Chennai is the largest city of Tamil Nadu and one of the four metropolitan cities of southern India. A coastal city, Chennai has a lot of beaches, which both local people as well as tourists flock to, to enjoy splashing in the water and soaking in some sun and sand. Apart from playing in the water, the beaches offer a world of attractions as well such as water sports, temples, forts and churches. The most prominent beaches in Chennai are:
1. Covelong Beach
Covelong beach is a beautiful and captivating beach, it is an important tourist spot in Chennai. It is almost 40 kms away from the city and lies along the Coromandel Coast. Water sports are very familiar here with swimming and windsurfing being the most popularized ones. Walking through the sands and palm trees brings in a feeling of calmness and peace to the individual.
2. Elliot’s Beach
Elliot’s beach is towards the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu and is considered as one of the cleanest beaches of Chennai. The Ashtalakshmi built on the sand in this beach is a major attraction. It is also very popular as a nightlife beach as scores of youngsters gather in the evenings and night time to hang out with friends and take pleasure in each other’s company. The added attraction of this beach is the Church of our Lady of Health, Madonna.
3. Marina Beach
This beach has etched a mark on the world map as the second longest beach all over the world and the longest one in India. It stretches to a total of 13 kms. The Marina beach is in continuation with the Bay of Bengal on the Eastern coast of India. Extremely beautiful to look at with splendid views and attractions, this beach has visitors from all over our country to enjoy the beauty of splashing waves and local seafood delicacies.
4. Neelamkarai Beach
Neelamkarai beach is located in the small town of Neelamkarai and is a quiet and peaceful shore which is mostly visited by locals. The meaning of the word Neelamkarai is blue shores and one can enjoy taking a walk by the beach side and feel the wet sand and water against their feet. You can also find turtles on this beach and watching them paddling in the water is a beautiful experience.
5. Thiruvanmiyur Beach
Thiruvanmiyur beach is located in the town of Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai and is quite isolated and quiet when compared to other beaches. This place is perfect for rejuvenating oneself as the atmosphere is quiet and calm and ideal for a person to unwind himself. Watching sunrise and sunset is a breathtaking sight and hence people usually visit this place during early mornings or late evenings.
6. Breezy beach
Breezy beach is located in Valmiki Nagar of Chennai. It is the perfect place for nature lovers who love to watch sunrise and sunset and enjoy the waves splashing on the shore. It is not populated like the Marina beach and so, people who wish to spend some quiet time heed out to this location. It is also way cleaner than most of the other beaches due to its less population of tourists.
7. VGP Golden Beach
VGP Golden beach is situated on the east coast road and is a very clean and safe beach of Chennai. This beach has a variety of fun rides and adventure games for both kids and adults. It is mostly frequented by families and is the perfect place for a family outing for an evening. The main attraction of this beach is the paneer fort, the VGP 2000 millennium tower and the statue man.
8. Santhome Beach
An excellent beach to visit and spend time with your loved ones, Santhome beach is mostly visited by locals of Chennai who wish to get away from the hustle bustle of city and have a relaxed evening by the beach side. Watching Sunset from this point is simply breathtaking. Children often play sports such as throw ball or cricket in the sand while some take a dip in the waters and enjoy splashing around.
9. Pebble Beach
Pebble beach is located about 1km away from the city of Thiruvanmiyur and is quite a small beach in size. The waves of this beach are huge making playing in water real fun. It is an ideal place for a person to relax and spend some peaceful time as there is not much noise and disturbances and the place is quiet and serene. A few restaurants are also present along the coastline of the beach and cater to all types of cuisines like North Indian, South Indian and Non-vegetarian food.
10. East Coast Road Beaches
The ECR or East Coast Road stretches out from Thiruvanmiyur and extends up to Mahabalipuram. The coastline of the ECR has a large number of beaches most of which are quite isolated and with much less population as compared to the other beaches. The ECR Road and Beaches are well connected to the city by govt buses. If a person wishes to have a good time with much less crowd, then this is the ideal place for him to heed out to.
Chennai has an abundant number of beaches and has large number of tourists visiting these beaches to enjoy the sun and sand as well as delicious snacks served on the coastlines.
