Mandrem - what makes this Goa beach attractive

Mandrem (Goa, India) is a small resort village located 25 km from Panaji, the capital of Goa. Against the background of other regions of the bustling and partying North Goa, this village looks even too calm and quiet. There are no entertainment facilities - you need to go either to the nearest Mapusa and Arambol, or even further.

The most affordable activities in Mandrem are meditation and enjoyment of the surrounding expanses. Among the attractions, you can name several temples, the ruins of a shrimp factory and a huge banyan tree.

Geographically, the Mandrem is divided into two almost identical parts: the Upper Mandrem and the Lower Mandrem. On the territory of the Upper Mandrem there are rich villas, schools, there are small shops. Lower Mandrem, adjacent to the main road and the beach, is the center of tourist life. It is here that there are popular hotels, guest complexes, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets.

Advice! If you are afraid of dogs, do not walk around the village and the beach at night. Dogs here, as in many places in India, are literally everywhere. Although they cannot be called dangerous, they only bark terrifyingly, and even then not always.

Characteristics of the local beach

About 3 km from the center of Mandrem is located Dunes Beach (Dune), also known as Mandrem Beach. The beach strip with pure dark yellow sand has a length of about 2 km, in the south it is adjacent to Ashvem beach, and in the north to Arambol beach.

Mandrem Beach is crossed by two shallow rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea of ​​the Indian Ocean. As a result, the illusion is created that there are many small islands spread along the coastline. The islands are connected by bridges - everything looks very picturesque and romantic. The water in this lagoon protected from waves is fresh and warms up well, the approach is smooth and the depth is just waist-deep, the current is small. But there is a significant drawback - it is not always clean here, and sometimes the water does not smell very nice.

The entrance to the sea from Mandrem beach is also gentle, the bottom is flat, but quite large waves often rise. The real danger here is discontinuous currents (rip current) and other varieties of ocean currents. As a rule, rescuers warn of danger by flagging such areas with red flags or signs.

Advice! There are people who want to feel the elements of the ocean as much as possible and are intentionally looking for these currents. You don’t need to do this, it’s really scary: water with incredible strength quickly carries away from the coast! If you accidentally fall into such a stream, you don’t have to fight it and swim against it - there is a 90% probability that there will not be enough strength. The best thing you can do is to swim away from the current, but along it, and not against it, to gradually get out of this stream. The most important thing is not to panic!

On the coast of Mandrem Beach in Goa there are a lot of cafes with sunshades and sunbeds. To take a sunbed even for the whole day, you just need to place an order - at least a glass of soda for 50 rupees. As a rule, no one even tries to take an additional fee for a sunbed.

Advice! In that part of the beach that adjoins the rivers with islets, there are few sun loungers, and most of them are occupied from early morning. There are much more sun loungers + free towels on the north side of the beach strip, where Lama's place cafe, Kis-Kis, Food Planet - Wi-Fi is good there and they sell tasty food.

Mandrem Beach in Goa is quiet and not crowded, especially few Russian-speaking tourists here.

Options for accommodation in Mandrem

In this small village of North Goa there are various accommodation options.

In Upper Mandrem, you can rent large comfortable villas surrounded by orchards of fruit trees, with gazebos and playgrounds for children on site. The rental price depends on the equipment with household appliances and furniture, on remoteness from the sea and on the season. If you rent a villa for the whole season from November to March, it will cost 15,000 - 25,000 rupees per month.

In close proximity to the beach (50-200 m) there are hotels and hotel complexes offering both a minimum range of services and a very high level of service.

Advice! Accommodation in the resort of Mandrem (India) can be found upon arrival or reserved in advance through the convenient booking.com service. But if a trip to Goa is planned for the New Year holidays, it is still better to book accommodation in advance. From mid-December to mid-January, prices rise at least 2 times.

The Beach Street hotel rating on booking.com is 8.5, very good.

The comfortable bungalows of this hotel complex are arranged in two small zones, separated by an alley with flowers. It features a spacious outdoor pool by the Mandrem Beach, a garden and all BBQ facilities.

The hotel has a restaurant, which serves a wide variety of national dishes of India and other cuisines of the world.

The cost of living per day for two starts from 3210 rupees.

Fabulous, 8.8 - this rating was given to the Anahata Retreat complex by the tourists who lived in it.

Located near the ocean, air-conditioned bungalows with all amenities are ideal for a quiet holiday in contact with nature.

For guests here, yoga classes are held twice a day. There is a car rental on site.

Staying alone per day will cost from 10 011 rupees, this amount includes breakfast. More details about the hotel can be found on this page.

Very good, 8.1 - this is how tourists rated Stone Wood Spa Hotel.

The hotel complex consists of standard cottages with all amenities. The cottages are very spacious, if necessary, an extra mattress for a child will fit. Although the beds are so large that you can sleep with children.

On the territory of Stone Wood there is a restaurant, a garden, an outdoor shallow pool with relatively warm water, a playground for children. Guests have the opportunity to order food and drinks in the room.

The cost of a double room starts at 4,500 rupees per day.

Food in Mandrem

On the territory of Mandrem, including the beach itself, there are a lot of shekels - this is what Goa calls small restaurants and cafes. Shekels prepare dishes from different cuisines of the world, including traditional Indian dishes. The priority is dishes of rice, vegetables, chicken and freshly caught seafood. In addition to chicken, it is very difficult to find other meat, but beef is simply impossible.

Advice! In India, it is customary to cook food with a variety of seasonings, filling it with spicy aromas and pungency. If you are not a fan of spicy things, then when placing an order to the waiter, do not forget to say "no spicy". And although the food will still be cooked spicy, but not to the extent that they usually cook.

The average bill in a cafe per person is 400 rupees. But here it all depends on what to order: you can eat for 120 rupees, and for 750. In any case, it is quite inexpensive, since food in Goa is inexpensive.

Advice! In Mandrem, freshly squeezed juices are sold everywhere - do not deny yourself them. Besides the fact that the juices are very healthy, they still have an original taste (for example, reed), perfectly quench your thirst and cost only 10 rupees.

How to get to Mandrem

Mandrem is easy to reach from anywhere in India. But since tourists from post-Soviet countries usually arrive by plane, you have to get to Mandrem from the airport. The nearest airport is Dabolim in Vasco da Gama - one of the largest cities in Goa. From Dabolim to Mandrem you can take a taxi or public transport.

At the exit from the airport there are special racks of the Indian public taxi service Prepaid taxi, where you can order a car. In Goa, taxi fares are fixed, you can see them at the stands at the racks (a trip to Mandrem costs about 1,500 rupees). Having paid the employee at the counter the money and received the appropriate receipt, it remains to go to the car and calmly go to the destination.

Advice! Taxis are the best way for tourists to travel around India, especially Goa. It is fast, comfortable, convenient, safe and does not require knowledge of all the nuances of the local transport links. For those who come to rest in India with children or a small women's company, a taxi is the best option for transportation, especially in the evening and at night.

Traveling by bus is much cheaper (a total of up to 100 rupees), but you will have to do a lot of transfers. The route will be as follows: Dabolim airport - bus station in Vasco da Gama - Panaji - Mapusa - Mandrem.

1. Leaving the airport, you need to cross the road and at the crossroads catch the bus that goes to Vasco da Gama to the Market stop (there are railway and bus stations nearby). You need to go somewhere 4.5 km, the journey time is about 10 minutes, the fare is 10 rupees.
2. At the bus station you need to find transport to the capital of Goa, the city of Panaji. You need to choose a shuttle or express train - although the journey to them is a little more expensive, but they do not call into the villages and do not make unnecessary stops. The trip takes about 30 minutes, the ticket price is up to 40 rupees.
3. In Panaji you need to take the bus going to Mapusa. The trip takes about 20 minutes, the ticket costs 15 rupees.
4. From Mapusa to Mandrem there are direct flights for 15-20 rupees. The final stop is on the main road, 1.5 km from the beach. From there, you will either have to go to the village on foot or take a taxi.

Public transport to Goa travels frequently to necessary destinations, there are few passengers during the day, and peak hours in the early mornings and evenings. A lot of useful information is on the websites of the following trucking companies:

• www.redbus.in/
• //ktclgoa.com/
• www.paulobus.com/

When going on a trip to India, it is important to know that bus trips here are associated with a number of features. Firstly, most vehicles are not equipped with air conditioning, and in the heat there is literally nothing to breathe. Secondly, as a rule, they do not stop completely, but only slightly slow down - you need to have time to jump in / out at your stop. Thirdly, buses do not have numbers, only the names of settlements, stops, but these inscriptions are not always duplicated in English. Therefore, you should always ask the driver about the route and stops. And here fourthly: the question that was even made in perfect English, the answer will not always be clear, since the official name and pronunciation of the settlements sometimes differ significantly. Here are just a few examples: Mapusa-Mapasa, Panaji-Panjim-Panji-Bji.

By train you can do only part of the way, and then you can not do without a bus or taxi.

1. As with the bus, from the airport you need to get to the Market stop in Vasco da Gama, next to which is the railway station.
2. At the railway station, you need to catch a train going to the administrative center of South Goa, the city of Margao. It is in Margao that the railway station closest to Mandrem is located. It is important to know that the station in Margao is called Madgaon.
3. Arriving in Margao at the railway station, you need to get to the bus station - a taxi or rickshaw (100 rupees) is suitable. From the bus station you need to look for transport to Panaji, take about an hour to go.
4. Next - as described in the previous section.

When planning a trip to India by train, it should be borne in mind that it can be even more unique than on a bus. The fact is that buying a ticket at the box office is too problematic, even for 2-3 weeks in advance. As for online purchases, it is theoretically possible to do this, but in practice it is quite difficult even with detailed instructions.

Moreover, you can not buy a ticket, but only a “waiting list”, on the basis of which the controller issues a ticket upon arrival of the specified train, if there are empty seats in it. On the topic of moving around India by train on the Internet, you can find a lot of useful and interesting, so here is just the main thing:

• Indian Railways website: Indian Railways www.indianrailways.gov.in/
• train schedule www.indianrail.gov.in/
• ticketing website www.irctc.co.in

But there are trips on Indian trains that can attract some travelers (absolutely unpretentious and not suffering from remorse because of the passage of a "hare"): you can ride completely free. You just need to wait for the train you need, board the Second Class or General class car, and enjoy the real, non-tourist India.

Prices on the page are for September 2019.

Enjoy your holiday in Mandrem (Goa) and have only positive impressions!

Walk along the beach, cafes, shops and streets of Mandrem: