Colva stretches sun-drenched, palm fringed and virtually deserted for km after km. 20years ago precious little disturbed its soft white sands and warm crystal-clear turquoise their waters, except the local fishers who pulled their catch in by hands each morning, and the few of the more intrepid hippies who had forsaken the obligatory drugs, sex and rock and roll of Calangute for the smoothing tranquility of this corner of paradise. However, it is the main evening and weekend day-trip destination for the people of Margao, only 6km away, so it becomes packed with cars, motorbikes, scooters and pedestrians. On the road into Colva from Margao you pass the large Church of Our Lady of Mercy (Nossa Senhora das Merces, 1630, re-built in the 18th century). The statue of Menino Jesus housed here is said to have miraculous properties. Colva is at heart of the longest unbroken stretch of beach (25 kms) in Goa from Mormagao peninsular in the north to Cabo de Rama in the south.
A hot-season retreat for Margao's moneyed middle classes since long before Independence, Colva is the oldest and largest - of south Goa's resorts. Its leafy outlying vaddos, or wards, are pleasant enough, dotted with colonial lection of concrete hotels, souvenir stalls and fly-blown snack bars strewn around a bleak central roundabout. Colva is pleasant and convenient place to stay, swimming is relatively safe, while the sand, at least away from the beachfront, is spotless and scattered with beautiful shells.

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