Trip date: April, 2018. The beaches of Vishakapatnum (also called Vizag) are better compared to
beaches in Chennai. This was a family trip with my parents. Primarily there are 2 famous beaches Rishi Konda and Rama Krishna. You can expect them to be clean and the waters are warm. Rama Krishna beach is good for family and getting your feet wet as the waters are shallow. If you do not know swimming Rishi Konda beach is not for you as the sea bed drops suddenly after few feet. Vizag is relatively clean when compared to Hyderabad and the roads are better. We had food at Sea Inn (also called Raju Ka Dhaba) which is famous for sea food near Rishi Konda beach.
Araku: We drove from Vizag to Araku and it was decent ride. Its not better than Kerala trip but it is still good. Araku forest is full of coffee plantations, spice plants, wild honey and road side food. You should try their bamboo chicken, chicken kebabs and might as well buy fresh spices there. I think 2 days and one night is good enough to walk around Araku. Spring is the best time to see the place.
Street Food & Spices:
There are some water falls near by where you need to hike up a little. If your parents have some knee problems I would not suggest this. On the way to one of these water falls we encountered this kid who was selling tamarind. He was not happy sitting there as his mother forced him to do that to sell those things. We tried to buy but he just does not want to talk to us :(.
Bora Caves: After Araku we went to Bora caves, there are lot of monkeys here, so careful. It will take couple of hours to go around the caves.
Family Photos: