Karachi by the sea

Karachi is home to two of the busiest ports of Pakistan, the Karachi Port and Port Qasim, it is also the largest city of Pakistan with a population of roughly 20.3 million. What interests me is the Karachi’s coastline. The whole of Pakistan has a 1050-long coast line of which 250 km falls in the Sindh province.

Out of this, Karachi has a 70km long coastline. For all intents and purposes Karachi is a city by the sea but it is very hard to discover this glaring fact by ordinary visitors as unlike other cities by the sea, Karachi has none of the distinctive signage that you see in other coastal towns.

There are no distinctive seaside food outlets with imaginative names such as I found in other cities like The Catcher’s Cove, Oceanic Delights, Seaside Feast, The Seafood Shack, SaltwaterBistro, The Clamshell, etc. It is not that there is any dearth of space for putting up these signs or opening outlets that provide quality sea food.

For as long as I can remember the road from downtown Karachi and its suburbs to seaside spots like Sands Pit and Hawkesbay is a long and winding one but it has failed to attract any high quality sea food places and the only hospitality the shopkeepers offer are in the form of crates of cold drinks which can be obtained after a deposit.

Even in the city of Karachi at prominent places and especially outside five-star hotels there are hardly any bill boards inviting our visitors to go either sailing from the nearby port of Keamari or to spend a day at the beach. With the advent of social media there is some activity online but not just enough to place Karachi as a seaside fun town with top-notch seafood restaurants and seaside entertainment in the same league as Singapore, Hong Kong or other cities by the sea.

In Hong Kong, for example, there is the Jumbo restaurant.

This is on a ship in the sea and you have to have prior reservations which entitle you to a boat ride that takes you to this attractive ship that serves mouthwatering delicacies at premium prices. In a clever move the management of this famous restaurant has also arranged for your photoshoot while you await your dinner.

Patrons can get dressed up like Chinese emperors from the past and get their pictures taken. The outfits are provided by the management. For a price of course.

Another question that comes to my mind is why are we so shy to promote our city? A popular sign in many seaside cities is “Welcome to Paradise”. Yes I know we have our shortcomings and maybe not eligible for such a caption but why can’t we improve and justify such slogans for our beloved city of Karachi.

As a start we can start providing basic facilities on the beach. In all seaside facilities there are stands from where you can hire necessary stuff like towels, caps, etc., and buy lotions, creams and other necessary items. What is stopping concerned authorities from creating fancy stands at the beach and renting them out to use the money earned for more development at our beaches.

Now that the sea front at Seaview beach in Clifton has not only been extended but improved this could be an ideal place for providing these stands with seaside utilities.

What surprises me again is the absence of catchy names and attractive eateries at this newly developed Seaview extension, which has the same old mundane snack joints, pizza outlets and rather rundown tea and cold drink outlets.

The few new high class restaurants also have routine names that have no association with their location. Buffet restaurants, for example, are a dime a dozen in this city but some place located in the middle of the prime sea front property can come up with a more attractive name that is related to its seaside location.

I have observed that certain signs have sprung up in the city with such captions as “Karachi. City of Cricket”, “Karachi and Houston twin cities”, etc. No signs that I have come across indicate our presence by the sea. Maybe it is time to reconsider and launch an entirely new campaign targeting what is most important and making it the central theme: Karachi by the sea.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024