The only natural harbour on the East Coast of India, Vizag, comes with a plethora of beaches to tempt the regular tourist into a "sunkissed beached" mode. While popular beaches like Rushikonda and the RK beach manage to attract huge crowds throughout the year, it's the lesser known ones that manage to strike a chord deep within your heart. These forgotten beaches help in self rediscovery in a big way by taking you far from the real world and into a distant dreamland with the promise of pristine golden beaches, deep blue sea and lush green mountains. Two of them are Bheemili Beach and Yarada Beach, both located at a stone's throw away from Vizag.
Bheemili Beach :
If you’re in the search for the beach that would calm your
nerves and let you meditate in peace, then Bheemili Beach, located at
Bheemunipatnam is the one for you. It is a friendly neighbour of Vishakapatnam.
Its stint with Buddhism goes a long time back to the 3rd Century
B.C. It also bears testimony to the Dutch settlements that appeared here in the
17th century.
This collaboration between two completely different cultures
manages to impart a magical flavour to this sleepy old seaside town. At the
entrance to this beach, you are greeted by 4 sedate Buddhist monks, temporarily
lost in translation. Feel free to gel in and get into a trance with them. If
the biggest ode to Buddhism is a gigantic Buddha Statue, then the lighthouse
built by the Dutch in 1868 stands as a living(and functional) legend of the
fearless clan from the Netherlands.
Nature has played an interesting card with
a fair share of moss coated black rocks dotting the ocean front. Even though
their presence makes swimming or bathing off limits for people, most tourists
are happy in getting their feet wet from the white froth of the waves crashing
against those treacherous rocks.
Their joy and happiness get reflected from the
moist sands, each echoing a different tale against a deep blue backdrop.
Bheemili manages to instill a sense of inner peace and joy inside you and your
colorful world, in a very small, nondescript yet significant way.
Yarada Beach :
Cradled
by the tall Dolphin’s hill on one side, and caressed by the deep blue waters of
Bay of Bengal on the other, Yarada beach exudes placidity and poise with every
breath of fresh air that you take in. Its location takes it way from the
regular tourist’s map and probably it’s the only beach near Vizag that actually
lets you be at peace with the world. The evergreen dolphin’s hill rises up
magnificently right beside the beach and casts a comfortable shade over it. The
waves keep on rolling and bringing the mysteries of the depths to the surface.
The child in you tries to touch the façade of the ocean in a bid to unearth its
secrets.
On windy days, the winds start whispering songs of the sunken
ships and long lost sailors to the crisp yellow sands and they start swirling
up in beautiful sandstorms, perfectly in sync with the rhythm.
At times when
you feel like you have experienced it all, Yarada beach stands up quietly and
opens up a vast new universe for you to sink into the blues. It not only grants
your wish of discovering a tranquil beach away from the popular ones but also
helps you find the music of the sea that you sorely missed in your busy city
life. It takes away time and pulls it backwards, spiralling down into the abyss.
