Marine Drive, Kochi: Why It Is a Walkway and Not a Drive

Marine Drive in Kochi runs for about 3 km along the edge of the backwaters, from the High Court junction to Rajendra Maidan, and despite the name it has never carried a single lane of car traffic. It exists as a walkway today only because a road along the same stretch became illegal to build partway through construction.

• Why is it called Marine Drive if there is no road?
• When was Marine Drive built?
• What is there to see along the walkway?
• Where do the boat rides from Marine Drive go?
• What time should you go?

Why Is It Called Marine Drive If There Is No Road?

The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) started the project in the 1980s, modelled on Mumbai's Marine Drive, on reclaimed land along the Kochi backwaters that was meant to eventually carry a road on its western edge. Coastal Regulation Zone rules tightened through the 1990s and made building a road along the water there illegal, so the GCDA settled for what it could still legally build: a walkway. The name stuck even though the drive part of it never happened.

When Was Marine Drive Built?

The walkway's beautification is credited to V Joseph Thomas, a police officer who went on to serve as Kerala's DGP and, as GCDA chairman, is remembered for shepherding Marine Drive's development alongside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium project. It has been added to since, including the boat jetty complex, but the walkway from the High Court junction to Rajendra Maidan has kept broadly the same footprint for decades.

What Is There to See Along the Walkway?

The main structures are the Rainbow Bridge, a footbridge partway down the stretch, and the International Tourism Boat Jetty Complex near the northern end. Restaurants, cafes and food stalls line the land side, and on a clear evening the water side gives one of the better sunset views in the city, looking out over the sea mouth. It is also one of the more crowded stretches of Kochi on a weekend evening, and the food stalls near the jetty tend to charge more than the same snacks cost two streets back, so treat them as a convenience rather than a bargain.

Where Do the Boat Rides From Marine Drive Go?

Boats from the jetty complex reach some of the same sights covered in Kochi's island-hopping routes, including:

• Bolgatty Palace, across the water on Bolgatty Island
• Mattancherry, for the Jewish Synagogue and Jew Street
• A pass by Cochin Shipyard and the harbour, without landing
• Vallarpadam, near the container transhipment terminal

If the queue for a jetty boat looks long, the newer Kochi Water Metro covers some of the same water on a fixed schedule instead of a tourist circuit.

What Time Should You Go?

Early morning and the hour before sunset are genuinely the best windows, both for boating and for walking, since the sun has nothing to block it along most of the stretch. If you want the walkway without the crowd, go on a weekday evening rather than a Saturday; the difference is noticeable. For a wider view of where else in the city to catch a sunset, see Haila Kochi's guide to Kochi's sunset spots.