This site is a mine of information and the members are very friendly.

Papa

Bumping, any advice guys as its seems alot of you have been here before

Many thanks Ally xx

The question is a bit too vague, I prefer the quite of the candolim area to calangute beach but every member here will have different views on their preference.
There is a thread on the best restaurants, again it depends on what sort of food you like, perhaps if you could be a little more specific, what are you looking or hoping for we can be of more help,
Lin

hi Ally
Your question reminded me of an interesting thread we had in the past which still contains interesting info. Have a look here

i cant beleive that the regulars on here havent been of any help to you so far

theres plenty to see and do in goa,
* vists to the waterfalls,go for a swim and feed the monkeys
* crocodile boat trips
* plenty of beaches to visit,some quiet some busier depends what you like
*anjuna hippy market on a wednesday selling all the ususl tourist stuff,well worth a visit just for the experience alone,
we never book trips with the holiday company,all the local taxi drivers will take you ,so much cheaper and loads of fun

there will be plenty of restaurants around your hotel,theres a list of reccomended restaurants on the site,most sell a good selection of indian english chinese food,plenty of steaks,
havent stayed at your hotel so couldnt tell you what its like.

been going to going for years and every year we say lets try somewere new but end up going back,
if you go and love it you will want to go time and time again
hope you have a brilliant time,

the airport is an experience,you sometimes end up waiting ages to get through imagration so take a drink off the plane with you to keep you hydrated,and when you get your luggage porters will rush to grab your caes for a tip,they used to be happy with £1 but last time one demanded £5 off us ,lol soon told him were to go

goa can be a culture shock ,and can seen very dirty in places (coz it is ) but the people are wonderful

hope thats of help to you

Thanks for all your replies guys.

I've been reading a hell of a lot over the last couple of weeks on all the forums and other sites and have found loads of helpful advice.

And thanks for bumping the restaurant thread for me that was helpful.

Is there are thread for bars and live entertainment at all?

After reading I have changed our resort from Calangute to Candolim - we are now staying at Silver Sands. It just seemed to suit us better as a first time and Monarch didn't charge for this.

We like getting out and about and really fancy a boat trip, have read alot about Johns Boat Tours and fancy going on the house boat- if any one has booked this trip what's it like?

Thanks again Ally

Hi Ally, I have been on the houseboat trip, it was great, a really reaxing few days, and you are very well looked after on the boat, It was a while ago now but I remember the meals were fantastic, we even had afternoon tea when we got there, including cucumber sarnies [with the crusts cut off] If its good enough for the queen... the only downside was we moored ouside a temple and were woken at 5am with the prayers booming from a loudspeaker, this may have been a one off due to a special occasion,
Lin

I think you made a good decision to swap hotels too