INTRODUCTION
The Cherai beach known as the 'Princess of the Arabian Sea� is situated at a distance of about 35 kms from Cochin and on the north end of Vypeen Island. The unique feature of the Cherai beach is that lot of Dolphins are sighted here. The newly beautified 400 Meters of the main beach with the walkway adds to the charm and the Highmask lamps make the beach enjoyable even at night. The Cherai beach is also one of the favourite destinations to enjoy the best of sea food delicacies to be watered down with the country liquor called Toddy. The Cherai beach is about 10kms long with splendid beauty of white sand, blue water, and green vegetation. The green vegetation here includes the coconut trees and the paddy fields lining the shore. It takes you out of all tension and pressure to see the coconut and the paddy field dancing with the wind along the shore. Also a visit to the Cherai beach gets you familiar to a ruling class of people where prawn farming is in abundance. This is an uncorrupted place in the Gods own country away from city noise and pollution, where each one us should try to attempt visiting this beach. It is an ideal place to spend a laid back, peaceful holiday amidst enchanting surroundings. Now the tourism department is taking utmost care in maintaining and development of this beach so as to attract more tourists.Cherai beach is now becoming a favourite spot for beach lovers. The beach frontage and the backwaters frontage have given Cherai such magnificent scenic beauty.
ORIENTATION
The beach is located at a distance of 35 kilometers from the beautiful city of Cochin. The beach is also located at a distance of 45 kilometers from the Ernakulum city and is surrounded by the Vypeen Island.BEST TIME TO VISIT
The ideal time to visit this beach is between the months of March to August.FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
The Cherai beach also takes the pride of the grounds of a tourism fest held here in the month of December which attracts tourists from all parts of the country.PLACES OF INTERESTS
POYIL
The main attraction of Cherai is the 'Poyil' a large inland lake forming a part of the calm serene backwaters separated from the ocean by only a narrow sandbar.BOLGATTY PALACE
The other nearby attraction is the Bolgatty Palace, one of the oldest surviving Dutch palaces outside Holland, which dates back to 1744 A.D, which is a star hotel at present is a must see destination.
The other nearby attractions includes fort Kochi and Mattancherry.
PALLIPURAM FORT
The Pallipuram Fort is just a 5-km drive from the Cherai beach and it is one of the first forts to be built by the Europeans in Kerala.
KOTTAYIL KOVILAKAM
SIVA PARVATI TEMPLE
This temple is very close to the beach and was founded by Sree Narayana Guru, a mystic and social reformer of the early 20th century. There is also a temple festival named 'Pooam' is celebrated every year during the months of here January and February. The main feature of this festival is the magnificent display of grandeur, 28 caparisoned elephants coming here. This temple at a distance of about 500 m from the beach is also known as the Gowreeshwara Temple and was built in the year 1912.AZHEEKKAL TEMPLE
Dedicated to Shri Venkateshwara, this famous temple is situated in Cherai main village and is just a km away from the Cherai beach. The temple is known for its grand chariot, which is pulled by thousands of devotees during the biannual Rathothasava festival.LIGHT HOUSE
The 46-m tall lighthouse, built in the year 1979 gives a beautiful view of the Arabian Sea and is located at Ochanthuruth on Vypeen Island.SHOPPING
Shopping at Cherai beach includes accessories such as hand made umbrellas, caps and scarves. Shoppers can buy some antique Kerala souvenirs like the Kathakali mask, cotton weaves and handicrafts made out of coconut shell and fibre.Some of the few shopping centres are Kerala State Handicraft Apex Society and Kairali, located on Kochi's MG Road.EAT OUTS
Though Cherai beach doest not have too many eat outs there are few restaurants like the Baywatch Hotel offering an array of good seafood which includes the lobster and crab preparation, king prawn fry etc. The food-courts at Sealine also serves some great multi-cuisine food like the mussels, prawn dishes and more.THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN CHERAI BEACH
ACCOMMODATION1.Holiday Hotel 2.KADALKKARA LAKE RESORTS 3.Cherai Beach 4.Blue Waters 5.SEALINE BEACH RESORT 6.Baywach Beach Homes, 7.Kadaloram Beach Resort 8.Brighton Beach House 9.Vedic Village Resorts 10.P&C Sunset beach House |
Travel Guide
Travel Information
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HOW TO REACH
By Air
Nearest airport is Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery, 22km from Cherai
By Trains
Nearest railway station is at Ernakulam, about 26 km away. Kochi has 2 stations, Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town. Trains from the Northern cities/Southern parts of India stop at Ernakulam Junction.
By Road
Now, the new Goshree Bridge from Ernakulam that stretches out across the backwaters connecting the islands of Bolghatty, Mulavukadu, Vallarpadam and Vypeen make tourist access to this beach much more easier. There is another road route via Edappally to North Paravur and from there to Cherai, a distance of about 25km. KSRTC Central Bus station is near the Ernakulam Junction railway station. It runs Express and Fast services from Ernakulam to other major cities within Kerala and into the neighbouring states. Reciprocal services from other States are also available.
By Water
There are regular boat services from Ernakulam High Court Jetty or the Main boat jetty to Vypeen. Cherai is 22km away (40 minutes by bus) from Vypeen island. There are also boat services every 15 minutes from Fort Cochin to Vypeen.