The Karnataka coast, or Kanara coast, lying between Malabar coast in the south and Konkan coast in the north extends over a length of 320 km along the Arabian Sea and administratively spreads over the districts of Dakshin Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada of Karnataka state of India. The ecosystems found in this coast are coastal lands, bays, estuaries, mangroves, sea grass meadows, algal beds, fresh and salt water bodies and coral reefs. Various types of flora and fauna are associated with these ecosystems. The diverse and highly productive coastal zone is under stress due to over exploitation of resources, dense population, growing urbanisation, pollution and concentration of industrial and agricultural activities and such other anthropogenic interventions. The coastline experiences both erosion and accretion, as evident from remote sensing and geographical information system-based analysis. The maximum erosion rate is >8.0 m/year, whereas the maximum accretion is noted around 13.54 m/year. The Government of Karnataka has initiated several programmes to protect the coast and also to keep it clean. It is suggested that proper management action plan, environmental education and dissemination of information will help sustainable management of the Karnataka coast.