Palolem Beach
Exploring Palolem Beach and South Goa: A Guide to Getting Around
Palolem Beach, a gem of South Goa, is a wide bay known for its long, gentle waves and idyllic charm. Fringed with dense, tall palm trees, the curved shoreline houses a blend of rustic beach shacks, open-air cafes, and family-friendly spaces that cater to both foreign tourists and locals. If you’re planning a visit, renting a scooter or car is the key to unlocking the full potential of South Goa’s serene beaches and scenic roads..
Why Palolem Beach is a Must-Visit
Palolem Beach offers a picture-perfect retreat for those seeking a laid-back experience. With sandy-floored, thatched-roof cafes serving traditional Indian meals and modest beach shacks providing budget-friendly accommodations, the beach strikes a balance between simplicity and convenience. From the Robinson Crusoe-style hilltop shacks to beachfront bungalows, there’s an option for every traveler.
While the beach is set up for tourism, it retains a welcoming, local vibe. Children play in the sand, Indian families stroll along the beach at sunset, and fishermen cast their nets as the waves lap gently onshore. This harmonious mix makes Palolem a perfect destination for experiencing authentic Goan culture.
With even cheaper deals on beach bungalows and shacks at this time of year, we easily find a place we like just by walking around with backpacks on.
Our shack is perched on the very top of a hill all on its own, very Robinson Crusoe-style, with a rickety wooden balcony overlooking the wide expanse of the bay. Faded patterned curtains temper the hot sun outside and a blue mosquito net and seventies-style quilt adorn the bed; it feels pretty close to the back-to-basics, barefoot image of Goa I’d held in mind. We institute a candlight-only rule at night, partly for the mood, partly so as not to encourage the many insistent mosquitos even further.
The day we arrive we discover there’s a statewide ban on the sale of alcohol during the next five days of our stay; it’s the lead-up to an important election and they want everyone as sober as possible. So my abstinence continues, perfect for a post-Ayurvedic retreat come-down and my re-entry into the real world.
The mosquitos and the rising heat do win in the end though and after five days, we move from our very Goa accommodation to something less dreamy, more modern: an air-conditioned apartment in a town close by. We can cook and get some work done here with the wi fi and feel cool and clean for a while in between outings.
Outside our new apartment in a nearby town.
Even with our fancy new apartment, we keep going back to Palolem Beach and getting our feet sandy every day, eating meals and swimming at the beach there. We find our favourite places we like along the main road behind the beach, christened Palolem Down Street, and it makes me giggle every time I see the signs announcing the street name. Downtown anything when it comes to Palolem doesn’t seem like the right word for this beautifully undeveloped place. It’s lined with stalls, shops and cafes, some more thrown together and impermanent looking than others.



Dropadi restaurant, a local institution, and its sandy floors blurring boundaries between beach and bar/restaurant.
We find our favourite spots: Shree Ganesh, an Indian cafe housed within a bright pastel-painted concrete box serving traditional thali plates and our favourite dosas (rice and lentil pancakes served with all manner of chutnies and sauces, heart-breakingly only served at breakfast time), Little World, a health food cafe offering vegetarian salads and breakfasts with an Indian twist, Dropadi on the beach side, what seems to be an institution that’s always full, serving fresh seafood cooked on the barbecue with indian spices and sauces.




Getting Around

In town, on the road to Palolem Beach.
As soon as we arrive, we head out to find a scooter to rent; it’s not hard. We ask around along the main ‘Downtown’ street and we easily find a guy renting them. We give him a tiny deposit and he gives us the keys to our scooter for the next week, no passport, address or even first name required. They seem to rent to tourists based on the honour system which I find charming. We use our scooter to get around Palolem and to start exploring the other beaches of South Goa.