Pristine white sand beaches Varca, Goa

Pandamic revenge travel our destination Varca,Goa. Post vaccination and when things started looking up we badly wanted a change of scene and on a whim booked a Goa trip. On googling for best beaches of Goa apart from Palolem, Varca stood out as clear winner. There we went and it is an awesome beach no doubt.

Pretravel COVID safety/norms:

Three days before our spicejet flight we received following notification:

For your SpiceJet flight to Goa, passengers who are fully vaccinated atleast 15 days prior to travel and are carrying their final vaccination certificate of both doses are exempted from carrying any test report. For others, it is mandatory to carry a negative Covid-19 test report, sample for which should have been collected within 72 hrs prior to arrival. Passengers without reports may not be accepted for the flight.

Earlier there was a waiver for children right now it's not there. So, we got RTPCR done. As of Oct 2021 following are rates in Bangalore

Anand diagnostics charges 1400rs home collection and 24 hours result - readily available

Apollo lab 1200 home collection 12 hours result but ready to come exactly the previous day

Walked in to nearby lab result came in 14hours as SMS, email in about 18 hours. Labs collects and sends to Anand or some other lab

All tests for the day close by 3PM so plan accordingly.

Day 1: Land, Eat and dive into water

Bangalore Goa spicejet flight at 9:55AM landed at Goa close to 11AM. Vaccine certificate and RTPCR for children are check while boarding and while exiting Goa airport. Post Web checkin you get baggage pass stating we have print and stick on bags etc, those are not necessary now. We can checkin at airport they would print baggage tag and stick on our bags.

We had booked self drive car from Goicar. Fantastic service. We have used Myles,zoom etc in different cities this small car operator Goicar surpass it all. Website was clean no hidden charges, immediate confirmation and contact communication on whatsapp as well. Once we landed we were guided to a place to pick up car and car was ready process was super simple. All self drive cars are parked below a bridge a 5 minute walk from exit of airport. Due to some taxi union vs self drive car agents the self drive cars can't enter airpot. Also, if you are in some resort esp. Mahindra holidays self drive cars not allowed. Please check before you book.

Picked up car(goicar) and had an amazing lunch at a veggie hut. They have interesting batura's like Chilli cheese, paneer and so many others. The food tastes heavenly. Run by a passionate couple they make excellent food as a warm welcome.

About 50 mins drive we reached Majestic Eco comforts Varca for our stay for the next 3 nights.  This place is quiet with a nice medidation hall,spa great resturant with super tasty food. Whole setup is Aesthetically done. Swimming pool is awesome too.

After a little rest we headed to Varca beach. It's 5 mins drive from Majestic eco comfort. 

Varca beach in south goa is magneficecnt. Super soft white sand, endlessly long beach is awesome. Beach is clean. There are many high end resorts too setup around this area. Sunsets are beautiful. Check out the pictures below.

After a great sunset and a good swim we visited Navtara resturant, Madgao for dinner. Awesome dosas but super slow service.

Day 2: Sunrise walk, life guard troubles, more swimming, Pizza and more

After good sleep we tried to reach other side of Varca beach. That's equally mesmerizing. Majestic has another property on this side. We returned for hotel for amazing buffet breakfast including oothappam, magalore bonda, aloo tikki, superb sambar, chutney along with bread corn flakes, coffee & tea. We were all geared to visit beach again.

Life guards are annoying in some areas of beach. They shoo us away saying it's not safe. We are not going deep sea, they simply want to sit watch their mobile.

Thankfully Zuri side of Varca beach life guards don't bother, you can have all fun.

Beach hopping we tried again in Benaulim beach life guard didn't want us around. Visited Colva beach it 's too commericial to our liking. Back to Varca and nice beach playing in water.

We didn't have appetite for lunch, we walked into a nice bakery next to home centre called mongini's cake shop. Super tasty cakes loads of vegetarian/eggless options too.

Another sunset swim on beach we went for dinner at Good fellas pizza. Place is great but their attention is on regulars/elite crowd. Pizzas are great so is the price :). For all the raving reviews didn't find this place as great as Palolem(Magic italy). Care to ask how comforatable are we, do we need anything, how did we like it. Only places where there is care to cater every customer there is growth.

Day 3: Sunset boat ride in river sal

Morning walk on Varca beach the Majestic cottages side. The varca beach is super long and keeps going till you walk.

After a good swim in beach we had good lunch and little rest at Majestic eco comfort itself. This place serves tasty food. Service is also fast.

Highlight of today is sunset boat ride in Sal River. It's backwater/river at beautiful setting.

We used services provided by Jack 's cruises & watersports. It was Fantastic. He charged 3k and boat was exclusive for us. They take you around for a pleasant boat ride crossing Jetty around island and reach a place where River sal meets sea. This setting is just picture perfect.

Picturisque backwater setting - Jack 's cruises

Spotted birds

Island prawn farming

Jetty

Betul light house and temple view from boat

A perfect sunset

Day 4: Bye bye Varca

Visited Betul light house in the morning. Beautiful setting.

Easily reachable in car and a short walk thereafter. Had amazing breakfast, swim pack and check out. Returned car to Goicar and returned home with loads of memories and energy.