Marina Beach

Marina beach is a major tourist attraction of the city. People visiting Chennai make a point to visit the beach. It is also the main place for the local people to escape from the summer heat. The beach is popular for its shops and food stalls run by about 500-odd vendors. The memorials and statues, morning walk, joggers' track, lovers' spot, aquarium, and the like make it a hangout for people of all ages. Kite flying and beach cricket are common sports at the beach, and there are also facilities for pony rides. The sea is generally rough and waves are strong. There are fishermen colonies present at both ends of the beach. There are also joyrides, merry-go-rounds and mini giant wheels along the stretch, although they are installed without permission from any government agency.

 As part of the 'Chennai Forever' initiative by the Tamil Nadu government, a 34-foot (10 m) tall, artificial waterfall was installed in September 2005 at a cost of INR 1.5 million. A visitor centre near the Cooum river mouth on the Marina, similar to the Marina Barrage Visitor Centre in Singapore and San Antonio Visitor Center in the United States, has been planned as part of an initiative to create awareness of the need for clean waterways.

 In 2008, two floating fountains with spray height of 100 feet with color lights for night view were planned to be installed in sea waters off the beach.

In 2010, the Chennai Corporation procured new cleaning equipments to clean the beach at a cost of INR 8.011 million. These included a sand-cleaning machine capable of cleaning 15,000 m2 area in an hour procured at a cost of INR 3.267 million, three skid steer loaders to clean narrow lanes commissioned at a cost of INR 2.652 million, imported lawn mower, ride-on mechanical sweeper, tree pruner and hedge trimmer. An automatic ticket-vending machine at a cost of INR 170,000 was also commissioned at the Marina swimming pool for managing the crowd. The corporation also planned to construct two more public conveniences at the beach. About 150 corporation staff, including a junior engineer, maintains the lawns and service lanes on the beach.