The City Chennai , which is the capital of Tamilnadu State, is proud of the world famous beach called Marina, which is lying on its shores in Bay of Bengal,  second longest in the world, next only to Rio de Genera, situated in South American shores, spread over a length of 13 km, starting at a spot opposite the University of Madras campus through Besant Nagar in the southern end, in between having a number of beach locations, such as Triplicane, All India Radio, Santhome, Adyar etc. Marina beach is sandy throughout, giving scope for children to play around unlike many other beach locations, such as Juhu beach in Mumbai which is rocky in most of the sections. Marina  beach is 300 mtrs wide in most of the sections, while the widest stretch running upto 435 mtrs in some spots, although swimming in the beach is forbidden because of the turbulent waves making the sea bath risky particularly for untrained swimmers. The beach is also very crowded, about 30000 people visiting every day during week days and about 50000 or more on holidays and weekends, not to speak of the summer evenings when more number of people go to beach and stay there for more hours of the day.  According to a survey conducted in 2010, this beach is rated as a clean beach in the country.

The Chennai’s Marina beach has few other specialties, such as the main section of the beach is in front of famous buildings and structures of British raj, starting from the Senate House of theUniversity of Madras, The Presidency College , The Queen Mary’s  College, Vivekananda House , The Office of the Director General of Police, All India Radio , Light House and the Santhome Church. In fact, as one follows the course of Marina Beach, the entertaining sea shore extends upto Mahabalipuram, with so many resorts and rest houses built along the seashore, the bay going still further to other famous cities like Pondichery.

The main section of the Marina beach is a great haven for the public and those belonging to lower section of economic strata, while as the extended area in the south is more facilitating the higher level economic sections in the form of resorts of 5 start hotel category.

Location

Chennai having been located in the north eastern part of Tamilnadu geographically, its eastern border is fully covered by Marina beach, where from one can watch the rising sun, which will be a wonderful experience for one to enjoy.

Adding value today to tourism, Marina beach is of 12 km stretch, which had its facelift done by Governor Mount Stuart Elephantine Grant Duff in 1880, has been declared as the second longest beach in the world and it upholds a beautiful aquarium with variety of fish families housed in it, which is another spot for the tourists to visit during their Chennai tour.

How To Reach

The destination Chennai is equipped with the major Anna International airport and Kamaraj Domestic Terminal adjacent to it, facilitating both domestic and international flights, landing and taking off all the 24 hours, with frequent schedules from all the major airports of the Country as well as the Globe.

Chennai is the Headquarters of Southern Railways, with two mammoth Railway terminals, Madras Central and Chennai Egmore, one for the trains from the North and the other for the trains from the South, both facilitating Superfast trains, such as Shadapti, Rajadhani etc, a train called Duranto taking Passengers from Chennai to New Delhi without any stopping in between.

The Chennai City is equipped with a versatile bus Stand called Koyambedu, which accommodates both State Transport Buses plying  long distances in the State and various omnibus services running all the 24 hours of the day to different destinations, which include Bengaluru, Karnataka’s State Capital, Hyderabad, the Capital of Andhra Pradesh, and Thiruvanthapuram, Capital of Kerala State.

Temperature And Weather

The City of Chennai maintains a humid weather throughout the year, since it is situated along the coastline, Summers taking the barometer readings to 40 degree Celsius range, Monsoons having regular rainfalls,  Winters giving the residents a pleasant stay with comfortable climatic condition.

Attractions

Marina beach is also adorned with a beautiful walkers’ path, with wide car parking areas,  with excellent arrangement for walkers to enjoy their early morning walks, siting and chatting, a number of stalls supplying healthy fruit juices of rare variety, the shops about 500 in number apart from about 1200 vendors at a point of time, between the beach and the main road, a number of monumental statutes of great tamil poets and freedom fighters, the famous triumph of labour statue in the north and Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the South, other spots such as Aquarium lying in between, visiting Marina beach is a lifetime experience for a visitor.

Situated along the Marina Beach are two swimming pools , namely the Marina swimming pool  being the earliest built in 1947 and  the Anna swimming pool constructed later.

The Marina swimming pool is located opposite  Presidency College with 100 m length and 30 m width ,  even bigger than Olympic pool Standards  of 50 m × 25 m while the depth of the pool is 3 ft to 5.5 ft, the pool maintained by Corporation of Chennai. The other swimming pool, viz., Anna swimming pool lies opposite the Clock tower Building of the University of MadrasCampus  hiding behind the Anna Square bus terminus, constructed according to  Olympic standards in 1976 originally  provided with a wonderful diving board which  was removed later during  renovation, the pool’s depth ranging between  4 ft and 11 ft , while this pool It has a toddler  section of  2.5 ft. depth.  Regular coaching camps are organised by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu in this Swimming pool.

Aquarium

The Marina Aquarium is said to have the best of tropical sea fish collections and fresh water varieties, enabling visitors enjoy seeing the thrills of aquatic life.

Activities And Events

Marina beach is the spot for various festivities and public events, mammoth public and political meetings being arranged there, having the history of meetings addressed by Mahatma Gandhiji during Independence movement, Nehruji during his period of Premiership and various other public functions held here, this location is also the place where the famous immersion ceremony after the Ganesh Chaturti festival is celebrated in the City.

Walking Path

The walking stretch constructed along the Marina beach was developed in 2009, which runs through 4.5 km length, this stretch is further unique with the Corporation of Madras making it an eco friendly region by prohibiting use of non-degradable items of plastic varieties and maintaining this area neat and clean all the time.

Nearby Hotels

There are a number of Star Hotels in Chennai, many of them closer to Marina Beach, some of them very close to the beach.

Tri Sea Residency

This hotel being closer to M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, University of Madras campus, and Parthasarathy Swamy Temple of Triplicane, can be considered as one in walkable distance from Marina Beach,.which has facilities of business center, high-speed  Internet access , and free car parking.

Address:
34/35 Wallaja Road,
Chepauk, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, 600002 India

Hotel Manhattan

This property is located closer to Chennai Citi Center Mall,  besides San Thome Cathedral, having  Kapalishvara Temple in hand’s reach, is also in walkable distance from  Marina Beach,  which is equipped with 2 restaurants,  a health club and other amenities such as  bar/lounge ,high-speed Internet access etc.

Address:
No.1 Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai,
Mylapore, Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, 600004 India

The President Hotel and Towers

This hotel situated closer to  Chennai Citi Center Mall along the road stretching from the Mahatmaji’s statue in Marina beach is  also in walkable distance from  Marina Beach, which has  a restaurant, an outdoor pool,  a bar/lounge , coffee shop etc.

Address:
25, Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600004 India

Restaurants

Variety of food stalls and vending kiosks spring up every evening in the Marina beach area which provide hygienic and tasty items, while there are a number of restaurants functioning across the road in the Besant Nagar beach area, which is an extension of Marina Beach.

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