Goa Tourism
Resorts

The Santa Monica takes you on a leisurely cruise along the Mandovi River. While the boat sails down the river, local boys and girls perform folk dances and sing mandos. Their performance is followed up a live band. The Santa Monica then takes you past the Panjim riverfront to Miramar to witness a spectacular sunset.

This cruise is generally included in the North Goa Tours arranged by the GTDC. This is an hour long cruise on the Santa Monica which takes guests out on a leisurely sail down the River Mandovi from the Santa Monica jetty in Panaji. While the vessel sails serenly down the river past the beautiful Adil Shah Palace that was once the first building in Panjim City. This was the summer palace of the Sultan which was then used by the Viceroy of Portugal and finally by the government of Goa as its Secretariat. Now that a new Secretariat is in use on Porvorim Hill across the river Mandovi, the Adil Shah Palace wil be turned into a cultural centre with art galleries and concert halls, etc.

While you sail down the river local boys and girls treat you to some Goa's best known folk dances, the dekhni and the fugdi. They sing mandos and finally give over centrestage to live musicians or a DJ and the guest can then sing and dance and generally make merry. This cruise is a huge success with people of all ages, men, women and children.

The Santa Monica then takes you past the Panjim riverfront past the jetty and old colonial buildings on past the Promenade with its lovely tree lined avenues past Miramar where you sit and watch one of Goa's spectacular sunsets. You can see the spread of the Mormugao Port and the mass of the Aguada Fort and as the shadows lengthen you find yourself transported back in history to the time when all visitors who landed on these shores loved Goa so much they wanted to possess her.

The Santa Monica then turns around and sails back to her jetty along the silent Mandovi, past the pretty cottages of Betim.