Aura of India: Visakhapatnam Travel Guide: Beaches, Kailasagiri and Submarine

Visakhapatnam and its curving beach seen from Kailasagiri

Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons

Visakhapatnam from Kailasagiri hill, on a clear October morning.

Visakhapatnam makes sense from a little height: a curve of sea held between hills, with ships waiting in the bay.

A bay between hills

From the top of Kailasagiri, a park on a hill above the beach road, the city lays itself out. The coast bends in a long curve. To the south, the Dolphin’s Nose, a rocky headland with a lighthouse, guards the mouth of the harbour. To the north, the shore runs on past Rushikonda towards Bheemunipatnam. The Eastern Ghats come right down to the water here, so the city climbs up and over its hills instead of spreading flat. Out at sea, cargo ships sit at anchor, waiting their turn for the port.

Mornings are clearer more often than evenings, when a haze can settle over the bay. See the shape of it first. After that, the beach is no longer just a promenade.

A working shore

This is not a resort town. Visakhapatnam is a port, a shipbuilding city and the headquarters of the Indian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command, and the bay looks used rather than arranged. Fishing boats come in to the harbour early in the morning. Grey warships move in and out of the naval dockyard.

The city treats its beach as a park. Walkers and runners fill Beach Road at dawn. Families come out once the heat breaks, and snack carts line Ramakrishna Beach, known to everyone as RK Beach, until late. Rushikonda, north of the city, is the state’s only Blue Flag beach, an international label for clean, managed beaches with safety staff. This is the open Bay of Bengal, not a sheltered cove, so swim only where the lifeguards say you can.

Why people come

The bay has drawn people for a long time. On the hills north of the city, at Thotlakonda and Bavikonda, lie the ruins of Buddhist monasteries from around two thousand years ago, set high to look over the sea. Ships have been built here since the 1940s, and the city grew around the port and the navy.

That history is easy to step into. On Beach Road, the submarine INS Kursura is now a museum. It joined the Navy on 18 December 1969 and served until 2001, and visitors file through its narrow control room and bunks. A naval patrol aircraft, also a museum, stands across the road. Inland, the hill temple of Simhachalam draws pilgrims from across the north of the state.

Getting there and around

Since 17 August 2026, all scheduled flights use the new Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, in Vizianagaram district. It is about an hour by road from the centre, a little less before dawn. Visakhapatnam Junction is on the main railway between Kolkata and Chennai, and trains for the Araku valley leave from here. In town, use autorickshaws, app cabs and city buses. Beach Road strings most of the sights together.

A day around the bay

Go up Kailasagiri early, before the haze, and look at the city whole. Come down by the ropeway or the road, and walk RK Beach while it is still cool.

Spend the hot hours indoors. The submarine museum opens at 2 pm, and the aircraft museum is across the road. Late in the afternoon, drive north along the coast road to Rushikonda, or south to the lighthouse at Dolphin’s Nose, where tickets are sold through the national lighthouse booking portal.

End the day back on Beach Road, when the whole city seems to come out to walk by the water.

Beyond the city

The Araku valley, in the hills to the north-west, is the classic trip out. The train climbs through tunnels and forest to coffee country; see Araku.

Thotlakonda and Bavikonda lie off the coast road to Bheemunipatnam, a small town at the mouth of the Gosthani river where the Dutch once traded. Simhachalam is a short drive inland, its temple set partway up a hill. For the rest of the state, see the Andhra Pradesh guide.

Places to know

Kailasagiri: the hill park above the beach, with a ropeway from the foot of the hill.
RK Beach: the main city beach and the evening walk.
INS Kursura Submarine Museum: a real submarine on Beach Road, open in the afternoon and evening.
Dolphin’s Nose: the headland and lighthouse over the harbour mouth.
Rushikonda: a quieter, managed beach north of the city.
Thotlakonda: Buddhist monastery ruins on a hill above the sea.
Simhachalam: a hilltop temple north-west of the city.

From the hill at dusk, the beach road lights up one lamp at a time, and the ships in the bay switch on theirs.

Plan your visit

Best season	October to March. October can bring the last showers and, some years, a cyclone warning; April to June is hot and humid.
How to reach	Fly to Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram (code VTZ), about an hour north by road. Trains stop at Visakhapatnam Junction on the Kolkata–Chennai main line.
Getting around	Autorickshaws, app cabs and city buses in town; a car for Simhachalam, Thotlakonda and Bheemunipatnam.
Where to stay	Beach Road and Siripuram for the sea and the centre; Rushikonda for quiet; Dwaraka Nagar for the railway station.
How long to spend	Two days for the city; add two more for the Araku valley.
INS Kursura museum	Adults ₹70, children aged 6 to 13 ₹40, as of October 2026. Open 2 pm to 8.30 pm, with an extra morning session on Sundays. Sources differ on a Monday closure: check before you go.

Open Kailasagiri, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in Google Maps

Questions people ask

Which airport serves Visakhapatnam now?

Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, in Vizianagaram district. All scheduled flights moved there on 17 August 2026; the old airport now handles only private flights.

Can you swim at Visakhapatnam’s beaches?

With care. This is the open Bay of Bengal, with strong waves and currents. Rushikonda, a Blue Flag beach, is the managed choice; elsewhere, paddle rather than swim.

How do you get up Kailasagiri?

By road or by the ropeway from the foot of the hill. Park entry and the ropeway are ticketed separately, and prices have changed recently, so check at the gate.

Is Vizag the same as Visakhapatnam?

Yes. Vizag is the everyday short name; Visakhapatnam is the one on official signs, tickets and maps.

Pages

Visakhapatnam Travel Guide: Beaches, Kailasagiri and Submarine