💎 Hidden Gem🏛️ Historical📍 Cave💎 Hidden Gem

Rivona Buddhist Caves

Sanguem, Goa, India

4.0 (0)

Overview

7th-century monk cells cut into laterite by a spring — 'Rishi's vann' where Buddhism paused in Goa before history moved on.

Why visit: A meditation hollow older than every church in the state.

Things to do

›Rock-cut cells
›Pandava-cave spring
›Rivona village
›Usgalimal combo

Cave VisitHistory StudyVillage Walks

Location & MapDirections

Reviews (0)

No reviews yet. Be the first to review!

Travel Information

Best time

Oct–Mar

Entry fee

Free

Est. budget

₹100–400

Duration

1–2 hrs

Nearby attractions

Within

2.3 km

🛕 Religious

4.2

Damodar Temple, Zambaulim

Sanguem, Goa

The Kushavati-bank Shiva refuge of Margao's exiled deity — famous for Gulal, Goa's own Holi surge of pink powder and river dips.

Oct–Mar; Gulal (Mar)2–3 hrsExplore

2.8 km

💎 Hidden Gem🏛️ Historical

4.3

Usgalimal Rock Carvings

Sanguem, Goa

Mesolithic petroglyphs on the Kushavati's laterite bank — bulls, dancers, labyrinths and a 'mother goddess' cut maybe 10,000 years ago.

Oct–Mar2–3 hrsExplore

7 km

💎 Hidden Gem🏛️ Historical

4.2

Curdi (The Vanishing Village)

Sanguem, Goa

A village drowned by Salaulim that surfaces every May — chapel and temple plinths, house stumps and homecoming feasts on cracked mud.

Apr–May (exposed)Half dayExplore

7.1 km

💎 Hidden Gem📍 Heritage

4.4

Palácio do Deão, Quepem

Quepem, Goa

A 1787 dean's palace restored with love on the Kushavati — Hindu-Portuguese garden philosophy and legendary book-ahead Goan lunches on the verandah.

Nov–Mar (reserve meals)Half dayExplore

7.9 km

💎 Hidden Gem📍 Nature

4.0

Salaulim Dam & Botanical Gardens

Sanguem, Goa

The duckbill-spillway reservoir that waters south Goa — terraced gardens, a drowned-temple story and heron flats along the shore road.

Oct–MarHalf dayExplore

12.5 km

💎 Hidden Gem🛕 Religious

4.3

Chandranath Hill Temple, Paroda

Quepem, Goa

The moon-Shiva on a 350-m boulder summit — a linga said to catch moonbeams each full-moon, with Salcete's paddies silvered below.

Oct–Mar; full-moon nights2–3 hrsExplore

13.3 km

💎 Hidden Gem📍 Heritage

4.5

Braganza House, Chandor

Chandor, Goa

The grandest Indo-Portuguese mansion in Goa — a 350-year facade the length of a street, ballroom chandeliers, Macau porcelain and a nail of St Francis Xavier.

Nov–Mar (donation visits)2–3 hrsExplore

15.5 km

💎 Hidden Gem💧 Waterfall

4.4

Netravali (Savari & Mainapi Waterfalls)

Sanguem, Goa

The deep-south sanctuary of bubbling lake mystery ('budbudyanchi tali'), twin jungle falls and cashew-forest trails past Nirankal's spice slopes.

Oct–FebFull dayExplore

16.6 km

💎 Hidden Gem📍 Nature

4.1

Sal Backwaters & Betul Lighthouse

Betul, Goa

The south's slow river — fishing jetties, oyster beds and cruises up the Sal, with the little Betul light guarding Mobor's spit.

Nov–MarHalf dayExplore

16.7 km

💎 Hidden Gem🏖️ Beach

4.4

A tiny half-moon of gold hidden behind a forested headland north of Palolem, reachable only by boat or a jungle scramble — butterflies drift down from the hill, dolphins arc offshore, and at low tide you may have it entirely to yourself.

Nov–Feb2–4 hrsExplore

17.5 km

🏖️ Beach

4.4

Cavelossim & Mobor Beach

Cavelossim, Goa

The Sal river's sandspit finale — resort lawns to empty spit-end walks, river cruises among kingfishers and the south's best water-sports lagoon.

Nov–Mar2–3 daysExplore

17.6 km

💎 Hidden Gem🏖️ Beach

4.5

Cola & Kakolem Hidden Coves

Canacona, Goa

The lagoon beach of Cola — fresh water lapping one side of the sand, surf the other — and Kakolem's rope-path 'tiger beach' below the cliffs.

Nov–MarFull dayExplore