Beyond the mouth of the Mandovi estuary, the Goan coast sweeps north in a near-continuous string of beaches, broken only by the odd saltwater creek, rocky headland, and three tidal rivers - two of which, the Chapora and Arondem, have to be crossed by ferry. The most developed resorts, Calangute and Baga , occupy the middle and northern part of the seven-kilometre strip of pearl-white sand that stretches from the Aguada peninsula in the south to a sheer laterite promontory in the north. Formerly, the infamous colonies of Goa hippies gathered in these two villages during their annual winter migration; now both heave during high season with British charter tourists, bus loads of trippers from out-of-state and itinerant vendors hawking fruit and trinkets on the beach. The "scene", meanwhile, has shifted northwards, to the beaches around Anjuna, Vagator and Chapora , where the Christmas-New Year parties take place.

 

Most of the tourist traffic arriving in north Goa from Mumbai is siphoned off towards the coast through Mapusa , the area's main market town. For short hops between towns and resorts, motorcycle taxis are the quickest and most convenient way to get around, but buses also run to all the villages along the coast, via the ferry crossings at Siolim, 7km north of Anjuna, and Querim (for Terekol).