This monsoon, I was in Goa and loved driving around different parts of North & South Goa. Baga Beach was quite interesting place among different things we explored around the beautiful Goa. Baga Beach is a popular beach and tourist destination with various options for tourists in North Goa. This Photo Journey shares some of the elements of Baga Beach which makes it different from other beaches in Goa. 
Baga Beach is located in north part of Goa and situated at one end of the contiguous beach stretch which starts from Sinquerim, Candolim & Calangute... Next to Baga is Anjuna Beach which also one of the popular beaches in North Goa. Baga beach has a series of shacks, fishing boats, Water-sports options, some of the brilliant restaurants for sea food and high tides... We were staying near Candolim Beach and the day started by driving to Anjuna beach, which are disappointing during Monsoons. It was completely shut-down.. There was no eating place to have breakfast and overall space was dirty.. Black sand on the beaches made thing worse. Soon after we made our mind to move towards Baga Beach. 
On reaching Baga Beach, the search for a good restaurant started. There are lot of options on the beach with nice views of the sea. Here we took the wise decision to call Dev to ask for recommended options to eat. We had hired a WagonR from Dev and he recommended us to visit Brittos for having Goan Sea-Food. And I must say that it was awesome. We had Crabs and Prawns at Brittos with some Coconut Feni. The best part was seating arrangement at Brittos. Most of the tables are aligned in such a way that guests get a nice view to the Baga beach, which remains full of tourists, most of the time. This is one of the most crowded beach of North Goa. Calangute is another over-crowded beach in Goa. Monsoon is considered as off season in Goa and during Monsoons, Calangute was very crowded. 
While sitting at Brittos, we didn't want to leave our seats as it was giving beautiful views of the beach by being under a shed. Most of the photographs used in this Photo Journey are shot while sitting at Brittos at Baga Beach. We had multiple orders at Brittos, since we didn't want to leave the seats. At that point of time, I couldn't appreciate the taste of Feni so ordered beer in subsequent rounds :). 
While enjoying the sea food at Brittos, we observed different vendors selling stuff to tourists at the beach. The photograph on the left shows the lady vendor who was selling trinkets on the beach. We observed that almost everyone negotiated with lady, but she sold to 80% of the folks who negotiated. These observations made us think that negotiation is must and followed the same rule while went to the beach. We bought 3 things from the lady at 30% of the original cost quoted. Although we realized that the absolute amount paid was much higher than what is asked in the Baga market :). 
We observed many of the tatoo artists roaming around the beach and asking tourists to choose appropriate designs to be tatooed on their bodies. These were all temporary tatoos and having a tatoo in Goa is a popular trend and most of the folks prefer to have one or more Tatoos in Goa. We observed max number of Tatoo artists at Baga Beach and the other beach was Calangute, where we met few Tatoo Artists. During the visit, we met a very creative Tatoo Artist, who is considered as one of the best Tatoo artists who was honored by Goa Tourism as well. We shall do a separate story on David, along with his special Tatoo designs & celebrities, who chose him to create tatoos for them. 
Most of the tourists at Baga Beach love to have a comfortable place to sit & enjoy the awesome environment which is difficult to find in other parts of the world. While having food at Brittos, we overheard that dolphins can also be located at around 5 kilometers from the shoreline, but we forgot to confirm this fact. The name of the beach has come from Baga creek, which empties into the Arabian Sea at the northern end of the beach. On the beach there are options for tourists to have head/foot massage while enjoying your drink on beach-side.
Baga beach is also a popular beach for Parasailing, Watersports and Dolphin cruises. During Monsoons, there was hardly anything to do on the beaches but most of the folks prefer to have fun with high tides of the sea and their friends. we observed some of the beach-restaurants playing loud music. The photograph on the left shows a group of tourists having fun in music and water waves of the sea. There were many such groups at Baga Beach and this is pretty different from any other beach in North Goa. All other beaches have restaurants at distance and there were hardly any shacks during monsoons. 
If you plan for Goa and want to have a good time on a
lively beach with water sports, then Baga beach is a good option for you
and you must visit it. Although, at the same time, my personal favorite
was Candolim beach, because of the type of crowd this beach gets, not
so crowdedness and relatively peaceful to have some private space on the
beach-sand. If you opt for Baga Beach, then you must compromise on
beach cleanliness and crowd quality... There are plenty of shacks at
Baga, but only a few are good, so choose carefully. Sitting on a laid
back beach seat, enjoying the sun set while sipping cocktails is a must! Many of the families also come of this beach and some large tourists can be seen around the beach. 
This photograph shows the jeeps on beach which ensure that tourists don't go to the danger zone of the sea and be safe. They used to warn folks going inside the sea and many times, one or two folks used to go & bring people back. These jeaps were there on almost every beach, except Candolim. We saw those at Calangute & Miramar as well.
Baga Beach in north Goa may be touristy and busy but for those who like action, it’s one of the most happening beaches on the coast. It's a place for party lovers and many of the options that a tourist wants in Goa. Although water-sports were not available during the monsoons but it seems that parasailing & watersports are quite cheap at Baga Beach, but quality should be expected on same parameters. Overall experience may become worthwhile if you are ready to pay more to the folks offering those services.
Finally we had a walk around the beach and chose to leave for Calangute. Most of the time was spent at a restaurant which exposed us to different activities happening on beach and now it was time to move on... More Photo Journeys from Goa will follow soon...
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