Under the shade of palm trees, bathes the Queen of Beaches Calangute. Calangute seems to be a distortion of the local vernacular word Koli-gutti, which means land of fishermen. Some people connect it with Kalyangutti (village of art) or Konvallo-ghott (strong pit of the coconut tree) because the village is full of coconut trees. With the advent of the Portuguese, the word probably got distorted to Calangute, and has stuck till today. In a green semi-circle, the villages of Arpora-Nagoa, Saligao and Candolim do their bit to enhance the divine beauty of Calangute. There are picturesque agors (saltpans) at Agarvaddo, Maddavaddo is full of madd (coconut trees), Dongorpur skirts a bottle-green hillock and Tivaivaddo laces the beach. In Gauravaddo lived the gaudds or milkmen ran dairies.

Calangute became a traveler clich in the '60s and early'70s. It was the hippies who discovered the pristine surroundings and blissful serenity and golden sands. The hippies also spread the word around and brought hordes of European tourists. Decades later, tourists still trudge down the dusty, weather-beaten roads in search of that idyllic coastal Goa. On this lovely beach, Goans and tourists spend summers, bathing in the quiet solitude of the sea, sun and sand.