{"id":60,"date":"2007-12-31T13:47:44","date_gmt":"2007-12-31T13:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/surfing-in-goa-patnem-beach-india\/"},"modified":"2007-12-31T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2007-12-31T13:47:44","slug":"surfing-in-goa-patnem-beach-india","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/surfing-in-goa-patnem-beach-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Surfing in Goa – Patnem beach, India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Goa<\/a>, and
\nindeed India<\/a>, is not often associated
\nwith surfing<\/strong>, but there is a small wave at Patnem beach<\/a> and sometimes
\nPalolem beach<\/a>. 
\nThe wave is small and inconsistent.  There are only ever a handful of
\nsurfers, and it’s warm and cheap.<\/p>\n

The wave at best is 3 feet on the face and quite chilled
\nout.  It’s a perfect longboard wave, but a mini-mal for fish would also
\ngive a lot of fun.  Christmas is the busiest time in Goa, but even then
\nyou’ll see only a couple (normally novice) surfers.  It’s a tropical
\nenvironment, the sea is warm, accommodation is in beach huts on the beach and of
\ncourse there is cheap and tasty Indian food.<\/p>\n

Patnem beach is the most southerly developed beach in
\nGoa.  It has a very laid back atmosphere and consists of about a dozen
\nrestaurants on the beach, most of which have beach huts for rent.  The
\nbeach road has a few stores for groceries, Internet access and a travel
\nagents.  Patnem village, just behind the beach is tiny and has a few
\nguesthouses which are cheaper to rent (about INR500 at Christmas) than the beach
\nhuts (about INR1,000 at Christmas).<\/p>\n

Palolem beach, just a 10 minute walk north is essential
\nthe same as Patnem, but more developed.  Almost all of the visitors are
\nbackpackers looking for a chilled out time, with occasional late night
\n drinks.<\/p>\n

Wave<\/strong>: 3 feet at best, 2 feet is more
\ncommon.  Breaking waves appear about 3 times a week.  The rides are
\nshort.  It’s a beach break and various peaks appear and move with the
\ntide.  Patnem has the most consistent wave, but sometimes it’s better at
\n Palolem.<\/p>\n

Wind<\/strong>: Because of the tropical heat there
\nis always onshore wind by 11am.  But, it doesn’t affect the wave too
\nmuch.  Dusk and dawn surfs avoid the winds.<\/p>\n

Hazards<\/strong>: A few obvious rocks, the
\noccasional swimmer and not much else.<\/p>\n

Recommended gear<\/strong>: A big volume board
\nmeans you’ll catch a lot more waves. Longboard and mini-mal would be ideal, but
\nobviously a pain to transport around.  A fish is the best option.  A
\nmodern non-fiberglass board will travel a lot better than a fiberglass
\nboard, which, considering the journey to the beach probably wouldn’t make
\nit in one piece.<\/p>\n

Surfing facilities<\/strong>: Absolutely
\nnone.  There are no surf equipment stores or rental places, except for
\ncheap bodyboards.  So bring everything you need – including the board,
\nspare leash and warm water wax.  I guess you could get away without a leash
\nand use candle wax if you run out.  The water is warm enough for board
\n shorts.<\/p>\n

Accommodation<\/strong>: Beach huts on the beach
\ncost INR1,000 at Christmas, half at other times.  Guesthouses away from the
\nbeach can be as much as half this.<\/p>\n

Night life<\/strong>: Palolem has a healthy night
\nlife, but no all night parties.  You’ll need to go north Goa for that.
\nPatnem is quieter than Palolem, but there are regular quiet late night
\n sessions.<\/p>\n

Other things to do<\/strong>: Fishing trips,
\ndolphin spotting trips, motorbike or scooter rental and explore the rest of Goa,
\nkayak rental, small sailing catamaran rental, smoking & drinking!<\/p>\n

Getting there<\/strong>: Trains from Mumbai stop
\nat Margoa station in central Goa.  You can change trains and head south to
\nCanacona station, from where it’s a 3 minute taxi ride to the beaches.  Or
\nyou can get a taxi from Margoa to the beaches which costs about INR800.<\/p>\n

Getting around<\/strong>: There are loads of tuk
\ntuks; motorbikes, mopeds and bicycles can be rented cheaply.<\/p>\n

Visas<\/strong>: Everyone (except Nepali citizens)
\nneed a visa to visit India.  Arrange this before you leave home, rather
\nthan in a neighboring country.  Allow 4 weeks for a visa to arrive. 
\nVisas allow stays of 3 or 6 months.<\/p>\n

Before and After<\/strong>:  To continue
\nsurfing you can easily get to Sri Lanka or Bali in the east. I guess South
\nAfrica is the next surf spot west.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Goa, and indeed India, is not often associated with surfing, but there is a small wave at Patnem beach and sometimes Palolem beach.  The wave is small and inconsistent.  There are only ever a handful of surfers, and it’s warm and cheap. The wave at best is 3 feet on the face and quite chilled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itravelabout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}