Benaulim is a large village just south of Colva, with a long, quieter beach and a village centre around Maria Hall. It has many old family houses, the hilltop church of St John the Baptist at Monte, and newer villas and holiday apartments along the lanes that lead to the beach.
Benaulim is known for its old houses: deep balcões, carved wooden furniture and windows with oyster-shell or wooden shutters. Many have been restored by their families or by new owners. Beside them are modern villas with pools, which want a different look altogether.
The beach side is salty and breezy. The village centre, a kilometre or two inland, is more sheltered but humid, and old lime-plastered walls there show damp in the monsoon.