East Coast Beaches
Beaches
The Bay of Bengal shore — Odisha's long empty stretches, Tamil Nadu's temple beaches, Puducherry's promenade.
29 places
Odisha
Chandipur
The tide does the work here. At low tide the sea withdraws as much as 5 kilometres, so the ground you walk on in the morning can be under water later; check the tide before you plan the day, because arriving at high water means an ordinary shoreline. That exposed flat supports a great deal of life. Horseshoe crabs turn up on the stretch towards Mirzapur, and the fishing market and its community sit at the Budhabalanga confluence at Balaramgadi. Balasore railway station is about 16 km away.
Odisha
Chandrabhaga Beach (Konark)
A clean Blue-Flag beach beside the Konark Sun Temple, Chandrabhaga is known for sunrises, the annual sand-art festival and its religious significance. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Odisha
Chilika & Rambha Coast
Where Asia's largest brackish lagoon, Chilika, meets the sea, this coast is famed for Irrawaddy dolphins, vast migratory birdlife and empty island beaches. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Tamil Nadu
Covelong (Kovalam) Beach
A former fishing village turned surf town on the East Coast Road near Chennai, Covelong is South India's surfing hub with a laid-back beach-resort scene. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Tamil Nadu
Dhanushkodi (Rameswaram)
At India's southeastern tip, Dhanushkodi is a hauntingly beautiful ghost-town beach on a thin sandbar where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean, near sacred Rameswaram. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
West Bengal
Digha
Digha sits at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal in Purba Medinipur, and it is the beach most of Bengal has already been to: the state's most visited sea resort, with sand running over 7 km. The gradient is very low and the water shallow, which is why families with small children come here and why serious swimmers do not. Warren Hastings called it the Brighton of the East in a letter to his wife in 1780, so take that as a measure of how long the habit has lasted rather than of what you will find. Go on a weekday if you want any of the sand to yourself.
Odisha
Gopalpur-on-Sea
A coastal town on the Bay of Bengal in Ganjam district, about 15 km from Berhampur and near the southern end of the state. Gopalpur was an ancient seaside resort, and that is the version of it people still arrive expecting; it is now more associated with its port, which makes for a different sort of afternoon. Worth an evening if you are already in Berhampur. Not worth a long detour unless the sea is the reason you came to Odisha.
Tamil Nadu
Kanyakumari Beach
At the southernmost tip of mainland India, Kanyakumari is famous for sunrises and sunsets over three converging seas, the Vivekananda Rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Puducherry
Karaikal Beach
Two kilometres of sand where the Arasalar river forms an estuary before the Bay of Bengal, and that estuary is the best part of it. The rest has been worked on: fountains, children's parks, restaurants and tennis courts, a widened approach road along the river, sodium vapour lamps for the evenings. All of that is why it draws a heavy crowd every day of the week. If you want the beach rather than the beach as a fairground, come early and walk towards the river mouth.
Tamil Nadu
Marina Beach (Chennai)
One of the world's longest urban beaches, Chennai's Marina is a vast city shoreline of promenades, statues, sunrise crowds and street food along the Bay of Bengal. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Puducherry
Paradise Beach (Pondicherry)
Reached by a short backwater boat ride from Chunnambar near Pondicherry, Paradise Beach is a clean golden sandbar between lagoon and sea, popular for day trips. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Puducherry
Promenade Beach
Rock Beach, as it is also called, is 1.2 kilometres of seafront along Goubert Avenue, running from the War Memorial at one end to Dupleix Park at the other. It is the most popular stretch of beachfront in Puducherry, and that is worth planning around: walk it early, because the same promenade that is nearly yours at first light belongs to the whole city by evening. Take it for what it is, a place to sit and look at the Bay of Bengal, and do not expect it to fill a day.
Andhra Pradesh
Rishikonda Beach (Vizag)
A golden crescent near Visakhapatnam backed by green hills, Rishikonda is Andhra's water-sports beach with surfing, jet-skiing and clean sands. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
West Bengal
Tajpur
Tajpur is the quiet gap between Mandarmani and Shankarpur, about 173 km from Kolkata by NH16 and NH116B, in the Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur. It came late to tourism and still has far fewer hotels than Digha, which is the whole reason to come: the sand is clean and covered in red crabs that scatter as you walk. Behind the beach sit roughly 1,400 acres of pisciculture, the bheris that were the local economy long before visitors were. A port has been agreed here by the state and central governments, so see it as it is now.
Odisha
Talasari Beach
A beach on the north-eastern coast, in Baleswar district. The name is two Odia words, tala for palm and sari for row, after the palms standing behind the sand; tala also means rhythm, which the waves supply. The Subarnarekha river reaches the sea here, and it is the sand dunes and the red crabs that people tend to remember. Bichitrapur, nearby, has fishing hamlets and mangroves. Treat the two as one outing rather than making the beach the whole trip.
Tamil Nadu
Tranquebar (Tharangambadi)
A former Danish colonial town on the Tamil coast, Tharangambadi pairs a quiet beach with the seafront Dansborg Fort and atmospheric colonial streets. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Andhra Pradesh
Yarada Beach (Vizag)
Tucked between hills south of Visakhapatnam, Yarada is a secluded, clean golden beach with an end-of-the-road feel and panoramic hilltop views. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.
Kanyakumari Beach
Vivekananda Rock Memorial
An island memorial reached by ferry, with a giant Thiruvalluvar statue alongside.
Dhanushkodi (Rameswaram)
Arichal Munai (Land's End)
The tip where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean.
Paradise Beach (Pondicherry)
Chunnambar Boat Ride
The backwater boat ride that reaches the beach.
Dhanushkodi (Rameswaram)
Dhanushkodi Ghost Town
The atmospheric ruins of a town washed away by a 1964 cyclone.
Chandrabhaga Beach (Konark)
Konark Sand Art Stretch
The beach famed for the international sand-art festival.
Covelong (Kovalam) Beach
Covelong Surf Point
The beach break and surf schools that made the town a surfing hub.
Yarada Beach (Vizag)
Yarada Hilltop View
A clifftop vantage over the beach and the Bay of Bengal.
Chilika & Rambha Coast
Irrawaddy Dolphin Safari
Boat trips to spot rare Irrawaddy dolphins in the lagoon.
Rishikonda Beach (Vizag)
Rishikonda Water Sports
Surfing, jet-skiing and banana-boat rides off the beach.
Marina Beach (Chennai)
Marina Promenade
The long seafront walk lined with statues and food stalls.
Tranquebar (Tharangambadi)
Dansborg Fort
A 17th-century Danish fort on the beach.
Chilika & Rambha Coast
Nalabana Bird Sanctuary
A lagoon island that hosts huge flocks of migratory birds.
