Black Sand Beach and Brackish Water (standard:travel stories, 374 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Jun 03 2013	Views/Reads: 2879/3	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Kovalum beach is unique in South India where black sand appears seasonally. Except for brackish water that flows from the restaurants on the beach to the sea, Kovalum beach is a fun place.

Black Sand and Brackish Water 

Subba Rao 

Black sand beaches are common on volcanic islands; black sand 

forms from degradation of black lava rock, when carried away to the 

shores by ocean currents, black sand beaches appear seasonally at some 

shores and establish permanently at other locations like in Hawaii.  On 

the Big Island of Hawaii, there are several black sand beaches since 

the entire island is made up of lava rock. Punaluu black sand beach on 

southeast corner of Big Island is the best one for spectacular scenes. 

On any given day, one can watch large sea turtles resting on the shore 

though the water is too cool to swim even in the summer. 

Kovalum beach in southern India in one of the rare beaches 

where black sand appears seasonally on the shores depending on the 

ocean currents.  Kovalum beach is also famous for colorful sunsets and 

coconut groves all around.  It is the most picturesque beaches in the 

country. At Kovalum, many hotels and vacation homes were built on 

terraces on hillside surrounded by dense coconut groves. The narrow and 

winding downhill road to the beach from the hotels on the top was 

treacherous and unpaved at some locations. Vehicular traffic was a 

danger to pedestrians along the steep road to the beach at the bottom 

of the hill. 

The bay is protected from surrounding hills creating favorable 

conditions for shallow waves ideal for swimming and relaxation. This 

attracts scores of tourists all over the world. Opposite to the beach 

were numerous restaurants offering a wide choice of sea food.  Sadly, 

the downside was the waste water from dishwashing and other activities 

at the restaurants was directly flows on to the black sand beach. The 

visitors to the beach have to either walk through or jump over the 

small streams of brackish water to reach the beach.  The brackish water 

gives a black eye to black sand beach at Kovalum. The tourist board and 

public health authorities have to step in to bring all the restaurants 

and other businesses on the beach under compliance with respect the 

discharge of wastewater from their operations. Kovalum beach is a 

beautiful and fun place to visit but shouldn't be a health risk to the 

visitors. 


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