Goa 101 | Best Tips for families moving to Goa in 2023

Goa offers a fantastic, affordable lifestyle for traveling families. It’s an up-and-coming digital nomad destination, and we’re excited to share our best tips for moving to Goa with you.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you may know we’re a full-time slow-traveling digital nomad family. We spent our first three years in Southeast Asia and the next three in Europe and nearby.

We moved to Goa at the beginning of 2023 and quickly discovered several families with an interest or questions about visiting the region short term or staying a little longer.

So read on to discover all you need to know about moving to Goa and life in Goa in 2023.

(This post includes affiliate links for which we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase)

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Indian tourist visas

There are three types of Indian tourist visas. You can select a 30-day double-entry visa, one-year multiple-entry, or five-year multiple-entry tourist visa. We got the one-year multiple-entry visa.

As New Zealand passport holders, we must leave the country after every 90-day stay. As I mentioned, it’s a multiple-entry visa, so there is no limit to the number of times we can enter as long as each stay doesn’t exceed 90 days.

Citizens of the U.S., Canada, Japan, and the U.K. can stay for 180 days at a time on either the one-year or five-year visa.

We got tired of navigating visas and paperwork for longer-term stays in SE Asia. But the Indian tourist visa is easy. It’s an e-visa, and we did not require any supporting paperwork. They asked many questions on the application, but the process was fast and straightforward.

Onward tickets and more

Within a day or two, we’d received our e-visas and effectively started our year in India, even though we weren’t there yet. We filled in the applications a couple of weeks before we planned to fly. Your visa starts from the day it’s issued, and your 90 or 180-day period starts when you land in the country.

There was a mention of a requirement for an onward ticket in the application information. However, there was no mention of this on the actual visa (which specifies the conditions). We didn’t book an onward ticket and weren’t asked for one.

Booking an onward ticket 90 days ahead is a little too much planning for us. Of course, booking or not booking one is at your own discretion and risk. You can use something like Best Onward Ticket for a legitimate ticket that later gets canceled if you choose. It’s a fraction of the price of a real ticket.

Aside from the above information, there’s not much else to it! One other point to note is that you cannot enter India via land borders on the tourist e-visa.

Visit this website for more information on your Indian tourist visa.

Important visa updates February 2023

There is emerging information as I’m publishing this that the maximum allowed stay has changed to 180/90 days in a calendar year rather than 180/90 days at a time.

When we heard about the change, we logged on to the website where we applied for our visa and saw that one line had been changed. It stated we could only stay 90 days in a calendar year.

However, we then heard it had changed again. So we logged in two days later (just the day before publishing this post), and our visas stated that we could stay a maximum of 180 days in a year.

My guess is that it’s correct now, in line with the income tax laws of most countries. But who knows, it could change again.

I will update this if I see any further changes to the online version of our visa. I noticed that Indian visa websites for Americans like this one seem to have updated information, but most websites haven’t been changed yet.

What areas to stay in goa

Goa covers a big area, and we find it’s quite spread out. We’ve known several traveling families who have previously stayed in Patnem beach in South Goa. These families got me curious about Goa and staying in Patnem.

Although we’re unschoolers, we were interested in the adventure school in Patnem. It closed during COVID, and we’ve discovered since we arrived that it has reopened (more on that soon). We’re not so interested in the “school” anymore, as we’ve discovered so much else going on (more on that soon, too!)

I get the impression that several nomadic families visit and stay in Patnem or nearby and return year after year. However, from my understanding, they only tend to stay for “the season” (approximately between October and March) and leave for the off-season.

South Goa sounds beautiful and relaxed. However, we were looking for more of a year-round destination when we originally thought we might stay here the whole year.

Gymnastics and coworking!

Gymnastics is very high on the priority list for one family member, and it’s not always easy to find. However, we found a lovely performing arts school in Anjuna called Omaggio, which offers gymnastics classes.

Also high on our family’s priority list is coworking spaces. We discovered Nomadgao, headed by an awesome Indian-Vietnamese worldschooling family. They’re aiming to put Goa on the map as a digital nomad destination and already offer co-working and co-living spaces.

We saw that Nomadgao had a space in Assagao and another in Anjuna, so this was another strong deciding factor for where we would base ourselves. (Note the Assagao space is closing down around March or April time).

There are work-friendly cafes around, but we prefer coworking spaces as we tend to work full days. There are a few other spaces around, too, mostly in Panjim, so that could be another consideration for digital nomad families.

There’s also a co-working space called Clay cafe and coworking on Anjuna beach. We chose Nomadgao for the flexibility of a 24/7 space. However, we also started using Clay when we moved to Anjuna beach for the ease of the shorter and less-hectic walk.

If it’s beaches you’re after, check out our separate post The 10 Best Beaches in North Goa.

We’ve discovered the best sandy beaches are further north than us, between Morjim and Arambol. There are also tons happening in those areas, so they’re other excellent considerations for where to stay.

There are things we like and things we don’t like as much about living in Anjuna. Overall, however, it’s the most central place for us to stay based on our number one priorities of coworking and gymnastics.

Accommodation in Goa

We tend to book anywhere from a few nights up to a couple of weeks in a new destination on platforms like booking.com or Airbnb. We already knew we wanted to stay in the Anjuna-Vagator or Assagao areas before we arrived, so we booked eight nights in this Assagao Airbnb property.

Before we came, I joined many Facebook rental groups for Goa. A few I realized were ones you couldn’t post in, or I realized they weren’t overly active. These are the ones I ended up staying in while we were looking for accommodation. Facebook seems to be the best place to start for finding long and short-term accommodation.

I’ve noticed many travelers in these groups asking for accommodation for as little as a few nights, so they’re not only for long-term stays.

Offbeat Goa Stays (by far one of the most awesome groups)

Goa Rentals

Apartments and Property in North Goa

Goa Rentals (a different one)

Goa Properties and Housings

Goa advertise used cars / properties / flats / shops / rentals

PROPERTIES IN GOA, BUY, SELL, RENT, LODGING BOARDING, HOTELS, RESTAURANT.

GOA PROPERTIES – BUY, SELL, RENT

South Goa rentals

Goa south (palolem, patnam ) community (Rentals, Events, Accomodation) – Haha, a few spelling mistakes in that one; but I’m just copying and pasting them as they are, in case you’re typing them in to search, rather than using the links.

Arambol Goa Community Information, Events, Rentals

GOA ARAMBOL / ASHWEM / MORJIM TOURISTS ROOMS/RENTAL/ YOGA & SPA INFO

I wrote a very specific post about what I was looking for. This included areas, bedrooms, property features, and budget.

However, I received many replies back, outside our budget and the areas we wanted to live, so be prepared to sift through the responses.

You can also specify “no broker” if you only desire replies from owners.

Other helpful accommodation insights from our experience

We saw some lovely places, technically inside our budget. However, some asked for a three-month deposit, one month in advance, plus one month’s broker fee. The three-month deposit didn’t sit right with us. So, find out the terms early on to see if you’re happy with them.

Other places typically asked for a one-month deposit. In the end, we got lucky with a more casual agreement where we paid one month in advance and another month the day we moved in. So essentially, we’re a month ahead on our payments, and we haven’t paid a deposit.

We can extend it month to month. The owners are happy with that because we’ve paid a month ahead, so that’s their guarantee, I guess. Of course, this sort of informal arrangement is riskier, but we’re happy with that, as we have the flexibility to move if needed.

We were told we’d need to move out by August or September because the hosts want to nab their first opportunities for nightly rates at the start of the next season.

If you want a longer-term commitment, that won’t be a problem. We arrived in the middle of the high season, and although the selection of housing options wasn’t huge, it was easy to get something that would take us into the next high season if we wanted it (i.e. they’re not all trying to find short-term renters for the high season).

How much does accommodation in goa cost?

Well, this is a tricky question. Like many places globally, prices have increased recently due to various factors.

We were looking for a minimum of two bedrooms in specific areas. The areas I was set on are higher-priced, as they’re more in demand and closer to a better variety of amenities and activities.

We were only looking at fully-furnished places, which, of course, also cost a little more. I was offered anything from 25,000 rupees (306 USD) to 90,000 rupees (1102 USD) per month for a furnished two-bedroom apartment.

In a nutshell:

• Those around 25,000 were kinda in the middle of nowhere, much further than we wanted to be from the main action spots. Instead of a 5-10 minute drive to get to places we wanted, it would be more like 20-30 minutes (we like to have a nice selection of restaurants within walking distance)
• Properties around the 40,000 mark were mostly acceptable. However, they usually bordered the areas we wanted (i.e., just a tiny bit far away), or they were just a bit small for us to consider for a long-term place. We did find nice two-bedroom apartments in a complex with a pool for 40-45k. They would have been our second choice, but they were smaller than we wanted.
• The prices for three-bedroom places we came across mostly seemed to escalate considerably, just for an extra room. Often, they were double the price of a similar two-bedroom place, so, in the end, we crossed three bedrooms from our wishlist. For example, our favorite two-bedroom villa in a complex with a shared pool was going for 60,000 ($735 USD), but the three-bedroom places in the same complex were going for double. We didn’t take that two-bedroom place, even though it was our first choice, because of the three-month deposit
• I have read posts in Facebook groups saying rental prices are higher in the South. However, a worldschooling family in Patnem told me you could get a two-bedroom place for 25,000 there. We haven’t looked at properties in South Goa, though, so I really can offer any insights as to what sort of place that might be.

We ended up in a fully-furnished, old Portuguese-style two-bedroom villa, just a short walk along a footpath to the cliff top, which leads down to the beach. The rate is 60,000 rupees ($735 USD) per month and includes daily cleaning.

By the way, beds in India are generally rock-hard, but you get used to them. (This is coming from someone who likes a firm bed, too!)

Transportation in goa

Ok, so we are the family who walks everywhere, just not in Goa.

We’ve been on the road, full-time traveling for six years, and haven’t had a car since we left, except for day trips or the odd roadie.

You’ll likely need your own transportation here unless you spend a lot of time at home. Goa is big, and the activities and destinations are spread out.

We got taxis on our first day here. They weren’t overly expensive, but considering you might need a few to take you here and there, the cost can add up quickly, and it may be cheaper to rent a car. It would definitely be cheaper to ride your own scooter if you’re into that.

Here’s my summary of our transportation experiences in Goa so far.

Taxis in Goa

Taxis start from about 200 (2.45 USD) per trip, but you’ll probably more commonly pay 400 or 500, depending on where you’re going. The good thing is that there appears to be a taxi stand in each area, and the rates are standard. There are no taxi meters, but they’ll have a chart highlighting how much it costs to go to each area from where you are.

Private drivers in goa

You can get a bunch of drivers’ numbers in your Whatsapp and ask them to take you places. I was unsuccessful with this and gave up after a while. I’d rather walk to a taxi stand if needed.

Every time I tried to ask for a ride somewhere, a driver would send me another driver’s number, even if I asked hours in advance. And when they were available, the costs were at least double a regular taxi fare because they would have had to drive to me from another location. Obviously, this wouldn’t be the case if your taxi driver is nearby.

I have a handful of driver’s numbers in my contact list, but I don’t feel like I’ve found anyone reliable to recommend yet.

Something useful to know, though, is that they’ll offer packages by the hour. This could be a cost-effective option if you want to run a bunch of errands in a row.

Goa miles

Goa miles is the taxi app for Goa. We installed it at the airport, hoping to book a ride to our Airbnb.

However, the app has declined two of our credit cards, so we’ve given up for a bit. I have yet to try American Express; maybe it likes that one.

You can pay cash with Goa miles. However, you must have a minimum amount (like 200 rupees, I think) loaded into your Goa miles account to pay cash. But I can’t do that until it accepts my credit card.

car rental

My New Zealand driver’s license is long-expired, so Colin is the only one who drives in our family. Hence, he has the contact information for rental companies. Please ask if you’d like phone numbers, and maybe I’ll update this section in due course.

If you are happy to brave the crazy traffic and narrow roads, renting or buying a car could be a good option.

We spent about 1,300 rupees on taxis on our first day, and that’s about what it costs to rent a car each day, but with more flexibility and less waiting around or walking to taxi stands.

You’ll pay a slightly higher rate for a small automatic car rather than a manual. I think the auto was 1,300 and the manual 1,000. We’re paying 25,000 rupees ($306 USD per month) for a small automatic car to get us from place to place.

The cars are generally small. A small car is ideal for navigating narrow roads and squeezing in somewhere to park.

Scooters and pilots

Our family chooses to drive a car rather than ride scooters, but I’m sure you can rent a scooter, or perhaps even two, for cheaper than a car.

Another service worth considering is the pilot service. This is not an airplane pilot but a scooter pilot. So essentially, it’s a scooter driver who will take you places.

It’s not so suitable for large families, but I have used the pilot service a few times on my own. At our local taxi stand, I asked for a scooter ride instead of a car. I paid half of the price of taking a car for a short distance.

You could also negotiate a slightly cheaper rate for a return trip.

I hired a scooter pilot last Sunday to take me around the sites I wanted to see in North Goa and paid 2500 rupees for a full day.

Again, you’d need to ask for pilot numbers in your area. If they come to pick you up from a different area, the rates are likely to be double or more.

My friend has been living here for a full year, and she uses pilots for her transportation. Her daughter gets the bus to and from school each day, and I guess they can both fit on a scooter with a pilot when needed.

Biking in goa

A few people have asked me about biking in Goa. Sure, you can bike around, but the roads are hectic, and it’s not for everyone. Again, things are pretty spread out, so you’ll want a motorized vehicle, depending on how far you’re going.

Personally, I like biking, but I’m not jumping at the opportunity to ride a bike. If you can plan your biking journey to take you along quieter streets and lanes, hopefully, you’ll be fine.

Contact Cycling Zens for bicycle and e-bike hire. They have a few locations and also offer cycling tours. I went on their 1.5-hour Salvador do Mundo tour and enjoyed it. Their tours are great, as they know the best places to take you for nice scenery away from hectic traffic.

Walking around Goa

I feel the same about walking in Goa as I do about cycling. Sure, it’s possible, and I do it sometimes. I walk to and from work (20-30 minutes). However, I stopped leaving for work at 7 am because I found the dogs scary at that hour (and I’m generally not scared of dogs). They seem to be placid later in the day, so I go a little later. and now walk a different route.

I don’t walk far with our girls unless it’s along quiet lanes or along the beach. Whilst you might find pavements in a city like Panjim, you won’t find them in the beachy areas or most other locations. The traffic comes too close to us, and it feels too stressful, so we choose our walking locations carefully.

I walked them to gymnastics once or twice, and that was enough!

SIM cards for Goa

Friends in Goa told us there were two main SIM providers, Airtel and Jio. Supposedly Jio has better coverage in Goa. However, as we understand, Jio isn’t available for tourists, so Airtel it was!

We went to the Airtel shop in Mapusa to get our SIM cards. You must bring your passport, and it took quite some time for the shop assistant to take down all our details.

We were able to purchase a one-month package, to begin with, and were told that after the first month, we could select a two-month package if we wanted to. However, you should be aware that SIM cards for tourists are only valid for three months; then, you’ll need to get a new one.

Our one-month package was 450 rupees (5.45 USD). We were told by friends that we could go to “any shop” to top up after one month. However, we’re still not really sure what “any shop” means, so we went back to the Mapusa store. We couldn’t find a way to top up from the app.

Activities for kids in goa

There are so many activities for kids in Goa. I’m not sure what it’s like during the off-season, but you’ll be inundated with options, especially at the weekends, for activities from arts and crafts to nature activities, sports, and more.

Omaggio

I mentioned earlier that Omaggio performing arts school was a drawcard for us to stay in or near Anjuna. The best thing about Omaggio is that they have classes for different age groups simultaneously (4-6 years, 7-10 years, and 11+ years). That means both our girls can attend classes at the same time.

Mondays and Wednesdays are gymnastics at 4:15 pm. The younger ones do a 45-minute class, and the older ones do a one-hour class. Tuesdays are aerial for the older kids and ballet for the young ones.

Thursdays are aerial for the older kids, but there’s no ballet for the little ones that day.

You can either pay a drop-in fee of 650 rupees (about 8 USD) for the older kids and 550 rupees (about $6.70 for the younger ones) or sign up for eight classes for the month for a decent discount. There are further discounts if your kid joins more than one program, and they also offer sibling discounts.

Mix and match programs, join workshops, and more!

We didn’t want to commit to four days per week, but our older daughter wanted to do gymnastics and aerial. Although Omaggio wasn’t forthcoming with this option, we discovered we could sign up for one day of gymnastics and one of aerial.

The days suit us well (Monday and Tuesday), plus we don’t have to commit to four days, and little miss four isn’t left without a class on Thursdays.

For one month of two kids going to two classes per week (eight classes per month each), we paid about 6,800 rupees (82 USD).

(Psst, they also have adult classes, including sculpt and tone, at the same time as the kids’ Tuesday and Thursday classes. Once you get on their Whatsapp list, you’ll also hear about upcoming adult workshops, such as aerial and anti-gravity. I tried the aerial workshop and loved it).

They’ve also sent me details of a kids’ improv workshop this weekend, so there is plenty going on.

Whatsapp groups

I’ve joined several Whatsapp groups, which I’ve learned are the easiest ways to find out about current events. If I’m still in these groups when you get to this post and decide you’d like to join them, I’ll ask an admin to add you. Otherwise, it will be easy enough to connect with them via Facebook, websites, or in person when you arrive.

• The Assagao Birthing Center is awesome for kids’ activities, adult workshops, and more. They have regular kids’ yoga classes, pre and post-natal yoga, yin yoga, and Kirtan sessions for the whole family. Our girls did a bamboo music workshop with them, and we have paid them a small fee to use their pool. They also have pre-loved (younger) kids’ clothing, and services available such as craniosacral therapy.

• I’m on the NomadGao and Clay coworking Whatsapp lists, so I find out about community events through them.
• If you love the environment and sustainability, get on the Sensible Earth Whatsapp list. They run low-cost workshops and activities pretty much every Saturday and Sunday (at least in the high season) on everything from construction with natural materials to mud-art, wetland walks, lake visits (where you can swim and learn about ecosystems), visits to turtle hatching sites, and more
• I’m on the Svasti Anjuna Whatsapp list, which is a neat community space offering kids’ movie nights on Wednesdays, classes for adults such as Zumba and yoga, and meals, which you need to pre-order
• The Charms of Nature Whatsapp group shares details of a free weekly Saturday morning art class for kids. They’re a lovely little store based at the bottom of the steps up to Omaggio. Note that just today I received a notification that the classes are canceled until they can find a new site because they’ve had snakes in and around the shop lately…

If you want to get on any of these Whatsapp groups and I’ve already moved on by the time you get here and want to join, ask on the local Facebook groups, and someone will be able to help you.

Artjuna and mojigao

Artjuna is an awesome cafe and lifestyle concept with a few locations, including Assagao, Mandrem, and Anjuna. You’ll find all sorts of activities at Artjuna, and they have delicious food, so check them out!

Mojigao is the name of Artjuna’s Assagao location. Mojigao boasts a gorgeous nature-based setting and offers accommodation, weekly art sessions for kids, coworking, a library, yoga classes, events, live music, and more. There’s also a basic gym and a couple of swings for the kids.

Artjuna in Anjuna has various fitness and martial arts classes, weekly art sessions for kids, a kids’ play area, a library, Saturday and Sunday afternoon markets every weekend, and live music pretty much every afternoon and evening.

Honestly, I was keen to try the kids’ art classes but had a shocking experience corresponding with the person who runs them via Whatsapp. She asked me to share a photo of the coconuts my girls had painted at home, after which she slammed it with a face-palm emoji, saying, “really, that was done by a nine-year-old?!”

She told me to follow her Instagram to see what the kids are doing in her classes. Instead, I decided to block her on Whatsapp and Instagram. I have zero interest in sending my kids to someone with such an obnoxious attitude.

Still, the cafes are fantastic and offer a lot. I’m going to try a few of the classes before we leave.

Other activities for kids

If you come here during the high season, you’ll for sure be inundated with options for activities for kids. Most of these will be in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends outside of school hours, as I guess most kids go to school.

A couple of other things that come to mind:

1. The sports field in Parra has kids football classes. We enquired for Romy (4 years old) and discovered the sessions are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. However, we needed to sign up for a full term for all three days, whereas we prefer something more casual
2. If you have any surf enthusiasts in your family, check out the long stretch of beaches between Morjim and Arambol, which features various surf schools. As I understand, there are also early morning group classes for kids.

Schools in Goa

Goa has several schools you may want to check out. As unschoolers, we haven’t looked into these in detail, but we have considered them, and I’ll tell you what I know so you can investigate further.

• There’s an unschooling school in Goa! It’s called The Learning Centre and is based in Moira. I did leave a message on their contact page, but no one ever got back to me. I get the impression you still need to enroll long-term, and it’s still school hours, five days per week, so it wouldn’t have the flexibility we’d be looking for. I asked about any ad hoc events we could get involved with but heard nothing.
• Several Worldschooling families have come to Goa for the Vidya Aranya school in Patnem, South Goa. It’s also known as the adventure school and runs every morning for ages seven and above. When we arrived in Goa, it was my understanding this school was still closed since Covid. However, a worldschooling family based in Patnem this season says it’s open again, but operating from the traditional school there, the River House Academy. Again, I left them a message on their website contact page, but I never heard back. I see they have a Whatsapp number on their contact page. We ended up committing to accommodation in Anjuna, far from Patnem. If we return later in the year, we might look at this again.
• You can also check out River House Academy in the same area. They accept short-term students as well as long-term and have weekly, term-long, and yearly packages.
• Most kids we meet here in Anjuna go to the Holistic Yellow School. We went in there to take a look, but it appears they’re not accepting short-term students anymore. However, I found out a couple of days ago that they run a “monsoon club” from mid-May until mid-June (the pre-monsoon months). This is essentially a kids’ holiday program where they do various activities and outings, and anyone can join.
• You’ll also find preschool options in both the Patnem and Anjuna areas (there’s a yellow house preschool across the road from the Holistic Yellow School).

I’m sure there are plenty of other school options, but I think these are the ones travelers will be most interested in looking at first. There used to be a yogi arts school, but it stopped during the pandemic and hasn’t restarted.

Where are the homeschooling and worldschooling families in goa?

Obviously, the worldschooling community is a transient one. Here’s what I know, based on my own experience in the first quarter of 2023:

• Several traveling families stay in the Patnem area each high season (say from October through March). I personally made contact with three worldschooling families there and also heard from a couple of other families in the area. Some stay for just a month, others for several months
• I’ve made contact with a worldschooling and unschooling family at Utorda beach. They have been in Goa for a few years, so are settled here. We haven’t been able to meet them though, because they’ve been traveling around
• We had a couple of lovely families we were hanging out with here in North Goa, but they both left around the end of January
• We’ve met and hung out with an Indian homeschooling family here, although they seem to stay at home a bit during the week. There’s also another family they hang out with, but they have been traveling since we arrived.
• Mayur, the founder of Nomadgao has three homeschooled children in Anjuna. Unfortunately, we’ll be missing them because they’re in Vietnam until April
• I ended up in a homeschooling Whatsapp group but then was a little shocked to realize most of the members only have toddlers, aged around 1-2 (who may well change their minds about homeschooling in the future – plus, my 9-year-old won’t be impressed if I arrange a play date with toddlers for her!). I’ve met other families who consider themselves homeschoolers, but again, their kids have been three or younger.
• I’ve been in contact with another Indian homeschooling family with a 12-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl. I was hoping we could meet up, but really, their kids are tied up with online school all week. We were looking for friends available to meet up during the week.
• I came across another Indian family in Revora, North Goa, homeschooling their 13 and 16 year olds. Their kids are a little older than ours, but they have said they’ll be happy for me to put them in touch with any homeschoolers with older kids.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve come up with in the current Goa homeschooling situation! Not so many homeschooling families as we’d hoped, but you will for sure find plenty of families to hang out with outside of school hours.

Hopefully, your visit to Goa will coincide with that of other worldschoolers.

There’s also a family from the UK with similar-aged kids to us, arriving only a week or so before we leave. But we’ll look forward to meeting them before we leave and will hope to meet them on the road in our next destination (we are both thinking Nepal).

Useful (non-rental) facebook pages for goa

There are endless Goa Facebook groups where you’ll find all sorts of information. Just beware that no matter how carefully you craft your post, you’re bound to end up sifting through private messages irrelevant to what you asked for. So, choose your groups carefully.

I joined two “expat” groups with several thousand people in them. However, I’m really not sure there are many expats in there, and I never got useful responses to my posts in them, so I won’t recommend them.

Be prepared that you could be approached by random men looking to make new ‘friends.’ But overall, they seem harmless. I have politely told them I’m not looking for new friends. (Usually, I get something like this when asking for play dates for the kids or something, so it’s weird).

Specifically for homeschooling and worldschooling families

First of all, you’ll want to join the group I created, Homeschooling and Traveling Families in Goa. I didn’t really find any groups suitable for families, and certainly not traveling families, so I created my own. I personally check everyone who joins the group has children.

At present, I share all the exciting activities happening in Goa, especially those of interest to families. These are pretty much collated from all the Whatsapp groups I’ve joined. Hopefully, others will continue to populate the group with helpful information and arrange meet-ups, etc., after we leave.

Other groups you may be interested in

Offbeat Goa is one of the most valuable groups I’ve found, full of down-to-earth people. Goa for Digital Nomads is also great. It’s run by the Nomadgao team.

You can check out Events in Goa, the Goa Yoga Community, What’s happening Goa, healers and therapists in Goa, Goa – yoga retreats and workshops, Goa workshops and courses, Happening in Goa, Travel Goa, Happening in Goa, Networking Goa, and domestic help Goa, as per your interests.

Note that lots of the groups are all about trance parties and the like, so just join what interests you.

Moving to Goa in 2023 | In conclusion

Goa isn’t all about trance parties and tantra yoga. There are numerous family-friendly activities and places to visit. (For example, check this post for our top recommendation of things to do in North Goa. Or this one with our best picks of things to do in Anjuna).

We opted to spend our first few months in the Anjuna and Assagao areas, primarily for access to coworking and kids’ gymnastics. You’ll have no issue meeting other families, although most in this area are at school.

Several families choose to live in South goa for its beautiful beaches and the schools mentioned above. We didn’t think there would be enough going on for us as unschoolers in South Goa, but if we return later in the year, we might check it out (we originally chose North Goa as a more year-round destination).

Please feel free to reach out and leave any questions or comments about life in Goa below. We’d love to hear from you.

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