Vasco da Gama (with Bogmalo)

Overview

Vasco da Gama is more a working port and a base for arrivals than a place built for sightseeing, and a day here usually means one or two short stops rather than a full itinerary. The town stands at the western tip of the Mormugao peninsula, where the Zuari River meets the sea, in South Goa district. It was founded in 1886 and named after the Portuguese navigator, and it is about 30 km from Panaji and 28 km from Margao, with Dabolim airport only around 4 to 5 km away.

That airport position explains most stops here, since Vasco is the closest town to the runway. The town has its own railway terminus, Vasco da Gama station, at the end of the line from Guntakal. Direct trains run on from here to cities such as Hyderabad, Patna, Tirupati and Howrah. The port at Mormugao opened in the late 1880s and still handles iron ore and other bulk cargo, and the taluka is the only one in Goa with air, road, rail and sea links all together. The Goa Shipyard, founded in 1957, and the naval base INS Hansa add to the town's maritime character.

For something to see, drive out to Bogmalo, roughly 6 to 9 km from town, where a small bay holds about a mile of curving beach. The Naval Aviation Museum stands on the Bogmalo side of the airport. It began on 12 October 1998 with six aircraft and now has an outdoor field of retired Indian naval aircraft, among them the Sea Harrier, the Breguet Alizé and a Lockheed Super Constellation, together with a two-storey gallery of weapons, uniforms and carrier models. A section of the INS Viraat can be walked through. Visitors should check the current rules for entering a naval site before they plan the trip.

Football supplies a local evening option: Tilak Maidan, a ground for around 6,000 spectators, has hosted Indian Super League matches. The climate follows the usual coastal pattern, with about 2,700 mm of rain a year, most of it from June to September, so the months from October to March are the sensible time to visit. An afternoon or one night is enough.

Known for

A port that opened in the late 1880s, handling bulk cargo such as iron ore