Goa with friends sounds simple until you’re 10 people in a WhatsApp group arguing about Anjuna vs Palolem. Here’s the 5-day plan that’s worked across dozens of group trips — North for the nights, South for the slow days, and a clean way to settle the bill.
Day 1: Arrive North Goa, Anjuna baseline
Fly into GOX (Mopa) or GOI (Dabolim). Mopa is closer to North Goa — book a self-drive or split a tempo traveller. Base yourself in Anjuna or Vagator for nights 1–3. Villas with a pool are gold for a 6–10 person group; you save on breakfasts and have a place to pre-game.
First night: keep it low-key. Thalassa for sunset, Antares if your group skews older, Curlies if it skews loud. Don’t try to do everything on night one.
Day 2: Beach club + Anjuna flea (if Wednesday)
Late breakfast, then pick a beach club for the day — Soro the Village Pub for budget, Shiro or W Goa’s Rock Pool for splurge. Sunset at Vagator’s Ozran. Dinner at Olive or Sublime. If it’s Wednesday, hit the Anjuna flea market in the late afternoon before the beach club.
Day 3: North Goa nightlife or day trip
Two branches here:
- Party crew: Saturday Night Bazaar at Arpora → Hilltop or Club Cubana.
- Chill crew: day trip to Chapora Fort at sunset, dinner at Gunpowder (Assagao), drinks at For The Record.
Day 4: Drive south, switch gears
Check out by 11. The drive to South Goa is about 2 hours. Stay in Palolem, Patnem, or Agonda — palm-shaded huts, calmer beaches, earlier nights. Spend the afternoon swimming. Dinner on the beach with fairy lights.
Day 5: Slow morning, fly home
Breakfast at Cafe Inn or your stay. Quick swim. Drive back to the airport (allow 3 hours from Palolem, including buffer). Settle the group expenses before anyone leaves the country.
Where to stay (groups of 6–12)
- North: Vagator/Assagao villas — search Airbnb for 4BHK with pool, ₹15–25k/night.
- South: Palolem beach huts — book directly with the property, ₹2–4k/hut/night.
What it costs (per person, 5 days)
- Budget: ₹15–20k (flights extra, shared villa, beach shacks, scooters)
- Mid: ₹25–35k (one beach club day, a couple of nice dinners)
- Splurge: ₹50k+ (W Goa, Antares, drivers, spa)
How to split costs
The single rule that saves Goa trips: log every shared expense the day it happens. Villa, fuel, group dinners, the tempo to the airport, the scooter rentals — log who paid, who it covers. At the end of the trip, run a settlement that nets out the transfers (usually 3–5 UPIs instead of 30).
Collabtrip handles this automatically — see our Goa trip cost calculator post for a planning-stage estimate.