The Santana Beach Resort is superbly located just off the Dando beach at Candolim. However, the family rooms are located at the far end of the resort, away from the beach. This was not a big problem for us as our kids are quite big & could find their way around. However, the block where these rooms are located seem to be recently acquired by the hotel & only 3 were occupied by guests, while the others were being done up & had some workers living in them. So the ambience from the balcony was not the best (the next door resort too was under construction), but while in Goa, you never spend too much time in the room, so not a problem. I guess by the next season, this block will be well incorporated into the main resort & will be quite fine! Being the peak season, most of the other rooms were occupied by chartered group tourists, Russians, I think- mostly elderly folk, so the resort was really peaceful!

Santana Beach Resort

The rooms were really basic, no ambience there! The living room had a TV & a sofa cum bed to accommodate 2 children. There was a convenient little kitchenette with a small fridge & hot water kettle & a supply of coffee & tea bags- handy!

The beach right in front of the resort has quite a few rocks & pebbles, so it's best to walk to the right towards the Big Ship stranded there & lay out on the sun beds provided by the shacks- free if you eat or drink there. The sea can be quite rough sometimes but our kids enjoyed the big waves & couldn't have enough even though we lost our sunglasses & goggles to the ocean. Sadly, a lot of sand from the beach has been eroded since we were there last, leaving a lot of gaping rocks towards the Sinquerim (Taj Village) side. Breakfast provided by the resort was just ok- eggs, toast, cornflakes, biscuits, coffee, tea & mango Frooti! Some local fruit like banana/papaya would have been lovely, & many other resorts also offer an Indian breakfast like idli/wadas. One could order for a fresh fruit platter for an additional cost of Rs 120. Other than the breakfast, we didn't eat any other meals at the hotel. The beach shacks Calamari & Amanda win hands down on location & dinner with your toes in the sand is what Goa is about! Besides the beach shacks, the road along Candolim is alive with restaurants serving good food & live entertainment so you can stroll down & make your choice every night- karaoke or bingo, butter chicken or sorpotel... The pool at the resort is really small (so is their car park), so our kids didn't even bother to unpack the large inflatables they brought along. However, they bought a boogie board from the surf shop right outside the resort & had a blast with it in the ocean- who needs a pool (even a small    Sinquerim Beach                          Sinquerim Fort one!) when you can have the ocean? Taxis are easily available & you can bargain for a good rate. We tried some water sports - parasailing from a winch boat & jet skiing at Calangute, but other than that, the beach is way too crowded for swimming. For a lovely beach experience, we drove way up north to Morjim, which is still unspoilt- no hawkers, motorised water sports- just a great expanse of sand & sea & some shacks during the season where you can eat, shower & even stay overnight for a back to nature experience; & maybe if you are lucky, on a full moon night, be witness to the hatching of Olive Ridley turtles who are known to nest there every year. Now that would be quite unforgettable!