where to spend New Years in Goa?

freebirdnz

Hi everyone.......

My flatmate and I will be in Goa for New Year's and wanted advice on where to actually celebrate New Years.......to give you a quick run down on what we like. We do like to socialise and meet people......we will be into having a few too many to drink and be merry!. Not really into the rave scene but wouldn't mind mixing with other people say 25 and older, having a few bars around and being about to have a dance if we feel like it at the time........ It would also have to be close to accommodation and not hours on a bus to be back to where we are staying! Beach front maybe? but again not a full on rave with young people talking alien like! If anyone can suggest a place then I would go ahead and book the accommodation in that area. I am open to any suggestions!

Thanks all :-)

kokopelli

i'd say either Arambol up north or Palolem down south

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thestens

Palolem - stay in one of the many beach front huts. There are lots of nice bars both on the beach and in the village. To my mind, its the nicest place in Goa.

MadnoMad

Hi,
here s a list of places you could possible hang out avoiding the rave scene....

1. German Bakery - Anjuna - a open air cafe sort of place
2. Little Italy - Baga - a very good italian restaurant

the problem would be that since its gonna be new years eve...most of the places will be packed and they would definitely be playing techno,trance kinda music...so the only otherw ay to avoid that scene would be to lock yourslef up in a beach hut in palolem or arambol..but them arambol has a very active hard-drug scene going on...so watch out...

Wish you a Happy New year...

MadnoMad

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-m2-

Arambol is a sort-of refuge from the big holiday scene, although there is always a bonfire or two and a few small parties/buffets at a few of the larger guest-houses on the holidays. A good number of Arambol regulars prefer it because of the quiet, and then rent a scooter to take in the parties in Anjuna or Baga, whatever -- the bridge across the Chappora river was finally completed last year making evening trips much easier.


quote: "..but then Arambol has a very active hard drug scene going on...so watch out..."

sorry, but I don't know what you're on about here; I've been quite a regular visitor over the past 10 years and I've seen no indication of that.


Accommodations are a problem in the holiday period. At the guest-house level, most don't want to take reservations (for new guests, particularly) for this period. If you did not secure a reservation then I would suggest that once you have decided which town you want to check out, arrive as early as possible in the morning, and then walk through the guesthouse/private home area most likely to have a place to stay -- perhaps one of your group can look after the packs in a restaurant while the other(s) look around -- someone will no doubt appear and lead you around to the most promising places.

Another option when arriving at the busy period is the vast numbers of seasonal 'huts' that have gone up over the past few years. Due to their price (300-500rp/nite) they don't really appeal to long-term visitors and so there is often space. As an example, in a coco-nut grove area a few km south of Arambol village are 4 such sets of huts with probably over 100 units in total -- some have tile floors and private bathrooms. These kind of developments have sprung up in lots of places in south and north Goa; they typically have their own restaurant and an enclosed parking lot for scooters, so I think most of their guests are mobile as, though it might have a nice stretch of beach, it could be a bit boring for someone interested in night-life.

To illustrate a beach hut set-up, here is 'the Dunes', it is separated from the main Morjim beach by a little river -- my morning walk takes be by here every day:

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