Thanks Neil
It's good to have information, that the package holiday brochures, don't tell you. It was reading reports like yours, on this forum, and the Goa travel guides, that made me see that Calangute and Baga, wern't what I was looking for.
I stayed in Candolim once, as I wanted to discover the northern area, which away from the strip was very enjoyable, but i wouldn't stay there again.
Obviously lot's of people must like what the CCB strip has to offer, or is it because that's where the majority of the hotels used by the tour operators are to be found. Iv'e read many reports of people taking taxis every day, to Ashwem, Mandrem and Morjim, to escape the wall to wall sunbeds.
Your comments on prices are spot-on I have also found that wherever the hoards of package holiday makers are, the shack- restaurant prices are higher, and highest are found by the 5* hotels.
Enjoy the rest of you time in Goa, did you find the new Prem Joshua CD?.
x lassi

Thankyou Big Neal, we are staying in Betalbatim for a month at xmas glad to hear the prices are not to bad in the south, enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Thanks Neil, very good reading and an open and honest report.
I was always led to believe the South was much more expensive than the North?
We ate at a beach shack in Morjim one days, lovely fresh prawns, but much more expensive than CCB.
Neil its a new coffee house at the Marinha Dourada, its on the opposite side of the lake and is part of the hotel. Never used it and never saw anyone in it during our whole 2 weeks staying at the hotel.

Hi Neil,
Your appraisal to N. Goa is similar to mine and it was thanks to your suggestions that I discovered the walk around the headland from Baga to Anjuna, walked from Mandrem to Morjim, ate at J&A's, took the bus to Panjim......all 18 months ago.
When I got back I put in a pretty negative report about Baga and Calangute.It caused a bit of an uproar that I had dared to criticise Goa, you however supported my sentiments and gradually more people came forward and voiced their opinions that they too agreed with many of my observations.
I read your latest observations with interest !
You didn't mention there is less rubbish than there was 18 months ago which I think is a major step in the right direction ! There are new eating places along the Baga river and I think they all look good but yes they are pricey compared to other outlets but they offer a more sophisticated eating experience.A meal in J&A's would cost you 3x that amount at home so it represents good value to a tourist.
I think Arpora is still very pleasant and has some pretty good places to eat at pretty reasonable prices, especially Starlight which matches all the cheap prices you quote for the south. Most of their main courses are R70 or less and delicious.Eat there a few times and you can afford a treat at one of the "posh" ones.
We walked along the beach from Baga to Calangute once, and then only to get to the cash machine. The beach has no appeal to me either. What worries me most is the apparent unregulated use of jetskis and speedboats. A very serious accident will happen. As you progress towards Calangute the stench of petrol is overpowering, and as you approach the Calangute steps, the smell of rotting rubbish is appalling. You are welcome to it those who find it attractive. Walking back along the road towards Baga , as you comment, why bother. Very little to attract interest.
As for taxi's, we don't tend to use them but prefer to walk everywhere. You see far more that way and the best bit is you can eat and drink like lords and go home having not put any weight on. A walk from Arpora along Baga Creek to Anjuna is very pleasant and a beer at Myonna creek is a pleasure ! I didn't think taxi prices were that expensive though to be honest, 150 ruppes from Arpora to Calangute would cost at least 500 here at home
I actually enjoyed Goa more this time around in many ways though because we knew what to avoid and where to try. Hiring bicycles and heading to Chapora jetty and fort was good fun also had a quick look at Vagator which looked OK. Staying away from Baga and Calangute and you were not aware of the grottier bits. I agree, no way I would want to stay there.
However, if you do like crowds and that buzz then Baga beach is for you.

My opinion of Baga

Busy and Buzzing we love. It has got a lot busier over the number of yeas we've been going but we still love the place to bits. Each to their own I suppose, you pays your money, you takes your choice. If we want quiet, and sometimes we do we jump in a taxi or hop on a boat and off we go, you really can have the best of both worlds.

As for any of the eating places being pricey, everything is relative. Try eating the same curry in England and payng the same price - not possible and it doesn't taste anywhere near as good.

I do agree with some of the points raised but everywhere has plusses and minusses. When the minusses outweigh the plusses it's time to stop going.

That said we're flying out on Christmas Day, still so many plusses for us.

Baga

The opinion of a lot of people I met around Baga was that building the new bridge was the worst thing that happened to the area. Baga Creek Road used to be very a very pleasant walk but now lorries, buses and other large vehicles speed down the SINGLE track road endangering pedestrians. Even more so than Baga Calangute Road.

As for having tidied up the rubbish, the path that goes from Baga Bridge to the bus 'terminus' is absolutely disgusting, obviously they have ignored this as the new road bypasses this.

With the influx of Indian tourists being more prevalent, can anyone really say that Baga on a Saturday/Sunday is a pleasurable experience. Hordes of people standing in the water with jet skis zooming past. I think people who say they love the chaos of Baga have not been there recently. There may be less foreigners in Goa at present but at the weekend Baga Creek Road and Baga are not what they once were. Progress? I don't think so.... and there are supposed plans to construct a road over the hill to Anjuna, linking Baga Creek Road which will destroy natural wildlife and habitat.... all for what?

They seem to build and develop regardless of the drop in tourism.... why?

Good observations Big Neil and it's hard to disagree with much of what you say. I don't know whether I'm unusual but I can hold two completely contradictory stances in mind at the same time!

I don't like the drift towards "Costa Goa" but at the same time I enjoy the hubbub and chaos of CCB. You can still find your own quieter parts of the beach - even along CCB and it's great to watch the world go by. I always think that watching beach life along that stretch is cabaret! There's always something going on and I love the vibrancy (and sometimes the nuttiness) of the place. At the same time I really love to get away from it all at Morjim and the quieter beaches.

Same with restaurants - you can still eat inexpensively - Starlight, Plantain Leaf and countless others but it's also nice to have the odd "splurge" night out at one of the nicer places.

We tend to wear different hats at different times - sometimes we're tourists, sometimes we hide from them, sometimes we eat posh, mostly we eat cheap (but well). There's a lot of choices out there and it's good to be able to choose what you do according to how you feel that day.

Don't think I'll ever feel like karaoke, though.

I Live in Arpora and walk my dog all the time around the area up the hills, afraid to say nowadays I am so angry the way the goans and indians are treating this land, by sunvillage on the hillside another building is being erected vast numbers of coconut trees have been chopped plus mango trees that are hundreds of years old, rubbish everywhere and one part of the hill is being used as a toilet for all the migrant workers it stinks!!! the taxi drivers for the lazy lagoon/sun village have built a hut and theres masses of rubbish appearing everyday, as is along the baga creek river road and plenty of fly tipping aswell, notice alot of that going on going towards the Nerul bridge.
I cant imagion what it will be like after the holiday period on the football grounds where the domestic tourists camp out, theres no portaloos there!!

well stated Roma, couldnt agree more with what you have said...
chilly

poppetjay...

What we have seen regarding pollution in around Baga make the 'Make Goa Green' signposts laughable.

The indians and goans are the biggest culprits for littering, bottles fly out of buses, plus the water and spit sometimes.
The government need to do something really quick now as the whole situation is out of hand, its so sad to see it happening but its been happening for years.
we will continue going to the little bits of paradise we've found as Roma said and hopefully the rubbish dosent consume them.

Regarding pollution, the most extreme thing I saw was around Benaulim. Most of you will have seen the rubbish/leaf burning at the side of the roads. I was walking from the beach at Benaulim into the village and saw this 'fog' surrounding the village.... the 'fog' was smoke from the burning of plastic bottles, it seemed that most villagers just burn these. There were kids playing around all this!

Burning plastic releases toxic chemicals such as lead and cadmium. Also Dioxins and furans, which are perhaps the most toxic synthetic chemicals on the planet, and even in small quantities can be extremely harmful.

Old habits die hard as they say and although there is still plenty of evidence of rubbish and pollution it was nice to see some people collecting plastic bottles for recycling . Some areas previously full of litter have been cleared up a great deal like the area of outstanding beauty which is the headland between Baga and Anjuna where the rubbish is about 40% of what was there 18 months ago.On the other hand there are some new dumping grounds too, like the edge of the new road from Baga bridge.
One of the saddest sights we saw was just after the rubbish collection vehicle (complete with advertising hoarding with a phone number to arrange collection) had driven past us on Baga creek road one of the occupants of a property came to their front door and tossed a bin bag of rubbish straight over the road and into the river.