Fort Kochi Beach

Fort Kochi Beach is the Arabian Sea shore on the Fort Kochi peninsula, where the Chinese fishing nets stand out over the water. Each net is a shore-operated lift net about 10 metres tall, and a team of up to six fishermen works each one. Stand on the seafront path and watch them lower and raise the nets. Then eat at one of the stalls along the walkway, which cook freshly caught fish.

Colonial-style bungalows stand along the shoreline, and Vasco da Gama Square sits close by. A section of the beach is under the control of the Indian Navy, and visitors cannot enter it. Keep to the public stretch and walk the path from one end to the other, then turn back toward the nets.

Fort Emmanuel, the ruined fort on the sand, was the first European fort built in Asia. The Portuguese named it after Manuel I, and its remains lie along the granite walkway.

The Cochin Carnival runs part of its programme on this beach, and a giant Pappanji effigy is burned at midnight to welcome the New Year. Check the carnival programme before you go, since the beach hosts part of it.