Silver Beach is a beach on the southeast coast of India. It is located from downtown

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

, the headquarters of

Cuddalore district Cuddalore District is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. History Since ancient times, the old town has been a seaport. Through the centuries, Cuddalore has been subject to a number of foreign powers including the Net ...

in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Silver Beach, however, is untouched by the busy life of the city. It is the second longest beach on the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

and one of the longest beaches in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. The 57 km-long stretch of beach faces severe seafront erosion.

Transportation

There are town buses which ply frequently between Cuddalore town bus stand and Silver Beach. It is also accessible via Taxis and Autos from different parts of the town.

Water sports

To the south of the beach the South Cuddalore Bay area appears as if it is a separate island. The backwater separating the main beach from the island-like structure is a safe place for

water sports Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

. Boats are not available for rent currently as the boat house has been closed.

Mangrove

To the west a river flows into dense

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

forests teeming with birds. On the coast there is century-old

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. A few resorts have sprung up in the area. Most of these are sponsored by the state government for promoting tourism.

Forts in the beach

Silver Beach is also the location of

Fort St. David Fort St David, now in ruins, was a British fort near the town of Cuddalore, a hundred miles south of Chennai on the Coromandel Coast of India. It is located near silver beach without any maintenance. It was named for the patron saint of Wales b ...

, which has a long history as one of the three important

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s built by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. An arts college, Periyar College of Arts and Science, is situated near the beach. There are summer festivals celebrated in Silver Beach yearly during April or May.

Tsunami

The beach was struck by the 2004 Asian tsunami. It was the second most heavily affected area, after

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

, Tamil Nadu. The death toll at Silver Beach was more than 2,700.

References

* http://www.tourism-of-india.com/tamil-nadu-tour/cuddalore-tour.html Beaches of Tamil Nadu {{Cuddalore-geo-stub