There are, in truth, two Goas. The one on Instagram — Baga, Calangute, shacks thick with sunburnt bachelors — and the one our clients ask us to send them to a second time. North Goa, where the parties are. South Goa, where the silence is. Picking wrong can make or break your week.
North Goa is for first-timers and groups: Vagator's cliffs, Anjuna's Saturday market, Morjim's quieter cousin Ashwem, Chapora for the sunset. Stay in Assagao if you want a pretty inland base with good restaurants (Gunpowder, Vinayak Family Restaurant, Mahe). Stay in Candolim if you want the beach three minutes away. Skip Baga unless you are under 25.
South Goa is for returners, honeymooners, and anyone who wants to put their phone in a drawer. Palolem is loud now but Patnem next door is not. Agonda is our favourite — long, flat, almost empty by 5pm. Cola Beach for a day trip. Stay at Lalit or Taj Exotica if budget allows; otherwise the small boutique places on Agonda do it better than the chains.
The wrong Goa: a honeymooning couple in Baga. The right Goa: the same couple in Patnem, at a shack called Home, eating grilled pomfret with their feet in the sand. We have made the booking enough times to know the difference.
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