Goa Beaches - Benaulim

Other Beaches : Calangute | Anjuna | Arambol | Chapora | Bogmalo | Benaulim

According to Hindu mythology, Goa was created when the sage Shri Parasurama, Vishnu's sixth incarnation, fired an arrow into the seafrom the top of the Western Ghats and ordered the waters to recede. The spot where the shaft fell to earth, known in Sanskrit as Banali and later corrupted by the Portuguese to Benaulim, lies in the centre of Colva Beach, 7km west of Margao. Only a decade ago, this fishing and rice farming village, scattered around the coconut groves and paddy fields between the main Colva-Mobor road and the dunes, had barely made it onto the backpackers' map.

Either side of the village's sand-blown beach front, the gently shelving sands shimmer away almost to the horizon, littered with photogenic wooden fishing boats that provide welcome shade if the walk from the palm trees to the sea gets too much.

Access
Buses from Margao, Colva, Varca, Cavelossim and Mobor roll through Benaulim every half hour, dropping passengers at the Maria Hall crossroads.

Accommodation
Carina, L'Amour, Libra Cottages, Palm Grove, Rosario's.