Palolem Vs Arombal

Belinkabelle

I'm flying out to Goa in mid April and am not sure which beach would be most suitable for my needs.

As I'm only going for a week to meet my boyfriend, somewhere fairly relaxing and scenic with comfortable/relatively clean places to stay (but not pricey) would be best. Of course, places to eat, drink and see are good too but I'm eager to avoid a 'Blackpool Abroad' scenario. I'm only going on people's opinions here, but the consensus seems to be that Palolem has become a bit tacky maybe and over-touristy.

Out of the two places, which would you recommend?

Just noticed it's spelt Arambol Oops...

cyberhippie

As someone who remembers it in it's hey day, then Palolem isn't a shadow of it's former self. Don't let that be the end of the story though.
The beach is still nice though a bit more crowded these days. Most of the action is confined to the beach road and beach itself which means there are still quiet corners to be found.
The tourists in Palolem are an interesting bunch from long termer's who live there for half the year or more, backpackers looking for that "elusive beach" and package tourists intent on sun sea and cheap cuisine/booze (no bad thing I hasten to add)
The atmosphere reflects that broad swathe of humanity represented. If you want to booze it up you can, if a chillums your thing no problem, maybe you're a bird watcher or wildlife enthusiast well you'll find company in Palolem, dance music, live music, Bob Marley, all well represented. Old, young, hippies, dread locked "hedge monkeys" granddad with a hankie around his head, world travelers, wide boys from all over, lawyers, astronomers. One thing's for sure. you very likely meet some interesting people there it's that kind of place!!

The surrounding area is stunning and offer several "deserted beach" to enchant, as well as amazing fauna and flora.
King fishers, Giant tree Squirrels, Bhramini Kites, Guinea Fowl, Indian Rollers,Pied Kingfishers
Jackfruit, Mango, Cashew trees abound, as do the beautiful Red Silk trees or the perfumed Frangipani tree, Bougainvillea and Gloriana Rothchilde grows wild and add colour to the intense green of the forest and paddies!

Food wise,, well where to start suffice to say you won't go hungry!!

cyberhippie

So let's hear it for Arambol then, an equally nice place I believe!

Shiver me Timbers

I visited both last year, and would have to go for Arambol.

Palolem I found to be too packed (every inch of beach is backed by huts), with neon lights up the palm trees, and music pumping out of certain places well into the early hours.....

Arambol is more spread out, the scene is a bit more chilled out, plenty of jam sessions, etc......

Both are surrounded by beautiful areas to explore and get lost in....

In Arambol, the Israeli crowd seem to dominate, while Palolem I thought was more Brit-orientated.....

Btw, Palolem is undoubtadly the more beautiful beach.....

salviadivinorum

@ MR Conor i'll go with your word " at Arambol, the Israeli crowd seem to dominate " which is the Truth n why not they enjoy psy trance the best and the whole of the nothern goa is mostly party spots...we both are on the same page ha.
In telavi ( Israel )trance is played on the national radio.

Arambol VS Palolem - both have great things to offer in their own way.

Arambol is FULL ON n where as Palolem is calm / shanti place.

Palolem was quiet n peaceful but off late the party buss has hit them too..Butterfly island " hard core ravers gearing up for the
season time "( dec - march )
Many elder tourist , families and couples prefer palolem to the all the other regions of GOA .Actually speaking " foreign tourists start from Gorkana move up north to Palolem spend a days there n then move further in GOA , the beach for me is the best in whole to GOA , white sand smiling happy people who just like to sit n watch the sun set by...

Arambol on the filp side was a quiter place till last 2 yrs , the reason for this is " Anjuna " ravers have started moving up north in search of better places to party n stay away form the commerical crowd..IF u plan to stay at Arambol itself stay left on the beach towards the extereme end of the beach toawrds MORJIM beach might find some shanti places to settle do not think to a cottage on the right towards " sweet lake " , the beat of the music will keep u awake all night n day.

Try Mandrem on the way to Arambol quiter paradise for a couple
(Mandrem is a low lying area but before Arambol , nice beach huts, had a memorable stay last yr...)

Or Reach Keri beach the last beach on after Arambol its might have a few shacks during the season for tourist to stay but a few only ..

On the whole GOA is a magic ,its what u make of it ..
Its paradise all the way " Goa is a state of mind "

Have a nice time .

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If you've planned a vactaion, just go there and let the universe guide u .....

kohinoor

Arambol beach was the dirtiest of Goan beaches this season.
I donno what is happening there, didn't wanna stay.

__________________
- Om is where the Art is -

rangalo

we visited Arambol last week and everybody was warning us about how dirty it was, but we wanted to make our own opinion but they were right, huge amount of garbage on the way to the beach, if you walk south instead towards guesthouse Gods gift its much cleaner

BenJay

Do you see Giant Indian Squirrels in Cotigao Nature Reserve, or just anywhere around Palolem and Agonda? The RG doesn't say anything about Bhagavan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, and is quite scathing about Cotigao, which one is better?

P.S. I think one niche the Indian tourism market has not picked up on is soft toys of local animals as gifts for kids (alright, and big kids) :-) I think my 2yo nephew would love a giant indian tree squirrel, as long as it has a chewable tail...!