Today I am going to take you with me on a walk to the Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore. And one of the best evenings of our days spent in Mangalore during our coastal Karnataka Road trip.
Although Mangalore is better known as an industrial port town of Karnataka. But, it also has a beautiful coastline with beautiful and clean beaches. In fact, I was surprised that inspite of Mangalore being a populated town and also a host to many industries, it’s beaches are very clean. And well maintained!! While people tend to flock to the historical and holy town of Udupi in the north of Mangalore. Which has some of the most scenic beaches like the famous Malpe Beach Udupi and the Kapu Beach Udupi. And sometimes people even tend to visit Bekal from Mangalore. Which is again located at just 1 hour south of Mangalore. And is home to some of the best backwaters and beaches of Kerala.
Table of Contents
Arrival in Mangalore
We spent the first day of our trip at Bekal, staying at the Lalit Bekal. The next day, post breakfast, we drove from Bekal to Mangalore. The drive was around 2 hours. We reached our hotel – Hotel Ocean Pearl Mangalore – by 1 pm. Post check-in, we first had our lunch and then decided to visit one of the beautiful beaches of Mangalore. I headed to the hotel reception and asked which was a good nearby beach that we could visit with family. She proudly said – ” All beaches in Mangalore are clean and well maintained, you can visit any of them without hesitation”. And then she suggested a few options. We quickly did a google search and shortlisted Tannirbhavi beach for spending the evening today.
Drive to Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore
The drive from Hotel Ocean Pearl to Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore is around 8km. The initial 5-6 km is on the main highway that connects Mangalore to Udupi. After which, we took a right turn. And passed through some industrial areas to finally reach the beach. There is a good parking facility on the Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore. We parked our 4 wheeler here. And headed for the sandy beach.
If you want to use public transport to reach Tannirbhavi beach, you can take a bus from main town of Mangalore to Sultan Battery and then take a ferry across Gurupur river from there.
Evening at Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore
When we arrived at Tannirbhavi beach, it was around 4:30pm – 5:00pm. The crowd at the beach was moderate but slowly increasing. And so was the buzz of activities. The kids immediately dived into the sandy stretch of the beach as usual. And started their ritual of making sand castles and other sand structures – letting their creativity run wild 🙂 . We took a walk along the shore while they enjoyed playing in the sand.
Thannirbhavi beach has a long coastline of around 1.5 – 2km. Which buzzes with activities in the evening. Some were playing football while others were enjoying volleyball. A lot of crowd was either enjoying in the water on the banks or taking a stroll or just sitting and relaxing. And watching the sunset. Kids were running around, playing in the sand, making bubbles and flying kites. In fact, kite flying was one of the major activities going on the beach. With colorful kites filling the sky above.
Our younger kid soon bought a bottle to make bubbles. And for a while I helped her make the bubbles. While I blew them in the air, she ran happily chasing them and trying to pop them. While the kites caught the attention of the elder one. She wanted to try kite flying. So she went ahead to buy a kite. And then with her dad, enjoyed flying kite for a good amount of time. This kite flying on the beach was a unique experience that we never had a chance to have while on the beaches of Goa ever before.
Overall, we spent a beautiful time, bonding with the kids over these games at a slow pace. And after everything, we just relaxed sitting on the beach for a while.
Snacking options at Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore
Between the parking and the sandy stretch of the beach, there are a lot of makeshift snack shops setup at Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore. Here you can find shops selling tea, sugarcane juice, some more juices, fruit bowls, packaged snacks, sweet corn, tender coconut and some sea food options. We had sweet corn and tender coconut before we wrapped up our day and returned from the beach. With the wide variety of the snacking options at Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore, I am sure everyone can find something suitable to their taste.
In conclusion
Overall, Tannirbhavi beach is a neat and clean beach perfect to spend some quality time with your family and friends. It is not as hi-fi and happening as the beaches of Goa. Where you get to enjoy adventure sports and fine dine right on the beach as the sun sets. But at the same time, it is has enough options to keep you and the kids engaged. Tannirbhavi beach Mangalore is more suitable to spend a peaceful time and enjoy slow paced activities that will bond you further with your family or friends like kite flying, playing some sports on your own like football or volleyball etc. Or, if you want to just relax and enjoy a fabulous sunset then Tannirbhavi Beach is the one you should definitely head to.
Blue flag status and further development of Tannirbhavi Beach
While enjoying my time at Tannirbhavi beach Mangalore, I came to know that work is in progress to obtain “Blue Flag beach” status for Tannirbhavi Beach Mangalore. A blue flag beach is a well developed neat and clean beach with lots of basic facilities like restrooms, changing rooms, proper waste management, kids park etc. Some other blue flag beaches in India that I have personally visited include the Eden Beach Pondicherry while on my 4 days trip to Pondicherry, Radhanagar Beach on our trip toAndaman Islands and Kovalam beach Chennai. Tannirbhavi Beach has basic restrooms and concrete benches already. But, it is going to get a total revamp and become one of the best beaches in India with the blue flag beach certification.
The to convert the Tannirbhavi Beach in a blue flag beach is undertaken by a Pune based company. As a part of this development, facilities like a beach park, restrooms and changing rooms for men and women, cctv camera and first aid help will be available up on the beach. Also, the beach will have facilities like waste processing units and grey water treatment plants going forward. Near the beach, there is a Tannirbhavi tree park also being developed by the Karnataka Forest Development Authorities, which will be spread in 15 hectares.
More beaches to explore in Mangalore
Just like Thannirbhavi beach, there are many more beautiful beaches in Mangalore. Some of the prominent ones include –
- Panambur Beach Mangalore – The most popular beach of Mangalore, which also has a lighthouse
- Someshwara Beach Mangalore – Famous for it’s sunsets, Someshwara beach is located to the south of Mangalore and is one of the less crowded serene beaches.
- Suratkal Beach – Located between Mangalore and Udupi, along the town of Suratkal, the Suratkal beach is another less crowded and serene beach of Mangalore.
- Ullal Beach – a beach better known for the 16th century old temples located right adjacent to it.
Other resources from our coastal Karnataka Road Trip
We visited Tannirbhavi beach while on our road trip exploring coastal Karnataka and Bekal. If you are looking forward to do a coastal Karnataka road trip. Or, you want to explore a part of it, here’s some more useful resources for you –
A complete guide exploring Bekal
Our beautiful Bangalore to Bekal Drive
Complete Coastal Karnataka Road Trip Guide
PS: Some of our links are affiliated, this means we will earn a commission when you buy a service or product by clicking those links. However, this will have no extra cost for you.