chilling in an open air bar and being mistaken for a tree by a tree frog. I was in deep conversation with someone and thought my hubbie had slapped me on the back. When I turned around to see what he wanted I was eye to eye with a rather large very contented tree frog suckered onto my shoulder.

I have had more than my fair share of cockroaches in Goa, we were staying in the Holiday Beach Resort, and they were coming up out of the drain in the shower, if you ran the tap in the sink they came up the drain , but my night mare was finding one in my bed, I took loads of photos of them, the management of the hotel would not believe us, until we killed two, then picked them up in a tissue, and handed them to the receptionist, her face turned white, but that was the only time we have actually had them in our accommodation, that was 3 years ago, and since then we have not found one, in any of the apartments we have stayed.

Rats the size of cats, are everywhere in Mumbai, as you walk down the streets, you can see them scavenging in the empty food wrappers, but no one seems to worry about it, in fact one day, there was an injured rat, laying in the gutter, and some Indian children, were crying to see this dying rat laying there.

But the night there was one in my bed is still the stuff of nightmares, no matter where we stay, I always check my bed before I get into it.

Oh no tomitma that is awful!!

My worst experience of creepy crawlies was one night in Cabana's, oh my goodness!! It was on a particularly humid night, and these things I don't know what they were..... but they were literally dive bombing us, we didn't stay very long!!

what are the great big black things that you see flying around sometimes
they look like big round cockroaches!!!!