My trip to Cola, South Goa came from a desire to be cut off from everything familiar. I had just lost someone very important to me & I felt pretty hopeless. I realised I needed to be in nature to process all that I was feeling. For me, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people, being in nature helps centre & heal me.
So, Cola being a beach I had never been to we decided to go spend a few days there. There are only two resorts on the beach itself & I decided to go with The Blue Lagoon Resort. You can choose from lagoon facing or sea facing wooden cottages.
We wanted to be cut off from any noise & people so we chose the sea facing one as the lagoon can be full of people in the day.
Day 1 we settled in & being a Sunday the beach was a bit crowded and disappointing to me as I wanted a quiet secluded beach, we were assured by locals however that the next day being Monday the tourist rush would ease & true enough I woke up on Monday morning to be greeted by the sound of crazing waves & I stepped out to an empty beach. There were probably around 4 other couples there, everyone really just relaxed in sussegad mode.
This was one of the nicest, most memorable Monday mornings of my life. Spent it chilling on the balcony of our hut reading & eating breakfast & the icing on the cake – A pod of dolphins playing in the surf not too far off shore! Later in the morning we headed over to the lagoon for a swim & to do some Kayaking. I have to say the lagoon has crystal clear water, you could see pretty colourful fish swimming in the lagoon & the beautiful stones at the bottom, the water was cool & pleasant. However, if you’re a keen kayaker the lagoon might disappoint you a bit as it’s not very deep. At its max its around 4 ft in depth & even shallower elsewhere. If, however, you’re travelling with kids this is the ideal place for them to try out kayaking for the first time. It’s cheap too, Rs. 100 for a 15 to 20 min kayak around the lagoon.
I would also not recommend Cola beach to swim as the lifeguard told me it’s a really rocky beach. You can always drive down to Palolem or one of the nearby beaches if you want a proper swim in the sea like we did. Though you can swim & snorkel in the lagoon too, not much fish but there are some pretty ones.
The resort itself is nice & staff are helpful & very accommodating, I would recommend sticking to Indian cuisine, as after trial & error we realised that is their chef’s strong suit. The tandoori fish dishes, were overcooked & the fish dried out & the continental meals & salads were a disappointment, however the day we ordered butter garlic naan, Chicken masala in a cashew gravy & dal fry the food was phenomenal, excellent flavours, tender succulent chicken. So, I highly recommend the Indian food here. Also, the resort is quite quiet at night, the restaurant shuts at 10.30 PM & there is no late-night room service, so if you’re a midnight snacker do keep this in mind. The resort doesn’t have any shops nearby either & the approach road is a mud road with no lights, so keep this in mind too if adventuring out nearby late. There is no phone network at the resort but you do get Wi-Fi in the room, so our only contact with the outside world was WhatsApp for a few days.
Cola is really about a 20 min drive away from Cabo De Rama beach. As well as Betul, Palolem & Galgibaga aren’t too far off either & good for a day trip too.
Overall, I had the best 4 days I have had in a while. If you’re looking for a nice quite quiet holiday, right on the beach with nature all around you & you want to cut off from the world for a few days, this place is for you.
We spent our days on the beach, in the lagoon surrounded by palm trees, immersed myself in nature, had breakfast every morning watching the dolphins put on a show for me (they were there every day) & in that I realised that life is HERE & NOW & we gotta make the most of it while we got it. Do what sets your soul on fire, what makes you happy & free. The pain from my loss hasn’t healed but, on that beach, I felt a figurative bandage go on that made it a bit more bearable.