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We offer holidays to the four corners of the globe. If you want specialist advise please phone our travel team and we will be happy to help.
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- Destinations
- Asia
- India
- Colva
Colva
Colva is the oldest and most heavily-developed South Goan
holiday resort. The town itself is dotted with colonial-style
villas and ramshackle fishing huts, but the beachfront is crowded
and blighted with unimaginative concrete hotels, snack bars and
souvenir stalls. Indian tourists and local children mill around
this central area and westerners are pestered by traders and
beggars.
However, it is easy to steer clear of this central area: within
a few minutes' stroll from here the beach is spotless and
relatively quiet. Benaulim is only a 30-minute walk to the south,
still on Colva beach, and attracts a more upmarket clientele,
including British and Indian visitors on holiday. There are many
luxury resorts along the coastal stretch, and brightly-painted
wooden fishing boats litter the beach. The hawkers and touts here
are persistent, but in a good-humoured rather than aggressive
way.
To escape completely, visitors can hire a bicycle and ride
further south along Colva beach, beyond Taj Exotica, which
stretches for miles with the only possible interruption likely to
be a stray cow wandering along the sand.
Information & Facts
Language
Although English is generally used for official and
business purposes, Hindi is the official language and is spoken by
about 40 percent of the population. Urdu is the language common
with the Muslim demographic. India has a total of 22 official
languages
Money
The currency is the Indian Rupee (INR), which is divided into
100 paise (singular paisa). Major currencies can be changed at
banks, and authorised bureaux de changes. It is impossible to
obtain rupees outside India, but no matter what time you arrive in
India there will be an exchange office open at the airport. It is
illegal to exchange money through the black market and it is
advisable to refuse torn notes, as no one will accept them apart
from the National Bank. It is best to change money into small
denominations. Travellers cheques and major credit cards are widely
accepted, particularly in tourist orientated establishments. ATMs
are not generally available.