Keith
I think your feeling

to be honest I feel that draw that Goa has always had has gone

is very like what we think at the moment.

We've been long-time (but not long-term) visitors for many years, usually visiting twice in a season but this is the first time we've said 'this time may be our last'.
We got home on Sunday so also experienced the early closing of bars and dry days where times had been published in the newspapers weeks earlier but then they changed the rules at the last minute.

We paid a fair bit more for this holiday than in previous years - for exactly the same period and duration - so I don't think the really good deals are out there anymore.

However, to be able to eat very well and drink for around £30 per day for 2 people is still pretty good value.

As you say it will be interesting to read what opinions others have.

still think it is good value, when there.
But getting there is more expensive.
other places may have better accomodation but the reports i have read re Thailand, Sri Lanka etc , never seem to mention the friendly people or things like beach shacks.
The other destinations seem to me to be a long haul version of the Canaries(judging by what is missing in the reports)whereas Goa is still different.
Yes, there are lots of changes that need to be made in Goa, litter etc, but in my opinion it's still a great place for a reasonable priced holiday.

Athough having already booked flights for next Nov. (Qatar £619 !) I would tend to agree than Goa, is without doubt, no longer a value for money destination. We also visit Thailand every year and the difference in hotel accommodation and the infrastructure is huge.
Goas present troubles have many reasons. Firstly the cost, and inconvenience getting there. The huge rise in package holiday prices can not simply be blamed on rising costs. Once the two major holiday giants in the market gained dominance, the rot set in. Flight times were chopped and changed, departure airports were dropped, and flights dropped year on year, as the big players switced flights to other countries, where they felt they could make bigger profits.
The visa problems were another nail in Goas coffin The sheer inconvenience and cost of getting an Indian visa, year on year gets more of a problem. Other countries such as Thailand seem light years ahead on this, (and free !!)
Most visitors, base a large part of their holiday round the beach and shacks, yet one never knows what the position will be regarding them. When we visit next November we cant be sure if the shacks will be up or not, whether they will be allowed more than 10 sunbeds or not, and so on. In our case, Helen has two total knee replcements, and a towel on the sand is unfortunatley, not an option !.
Many changes have taken place since our first visit twenty odd years ago, then it was undoubtedly a real bargain destination, but when one factors in all the costs, the by and large basic quality of the accommodation, the dreadfull infrastructure, the journey time, and lack of choice in getting there, and the ever present visa shambles, one can without doubt, find better value elsewhere.
But we'll still be back next Nov. but it will be for reasons other than cost that takes us back. Our journey to get there will involve two train journeys, a night in a hotel in Manchester, and Qatar flights. Our journey to Thailand, for our next visit will involve a flight frm Glasgow with Emirates, quite a bit less hassle.
Alan

Hi Keith

We have booked for 3 weeks departing dec 30th staying at Somy Calangute. total for 2 of us was £1774 which dont think is too bad.

Booked for Thailand in June 17 nights 5 star for £1968 for 2. So not much difference for a lot better standard hotel.

Will decide after the 2 hols where we will be going next year

bob

Just back ourselves and to be honest I think thats it for us.

Yes its still great value for money and the people are still very friendly but the changes we have seen over the past few years have turned the "Paradise" that Goa once was into Blackpool on sea without the sanitation.

It is not acceptable for tourists to be subjected to shocking hotel standards rampant corruption filth everywhere packs of dogs roaming around howling all night making sleep all but impossible unless large quantities of alcohol have been consumed.

The place has become worse than a pigsty and I have spoken to several people since I got home who have said the same as me "enough is enough".

To see dead rats on the street being picked over by crows is just one example of how bad things have become.

The often trundled out excuse "Oh well thats India" just does not wash anymore.

I have been a supporter of goa for many years but feel I can no longer defend it.

Papa

Well, we haven't been since Feb 2010. This is mainly for health reasons, but that hasn't stopped us from going to other destinations. We've been on some lovely holidays.
The thing is, India is not where I'd want to be if taken ill. This is because of the filth and smells everywhere, unhygienic conditions for food preparation, and masses of people now.
A few friends have been this season and they said it's worse than ever.Two had to call a doctor out and then changed their flights to come home a week early as the stench everywhere put them off eating out. Another two were hospitalised for tummy problems and dehydration. My son and his wife were both ill for a few days during their 3 week stay.
My immune system is very low due to some meds that I now have to take, so Insurance would not cover much if I were ill.
Yet here I am researching going next season! Why? I just do miss the place and so does my OH.
I think we will go, mainly because my sister and her OH want to go again, but it will probably be to the south next time. The northern resorts infrastructures can't cope with the mass tourism that is there now. When we started going, about 16/17 years ago, although popular with many regular visitors, there was a fraction of the number of tourists.
I don't begrudge others who have discovered Goa in recent years, but there are now far too many to cater for. Many are now domestic tourists too, who drive or bus down to Goa for drunken long weekends, because alcohol is more easily available. This of course is their right, but I have to admit it spoils it for me. Hey ho. Next season may be the last. Vietnam and Cambodia beckon.

The last poster really highlighted one of our main concerns. The thought of a heart attack, stroke, or similar, whilst on the beach doesnt bear thinking about. The "Golden Hour" as it's known as beyond which your survival chances markedly decrease, would be long passed , I fear, long before one was medivaced off the beach and into hospital. I try to put such thoughts out of my head, but approaching 75, I'm afraid ones mortality becomes more and more pressing, and Goas roads and emergency services, dont really compare with other holiday destinations !
Alan

I was last in Goa in 2009 and I can't see me going back any time soon. I went every year from 2001 and loved the place, but I think its had its day unless something drastic happens to sort out the visa,rubbish,accommodation problems. I take no pleasure in posting this

Hi Keith
I think its a really interesting topic and enjoy listening to other peoples perspective on it.... also its great to see that people are able to put their opinions without any negative feedback or comment everybody is different and everyone has their own reasons as seen above... We will continue going, but then we have a lot of advantages in not needing a visa and havin our own luxury accommodation, which definitely keeps costs slightly lower, also eating our is still cheap compared to the UK.
Chilly

Yes to me it is good value for money compared with a 2 week European break.I didnt choose Goa as a holiday destination 18 years ago because it was 'cheap', I just wanted to go to India. All these years later, yes its changed beyond belief but I still love the place.
I don't do Calangute any more, too busy for me, much the same for Baga, spend little time in 'uptown' Candolim although there are some fantastic restaurants, discover new ones every year. We have travelled all over the world and the finest meals we have ever had have been in Goa, for ridiculously low prices. We spend less per week than we do on our supermarket shopping in the UK, yet eat out every night.
As regards the 'health' issues, I have been treated both in a Goan hospital and a Thai hospital. Both were spotlessly clean and I was seen immediately - nothing to choose between either of them. If I was really concerned about potential health problems though I personally would choose to stay closer to home.
Goa isn't for everyone, I too wish they would resolve the garbage problem and the visa drives me to distraction - but oh the joy when it arrives!!.
Its a great place for a holiday, value for money in my opinion 100% yes

have been treated both in a Goan hospital and a Thai hospital. Both were spotlessly clean and I was seen immediately - nothing to choose between either of them

I have often walked past the hospital in candolim and wondered.
Is it really OK?

Tourists dont get treated at the hospital in Candolim, its one a few miles away (can't remember name of town!!) but it was excellent. It was only a minor burn injury from a motorbike but I was dealt with immediately, the cost was something like 200rps

thanks Roxey.........Norton exhaust?

lol, how did you guess

I can understand where some of the dissidents are coming from. Visas, corruption, filth...I agree wholeheartedly. Especially the filth - they really do have to do something about it. Hotels in Thailand are miles better but there's a side to Thailand that I'm not keen on (I think we all know what I'm talking about!).

BUT

What do I want from a holiday? Answer: Guaranteed sunshine, good food, friendly people, low prices.

Goa still ticks all those boxes for us and although it's not what it used to be, and it gets a little bit more annoying every year, we'll be going back....and loving it.

maybe not a question for this forum but I'll try anyway
is that "side" of thailand so obvious when you are there?

Hi Roma, firstly thanks for taking the time to put together your honest and thoroughly entertaining reports while you were over in Goa. I totally agree with the boxes Goa ticks, the problem for me this year was what you are expected to put up with once your there. As someone mentioned earlier we can't use the old " Oh it's India" excuse anymore (I've heard that one for the last 10 years) One of the worrying things for Goa could be the lack of new european visitors, most of the people we spoke to (if not all) were repeat visitors and seem to be long stayers. The cost of getting there is becoming more and more expensive if you fancy a 2 week break next Feb in a 2 star hotel like the CSM its £985 or the Marinha,Dourada its £850 (Thomsons)is that good value when you add visas & spends. We have had some great times and made some great friends over the years in Goa and like Roma our hols have become very lazy & self indulgent and maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe this topic may have been better as "Would You Reccomend Goa" and to be honest if we got the same deal we got for are last holiday who knows as they say "Never say never".........cheers Keith....

Del, on my one and only Thai holiday in Hua Hin, yes it was very obvious. Sad really because as others have said it is a beautiful country, the hotels are lovely, people are nice but reserved, food good in general. However, after dark it was horrible, the streets were full of lecherous elderly European men, many British, wrapped around tiny little Thai girls who looked not more than early teens. There were little children of no more than 4 or 5 years old walking up and down the streets selling roses, I know there are tinies selling on the beach in Goa but this was at night - I worried so much about them.
I don't know if its the same throughout Thailand, I imagine it is. So yes, its beautiful, but I didn't like the sleazy side and wouldnt choose to go back

many thanks Roxey, I won't pursue this on here but will have a look at the forum itself.