The beach at Dhanushkodi runs along the sand spit at the island's eastern tip, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Palk Strait. It is long, clean, and almost always deserted — the 1964 cyclone and the government's subsequent prohibition on resettlement have kept the area free from development. The only people usually present are the occupants of a handful of fishing boats and the occasional pilgrim who has come for the religious significance of the confluence point.
The sand here is pale and fine by the standards of the Tamil Nadu coast. The sea is shallow for some distance from the shore on the sheltered western side of the spit, but the open eastern side faces the Bay of Bengal directly and can have strong surf. The ruins of the old town — the roofless church, the collapsed station — frame the beach at its northern end. Sunsets from this stretch of coast, with nothing between the viewer and the horizon, can be exceptional.