RK Beach

RK Beach, short for Ramakrishna Beach, is the main seafront promenade of Visakhapatnam (Vizag) in Andhra Pradesh, on the Bay of Bengal. RK Beach takes its name from the Ramakrishna Mission ashram nearby, and it is the city's favourite evening gathering place rather than a swimming beach, as the currents here are strong.

Visakhapatnam is home to the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command, and RK Beach reflects that. The submarine INS Kursura, which served in the 1971 war, was decommissioned in 2001 and brought ashore as a walk-through museum in 2002. Across the road, a retired TU-142 long-range maritime patrol aircraft has been turned into a museum too. The beach road is lined with memorials, parks and food stalls, and it fills up at dusk.

What to see

• The INS Kursura Submarine Museum, where you walk through the cramped interior
• The TU-142 Aircraft Museum opposite the submarine
• The Victory at Sea war memorial for the 1971 war
• The Kali temple on the beach road
• Visakha Museum, a small city museum on the seafront

What to wear

RK Beach is a city promenade, so everyday clothes work: light cotton, covered shoulders if you visit the Kali temple, and sandals for the sand. Vizag is hot and humid for much of the year, so bring a hat and water for daytime visits and come in the evening when the breeze picks up. Leave shoes outside the temple. You will see women in sarees and men in shirts and trousers or the lungi; handloom cotton sarees from Andhra weaving towns are common.

Local food to try

Vizag is a seafood city. Try royyala iguru (dry prawn curry), chepala pulusu (tangy fish curry), and fried fish with Andhra meals. Beach Road and the stalls behind RK Beach sell snacks in the evening: punugulu (fried batter balls), mirchi bajji (stuffed chilli fritters), corn and ice cream. Vegetarians do well with pesarattu, dosa and a full Andhra meal of rice, pappu, sambar and pickles, served in restaurants along the beach road.

Good to know

• Best from October to March; evenings are the liveliest time all year
• The beach is open all day; the museums keep separate hours, mostly afternoons and evenings
• The beach is free; the submarine and aircraft museums charge small entry fees
• Allow 2 to 3 hours including the museums
• In central Visakhapatnam, about 13 km from Visakhapatnam airport
• Swimming is unsafe because of strong currents; photography inside the submarine may be restricted

Nearby places

Visakhapatnam is the starting point for the hill railway to Araku Valley, about 115 km inland. Tirumala is at the far southern end of the state, and Odisha's Konark Sun Temple is roughly 400 km up the coast.