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12 Places To Visit Near Marina Beach Chennai And Things To Do

Marina beach is along the Bay of Bengal and its promenade is 6.0 kilometers long. It is the natural urban sandy beach and is the second longest beach in the world.

Being one of the most crowded beaches, it receives approximately 30,000 visitors each day. The second most visited beach in Chennai is the Besant Nagar Beach.

This is the place where the famous Jallikattu protest held in Jan 2017. It is a unique protest as it’s a people’s movement with no identifiable leader.

The best timing to visit Marina Beach is from 5 AM to 11 PM. After that police will ask people to leave.

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Places to visit Near Marina Beach

Vivekananda House

Vivekananda House
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Being an important landmark in Chennai, this a very calm place and you can feel relaxed here. Vivekananda House is also called as Ice House. For those who are interested in knowing about Swami Vivekananda, this can be the best destination. Swami Vivekananda stayed here when he visited Chennai.

  • Timing: 10AM to 12:30 PM & 3 PM to 7:30 PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Rs.20 (Adults) & Rs.10 (Children)

Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple

Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple
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The main God here is Lord Krishna and is located in Triplicane which is very near to Marin beach. Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Temple is a very old temple that it is built during the 8th century by the Pallavas.

  • Timing: 5.50AM to 12:30PM & 4PM to 9PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Santhome Church

Santhome Church
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During 16th century, Portuguese explorers built this church. Santhome Church is also known as Santhome Cathedral Basilica and it is in Mylapore. The church is built over the tomb of Apostle St.Thomas.

  • Timing: 6AM to PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple
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Shirdi Sai Baba Temple was built in 1952 and the main God here is Sai Baba. The statue of Sai Baba here is made of pure marble.

  • Timing: 5:00 AM to 1:00 PM & 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Chennai Citi Center

Chennai Citi Center
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Chennai Citi Center is one of the important landmarks in Chennai. You can have great entertainment here and shop for different things. People of any ages can visit this mall.

  • Timing: 5:00 PM – 6:00 AM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Kalikambal Temple

Kalikambal Temple
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The main God here is Goddess Kalikambal and is located in Parry’s Corner. Chathrabathi Shivaji, an Indian warrior worshipped in this temple in 1677 and famous poet Subramaniya Barathiyar has also worshipped here.

  • Timing: 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM & 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Light House

Light House
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Light House was built in 1976 and it is one of the very few lighthouses with elevators. The place is well secured to avoid any kind of accidents. You can reach up to the ninth floor and can view the beautiful city and the beach.

  • Timing: 10AM to 1PM & 3Pm to 6PM (Monday Holiday)
  • Entry Fee: Rs.25

Kapaleeswarar Temple

Kapaleeswarar Temple
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Kapaleeswarar Temple is in Mylapore very close to Marina beach and it is one of the historic temples built in the 7th century in Chennai. Lord Shiva is the main God here and the temple has Dravidian Architectural style.

  • Timing: 5:30 AM – 12:00 PM & 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Semmozhi Poonga

Semmozhi Poonga
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This is a botanical garden and has nearly 500 species of plants including medical and aromatic herbs. It has trees that are 100 years old. Semmozhi Poonga has tree court, golden garden, butterfly garden, fern garden and more.

  • Timing: 10AM–7:30PM (All days of the week)
  • Entry Fee: Free

Chepauk Palace

Chepauk Palace
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Chepauk palace is the residence of the Nawab of Arcot. It is built in Indo-Saracenic style. The building was completed in 1768 and it consists of two blocks namely Kalas Mahal and Humayun Mahal.

Thousand Lights Mosque

Thousand Lights Mosque
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Thousand Light Mosque is one of largest mosques in India. This mosque was built using the medieval architecture style in 1810. It ranges about 64 meters in height and it has multiple domes.

  • Timing: 5:30AM to 8:30PM (All days of the week)

MGR Memorial – Samadhi

MGR Memorial
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MGR samadhi is built right on the Marina Beach. The construction of the memorial was started in the year 1988 and inaugurated in 1990 by Janaki Ramachandran, wife of MGR. This memorial is one most visited place in Marina Beach.

This memorial was redesigned by Dr. J. Jayalalitha when she became the chief minister in 1992 and the whole memorial was built with marbles. The former chief minister Jayalalitha was also buried behind the memorial of MGR.

  • MGR Memorial Timings – 6.30 AM to 9.30 PM (All days)

Anna memorial – Samadhi

Anna memorial
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Anna Samadhi was built in memory of the form CM of Tamil Nadu Dr Anna Durai. He was laid to rest here in the year 1969. The memorial got affected during the 2004 Tsunami and the repair work was done after the Tsunami. There is also a museum attached to this memorial. Dr. Karunanidhi the former CM of Tamil Nadu was laid to rest in this memorial.

  • Anna Memorial Timings – 6 AM to 10 PM (All days)

Activities & Things to do in Marina Beach

Marina Kart Arena

Near Marina beach, you and your friends can have fun in go-Karting race track. Marina Kart Arena is a joint venture between Tamil Nadu Tourism and Meco Motorsports Pvt.Ltd. This kart track is located in island grounds. The race track here is of 400 meters and the karts are well maintained.

Marina Kart Arena Timing

  • Tuesday to Friday- 12PM – 9PM
  • Saturday and Sunday- 11AM-9PM
  • Monday – Holiday

Marina Kart Arena Price

  • They charge Rs 280 for baby kart for 8 laps
  • For adult karts 4 laps they charge Rs 180 and for 12 laps they charge Rs 370

Taste the street food

Street food in the marina is very famous and you must surely taste them while spending time at the beach. Along the shores, there are several shops where you can get food items like, mango with chili powder, corn, bhajji, freshly fried fishes, cotton candy, chenna, chat items, ice creams, seafood, and many more. The must try dish is the thenga manga pattani sundal.

Get Blessings

There are many temples and churches near the marina and you can visit them too. Few temples are Kapaleeshwar Temple, Sri Parthasarathy Swamy temple, Shirdi Sai Baba temple and more. Santhome church is a very famous church here. Just keep in mind the timing of the temple. Many temples are closed during the afternoon.

Horse riding and Balloon shooting in Marina Beach

Horse riding in Marina beach is one of the must do activities. But before taking the ride confirm the price with the horse handler and also the start and end point. This way they cannot charge you more.

Similar to horse riding, balloon shooting is also one of the famous activities in Marina beach. But before shooting confirm the price and the number of bullets you can shoot. If the number of balloons are less, ask them add more in the board.

Taste the naturopathic juices

When you visit the Marina Beach in the early morning, you can see many shops which sell naturopathic juices, vegetable juices, fruit juices, cottonseed milk, and more. People, who come for walking, can drink these juices to have a healthy start for the day

Enjoy Sunrise

When you reach the beach at 5.30, you can see the beautiful sunrise. The place will be less crowded and you can even take photographs of the sunrise.

Visit Lighthouse

Lighthouse in Marina beach allows you to have a majestic view of the beach and the Bay of Bengal. There is also an elevator present for you to climb the lighthouse and you are allowed only till 9th floor. From there you can have a birds eye on the city.

The marina Beach Lighthouse timing are from 10 AM to 1 PM and 3 PM to 6 PM. Lighthouse is closed on Monday.

Visit the monuments and statues

In Marina Beach there are many statues and monuments that you should not miss. Some of the statues are Labour statue, Bharathiar statue, Kannagi Statue, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Statue, Thiruvalluvar Statue, G U Pope Statue, Bharathidasan Statue, Avvaiyar Statue, Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Veeramamunivar Statue and more.

Similar to the statues, you can also visit the resting place (Samadhi’s) of the former CM’s Anna Durai, M.G. Ramachandran, Dr J. Jayalalitha and Dr. Karunanidhi.

How to reach Marina Beach Chennai?

It is near Triplicane and Chennai City Center can be said as the Landmark to the beach. You can reach the beach either by bus or train.

CMBT To Marina Beach

From Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) there are several direct buses to Marina Beach. The travel distance between CMBT and Marina beach is around 11 Km and it will take around 40 mins of travel. Here are the bus numbers that will directly take to Marina beach from CMBT 27B, S27B and Z27B. All these buses are from CMBT to Anna Square.

Egmore to Marina Beach

Egmore being one of the major railway stations in Chennai gives you multiple mode of transport to marina beach. If you want to travel by train, then you can reach Beach station and from Beach station you can take an MRTS train and get down at Chepauk or Triplicane MRTS station. From these stations you can reach Marina beach in 15 to 30 mins walk.

By bus, the distance between Egmore to Marina beach is around 4.5 Km and it will take around 15 mins of travel. You can use the bus numbers 27B, 29A, S27D, S27B and 27D to reach marina beach from Egmore.

Chennai Central to Marina beach

From Chennai Central, you can again reach Beach station and then take an MRTS train to reach Marina Beach by getting down at Chepauk or Triplicane.

By bus, the distance between Chennai Central and Marina Beach is around 4 KM and it will take around 15 mins of travel. You can use the bus numbers 32A, 102C, 21L to reach Chennai Central to Marina beach.

If not you can also hire a Ola or Uber to reach Marina Beach from any place in Chennai

Best time to Visit Marina Beach

Winter (November – February)

Winter is a perfect time to visit Marian beach. The climate will be cool and you can enjoy the sea breeze. The temperature at this time will be within 20 to 25 degree Celsius. Morning 5 to 6 AM is a fantastic time and you can watch the sunrise.

Monsoons (July – October)

Monsoon season will be full of heavy rains and floods. When you are planning to visit Marina beach during this time you much be much cautious about the rains and floods.

Summer (March – June)

Summer season here has a very high temperature ranging from 27 to 45 degree Celsius. It would be hard even to come outside during afternoons. Traveling will be much difficult.

Must Try Restaurant Near Marina Beach Chennai

Marina beach is popular for its sea food. There are many restaurants providing sea food and you can notice shops in the beach itself where you can get fresh fishes and other sea food like prawns, crabs and more.

Here are some of the famous restaurants and fast food joints near Marina Beach

1. Titanic fast food

  • Address- Marina Beach, Triplicane, Chennai
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

2. Sundari Akka Kadai

  • Address- Marina Beach Road, Near Marina Swimming Pool, Triplicane, Chennai
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

3. Spartans Fast Food

  • Address- Marina Beach, Triplicane, Chennai
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

4. Sagar Vihar Restaurant

  • Address- Marina Walk, Marina Beach, Mylapore, Chennai
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

5. Marina Treat Sea

  • Address – Marina Beach, Triplicane, Chennai
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

6. Nair Mess

  • Address- 22, Mohammed Abdullah 2nd Street, Opposite Chepauk Stadium, Chepauk
  • Cuisines- South Indian
  • Category: Vegetarian & Non- vegetarian

We have tried our best to provide you with authentic information. If you have more information to add, kindly use the comment box below. Like our blog? kindly care to share.

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