In a great honour, India is now among 50 countries that have at least eight beaches winning the clean-beach certification by the Foundation for Environment Education (FEE), Denmark. The list includes Puri’s Golden beach and two beaches of Karnataka, among others. Blue Flag bearing beaches are considered to be the world’s cleanest beaches. So far, FEE has awarded the tag to 4,664 beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators from 50 countries.
A beach should meet 33 stringent criteria relating to environmental, bathing water quality, educational, safety, services and accessibility standards in order to qualify for the certification.
The Blue Flag Beaches recently (Oct. 2020) certified by FEE (Denmark) include :
- Kasarkod in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka
- Padubidri in Udupi, Karnataka
- Shivrajpur in Gujarat
- Ghoghla in Diu
- Kappad in Kerala
- Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh
- Golden Beach in Puri, Odisha
- Radhanagar in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Besides the above, you have an awesome choice of beaches to visit and serene islands for a weekend getaway (or more). The length of coastline of India, including the coastlines of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshwadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea, is 7517 km. Length of Coastline of Indian mainland is 6100 km. Coastline of Indian mainland is surrounded by Arabian Sea in the west, Bay of Bengal in the east, and Indian Ocean in the south.