Calangute Beach

Calangute Beach, Mapusa - Goa

About the beach

In a semicircle, under the shade of palm trees basking golden in the glory of sand is the 'queen of beaches', Calangute. Nine miles from the Goan Capital Panaji, the beach is spread four miles along the Arabian sea. On the north is hamlet of Baga and to the south is Candolim village. Take a break from the parties of Anjuna in the calm solitude here and you will be mesmerized forever.

It was hippies who first discovered Calangute in late 1960's and there on spread word about the beach. 1970's saw tourists from Europe coming in large numbers. The beach was even quite popular among the movie stars back then. Shashi Kapoor rented a house here and Raj Kapoor got inspiration for his blockbuster film 'Bobby' here. Over the decades the hippie culture has vanished but not the popularity of the beach. Round the year there are hoards of tourists coming to Calangute for that perfect escape from their hectic schedule.

The name Calangute according to locals is a distortion of the local vernacular word 'Koli-gutti', which means land of fishermen. Others say it has derived from Kalyangutti meaning the village of art, and still others say it came from the earlier name Konvallo -ghott because the village is full of coconut trees.