Goa Monsoon travel guide: Unique seasonal experiences in the sunshine state on a rainy day

Devoid of their usual carnivalesque atmosphere, Goa's beaches offer abundant visual drama as heaving grey clouds meet an animated sea at the horizon. (Photo by Josh Sorensen)

They say monsoon is the best season to travel to Goa. Truth be told, it can be an unpredictable beast. For one, the colour palette shifts often between dull white gold and opaque grey, spiked at all times with all shades of vibrant green. As does the palate, with jackfruit and wild leafy greens, mushrooms and kismur, potoleo and godshe, all manner of dried and pickled food ushering in a new season in Goan kitchens.

Beach style is rendered nearly pointless because you either need plastic ponchos to protect you from the rain or pants to protect you from mosquitoes. Beaches themselves aren’t buzzing with activity, a fair number of tourism-oriented businesses shut shop and decamp to drier climate. The beaches, though, devoid of their usual carnivalesque atmosphere, offer abundant visual drama as heaving grey clouds meet an animated sea at the horizon.

This is really not the Goa you might think you know—or the one that reveals itself to the average tourist heading down to the sunshine state for a budget holiday at any other time of the year. And yet, travelling to Goa during the monsoon is its own kind of heady experience. It is somehow lazier, slower—if that’s possible in the land of susegad. Wildlife comes out to rejoice: Peacocks and snakes in the fields, birds in the trees. There’s less stunting, more being.

Monsoon Goa might have traditionally been most suitable for the nature lover or the off-season traveller, but now, it brims with possibilities as the hospitality, F&B and experiential travel industry queue up a bevy of season-specific and always unique options to experience Goa in the monsoon.

In this Goa monsoon travel guide, you’ll find new and seasonal experiences. It’s hardly exhaustive but luckily, there are a range of responsible tourism promoters in Goa who are curating the best experiences—many of them named here. Go to find out why Goa’s being called the food capital of the world, to commune with nature, or clink a glass or two with total strangers. Whatever you do, be gentle, mindful of social etiquette, and bear in mind: If it’s paradise you’re looking for, it’s no longer the Instagram-buggered Parra road where you’ll find it.

1. Dive into Goa’s heritage and culture

Leave behind your boombox and glow-in-the-dark necklaces. If you haven’t already done a Chandor walk to admire stately Portuguese bungalows, this is the time. If you’ve been scared off mapping each nook and corner of Panjim’s lively Fontainhas quarter because of the crowds of influencers, this is the time. Save an evening to savour the musical delights that are Fado and Mando, similar musical genres originating from Portugal and Goa, at Madragoa—the world’s first such dedicated space at the Centre for Indo-Portuguese Arts in Altinho.

Get in some history lessons: The Soul Travelling will show you the two faces of Goa with a tour of two quaint but dramatically different villages, Rachol and Shiroda. Sign up for guided tours of Goa’s many famous forts, from Aguada to Chapora, on Urbanaut. A place that actually meets your priorities in Goa is the All About Alcohol museum in Candolim, where you can learn about Feni’s legacy.

At Madra Goa (Photo credit: Ian de Noronha)

Also read: An insider's guide to Goa's capital, through Panjim's women-run businesses

2. Discover your favourite ghats, islands, lakes

If the coast is unapproachable, head towards the hills. Drive up to Chorla Ghat or Amboli Ghat to gaze upon cloud-capped valleys. Rent cycles to pedal around Divar island to witness its carefully-preserved architectural heritage. If you’re up for it, hit up Soul Travelling for their 10-minute trek and a mud bath experience, with a farming element, at Chorao island. Picnic out at lotus-studded Carambolim lake, the public secret that is the Arambol sweet water lake, or the secluded but picturesque Sarzora Lake. This season, the rave is among the birds and the bees.

Birding trail in Goa (File)

3. Go kayaking in Goa’s rivers and the Arabian Sea

As Goa’s monsoon gives the mangroves a good bath, and the water acquires a magnetic mercurial texture, you could spend a nice morning paddling through coves in your own kayak. A number of initiatives, including Terra Conscious, Saha Sea, Konkan Explorers organize guided tours (if you don’t have the arm strength to row, you can opt for an open boat tour) at different beaches and Goa’s many rivers; combining an energetic activity with some ecological education. Win-win.

4. Drive or trek up to a waterfall or two

There are many, many waterfalls in Goa and this is the season to find them. A film celebrity in its own right, the Dudhsagar Falls in south Goa is a grand sight to behold during this season. A high four-tiered waterfall on the Mandovi with a perfectly placed train track cutting through, the cascading water is white as milk and if you’re lucky, a few clouds might drop low to make this into a dreamy spectacle. It’s not an easy ride through the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park to get there, but it is worth it.

Also worth half a day’s adventure is the Harvalem waterfall in Sanquelim in central Goa—where a multi-tiered viewing garden is just one sign of its popularity. Deeper south along the coastline, find Kakolem beach where a rivulet flows down the rocks, through a palm grove, down a sandy beach and into the sea. It’s an unforgettable sight.

Dining in the woods, Cabo Serai, Goa.

5. Savour all that the country’s new food capital puts on your plate

Come hail or high tide, there’s news of a shiny new eatery or bar throwing its doors open in Goa in the space of a finger snap. Latest on the horizon is Bawri in Assagao, from the house of celebrity chef Amninder Sandhu (of Pune’s Nora fame). Weeks after opening, Sandhu’s detail-oriented hyper seasonal Indian cooking has wowed tastemakers. Sampling the kakori kababs, the Manipuri black rice dosa, the wild mango curry with Noolputtu—you’ll see why.

Not too far in Siolim is Hosa, set in a century-old restored Portuguese villa across St Anthony’s church, where an elevated South Indian menu will consume you, if the art on the walls doesn’t. Do not forget to try the mysore pak coffee cheesecake—divinity will have a new face.

If in south Goa, a visit to Cavatina is now mandatory given the spectacular rise of star chef Avinash Martins—whose Goan-modern cocktails and menu, including some delectable Patra de Goa, cafreal nests and feni cocktails served in terracotta rooster mugs, are a food lover’s delight. If you’re a group, try to book a tasting menu session at the chef’s more private Table in the Hills.

Japanese is the other wildly popular cuisine in Goa right now, so whether it’s Sakana Vagator’s delicious ramen or Roboto Anjuna’s crunchy okonomiyaki, choice abounds. Close by in Anjuna, Slow Tide offers a spectacular sea view, artisanal cocktails and a monsoon menu featuring a spicier than usual Pathrode with the right Colocasia leaves, aloni bhat or Maharashtra style sukkha mutton with burnt onion and rice, and eggplant ambotik ie sour and spicy Konkani curry minus the usual sharkfish.

“Make it instagrammable” is the brief for a lot of things now, and some of north Goa’s most glamorous stops—including Kiki by the Sea (somewhere around Thalassa), Clumsy and Occo in Vagator, Saz by the Beach and Azule in Ashvem and Sao by the Shore in Morjim—deliver on food, design, drinks and decor.

And if your travel mantra is to feel like a local, some of Goa’s legendary outfits keep their doors open: from Vinayak in Assagao to Kokni Canteen in Panjim, Gunpowder in Assagao to Fisherman’s Wharf in Cavelossim.

Chef Amninder Sandhu and some of the regional food spread at her restaurant Bawri, in Goa.

6. Sample Goa’s superlative cocktail bars

You’ll find a Tambde Rosa at most local outfits, though try the one at Joseph’s in Fontainhas, an especially potent mix—also an apt description for Miski’s urrak cocktails. Close by are Miguel’s and For the Record, two of the best bars in the country, and whose experiments with feni, gin and mahua are paying big dividends. Hideaway in Vagator does a really nice cold brew negroni—but do ask them for off-book suggestions. They’re only too happy to serve.

Further down south, stop by The Den in Margao for “the 619” which is code for tequila, ginger, honey and a drop of red wine. In Benaulim, Beno’s bartenders can do magic with gin and Juju’s does India-inspired mixes, where things like turmeric and saffron are put to wondrous use.

For The Record.

7. Shack up at these resorts for a staycation

If staying (a certain kind of) dry on vacation is a priority, good digs will be important. And if novelty takes precedence over (or is just as important as) 5-star amenities, there’s also a host of new resorts and hotels at which to shack up. Stay at the new JW Marriott Vagator—at walking distance from the Ozran beach and Chapora fort.

But really, it’s the boutique hotel space where most of the action is at right now in Goa. The newest is KAIA Ashvem, a boutique oceanfront resort with a focus on slow travel. Drive 20 minutes from the new Mopa airport, and you’ll be in a oasis of calm—where everything, from the rooms to the ambient music to the menu is designed to soothe.

In Anjuna, you’ll be hard put to pick between the designer boutique property Anamiva and the much more palatial MansionHaus, set in a 300-year-old ancestral home. In nearby Assagao, the Mademoiselle Boutique Hotel and Cafe offers French chic in the heart of a vibrant village.

In south Goa, while not new, the luxurious Beleza by the Beach and the beautifully located Casa Jaali in Patnem are both excellent options if you want to stay by the sea—at a safe distance. If what you’re really after is complete escape from the madding crowds, few places are more reclusive and private than Elsewhere in Ashvem—a tranquil soul guaranteed.