City of BEACHES !

The glittering gold sand....the smell of the sea and salt filling the air....the cooing of sundal vendors...... the aroma of hot bhajjis..... numerous feet filling the sands.. the feast of sunrise and sunset over the horizon... a walk along the sea shore or a romantic evening with your loved one! Be it anything, you can come here. Being the second largest coastline of the world it offers a wholesome entertainment to anyone who stops by. Yeah every metro city has one or the other place as its identity but Chennai has got the world's second largest beach as one of its identity. Its so attractive that it attracts 30,000 visitors a day during weekdays and about 50,000 visitors a day during weekends. Apart from enjoying on the beach, there are many historical monuments built at the junction of pathway stand. Some of them include Annadurai and MGR memorials, statues of heroes from Tamil culture, Indo Saracenic buildings, Monuments of Tamil scholars, patriots and famous personalities including Mahatma Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose. One of the most remarkable effigies is the Truimph of Labor by Debiprasad Roy Choudhary.

                                                           

Various stalls of food items including murukku, sundal,  ice-cream and other South-Indian snacks are located in its vicinity to curb the cravings of the foodies. An aquarium, situated near the beach, comprises of some of the most astonishing and splendid range of tropical sea and freshwater fishes. It gives you a chance to be familiar with the aquatic life and see what God has blessed the sea life of Chennai with. And then south to its location   is situated the Ice House, which was used for storage of ice brought from great lakes in North America during the time of British.

The most favourable time to visit the Marina Beach is during   November to February, when the temperature is moderate in Chennai and the palms and casuarinas   provides you with lovely cold breeze and ample shade for taking rest, enjoying  the  natural  beauty of  the sea and the beach. The vibrance of the beach is really awesome and it is simply amazing when your feet are caressed with the cold waters of the sea. 

                                     

Besant Nagar Beach

In Chennai people visit beaches for their birthdays along with their buddies, and during Pongal holidays people just rush into Marina with their family but as the crowd is really scary the police authorities never allow them to step into the water. As beach is a cheap tourist spot everyone from all over Tamil Nadu come here and spend their time. On Valentines day usually beaches are booked for the couples only. Few residents of Chennai use these beaches for doing their exercises, jogging, play beach games, fly kites, take a bath, enjoy the breeze etc. Many death rituals also take place here. During Vinayagar Chaturthi statues of Lord Ganesha are immersed here.

                                               

Other than Marina, Chennai has Elliots beach, Golden beach. Many resorts are situated near these beaches which brings many foreign visitors too. And the Prathana theatre in Injambakkam ECR is an open air theatre which is everyone's favourite. People who love long drives with their loved ones visit these beaches in midnight and spend their leisure time. 

                                                     

It has become a culture of Chennaites to visit beaches regularly on their special occasions and for long drives. Especially on New Years Eve people wish to be at the beach when the clock strikes 12 and cut cake with their friends, family etc. Yeah the beach becomes a party house for the mixed crowd ;-)

If you want to experience this kind of a party well come and visit Chennai and its beaches. There is so much to explore here and have the best time of your life.