Hi,
If you are planning on spending lots of time on the beach with your little one you can't go far wrong with Palolem (in the south). It's a beautiful sickle shaped bay....safe for swimming compared to all of Goa's other beaches. There are very few big waves and the sand is really soft - excellent for kids!! If you don't fancy staying in a beach hut there are a few nice little guest houses in the area.

If you fancy the North I would say Candolim is best for a family holiday....not as rowdy as Calangute or Baga and it has some of the better restaurants located in the area. The Highland Beach Resort is a nice place - well maintained with nice pool areas.

Good Luck, GFF xx

When we went in Jan 07 and took our 3 year son, we stayed at the Lagoa Azul in Arpora. The rooms are really big so great when you have children and all their clutter. We requested a ground floor room, as he was still using a buggy in the evening, and we were just able to wheel him in when he had fallen asleep in the evening. The patio doors opened onto a little garden, so he would play outside with his cars whilst we were getting ready. My mum also came and her room was also a ground floor room which overlooked one of the pools, it was really nice and we are going back in Jan 09, with our son, who will be 5 and our new little daughter who will be 18 months by then.

Previous to this we had always stayed at the Ronil Beach in Baga, but the rooms were a little small and the travel company we use only have a room occupancy of 2.

We love Goa and everyone is so friendly and they love children. can't wait till Jan 09 !!

Funnily enough IMO Goldenflipflop I dont find the best restaurants situated in Candolim. There is a few I would go to but none of my favourites are based in Candolim. Apart from the odd beach shack, there is nothing that would make me rush back to any Candolim shack. I quite like the Candolim area, but to be honest I think the Phoenix Park has put me off Candolim a tad
Ive stayed at the Lagoa Azul, nice hotel, lovely staff and big rooms. We had a room to the right of the reception area, on the first floor, with a brilliant pool view.
Ive stayed at the Marinha Dourada and IMO the Lagoa Azul is not a patch on the MD, if you know what I mean, although I do like LA.
But then its all about choices and what suits you, this is only my opinion.

As I understood from the original question asked by Ange1a she was looking for somewhere suitable for a holiday with A CHILD. IMHO Gemma, Candolim ticks all the boxes and if you read my posting I state that "some of the better restaurants are located in the area" That does not indicate in any way shape or form that there aren't decent eateries in Calangute, Baga, Arpora etc.
This has now gone off topic....sorry for that Ange1a!! I hope you are finding lots of helpful info on this site to make your decision about where to stay a bit easier.
GFF xx

GFF myself and the other poster are only giving our opinions as well, as I said its all about choices and I personally was not suggesting that your ideas are not appreciated or invaluable. You probably know a lot more about Goa than most of us in here as youve told us you live there.
You suggest someplaces to stay and we suggest others, thats all, no problem whatsoever, and then I tried to back it up a bit by bringing in other important topics in the area ie eateries and beach shacks.
Also having a CHILD with you IMHO doesnt make the slightest bit of difference, unless you were banged up in Calangute Main Street and I think we would BOTH agree thats not a good idea.

Thanks for your advice, I will try looking again. The prioirity really is the safety and happiness of my little boy, I'm easily peased other than that! I've read that some of the waters can be a bit dodgy unless you are an olympic style swimmer.
Any more suggestions much appreciated from any other families.
Cheers, Angela

hi Angela
I've just bumped a thread you may find useful on Goa with children