Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

Check out how quickly Ma Wan got cleaned up after the typhoon. What a great sense of community Park Islanders have! It was really quite touching and inspiring to see so many pitch in and help out in restoring their homes after the typhoon.

Yes, with beaches surrounding Ma Wan, there certainly are a few good beach shots worth sharing:

In a post in 2012 I wrote about plans to significantly expand/replenish the main beach on Ma Wan. See : http://parkislandhongkong.blogspot.com/2012/09/ma-wans-tung-wan-beach-to-be-extended.html  Map of proposed Tung Wan Beach replenishment project. I spoke to the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services today for an update, as the previous plans were to commence works in March or April of 2014, and so far I have not see the beach grow. The latest plans are now for works to be commenced in March/April of 2015, with the project to be finished by the end of 2015. So, what caused the delay? Well it's typical Government bureaucracy, (as is often the case). In a nutshell, the volume of sand to be added is so large that it will "significantly alter the shoreline and high-water mark". In essence under some Ordinances, this is considered to be "creating new land". So even though the Department of Leisure and Cultural Services has approved the pro

Park Island Residents! Today I have some very good news to report. Our main beach on Park Island, Tung Wan beach is going to G R O W It will be made significantly wider. We are going to get more sand added, significantly more, which will provide for a broad, wide, and extended flat beach, care of the Hong Kong Government. Government approval for the project has already been granted, and a tender for these works will go out shortly. The beach improvement works will mainly involve filling of sand in an area of about 3.47 ha of foreshore and sea-bed to extend the sandy area of the Tung Wan Beach. To give you a sense of the size and scale of the improvement, the sandy area of the beach will increase from about 3,400m2 currently to about 15,000m2. So around a 5 times the increase in the current sandy beach area. In the map below you can see, marked in red where the new sand extension will go: Tung Wan beach extension plans marked on a map  Below you can see an aerial

The main beach in Ma Wan is wonderful this time of year. Park Island residents probably like it best keep a "secret", but anyhow here are a few details for anyone who want to come visit. Take the number 2 ferry from central over to Ma Wan. Trip is around 20 minutes. Once off the ferry, walk along the boulevard, and you will find a path the veers off to the left. This will take you down to the beach. If you want to stock up on drinks or snacks you can stop by the Park and Shop or the 7-11 first. There are also other less known beaches on Ma Wan, but to find those you will need to a bit of exploring. Below are some photos. Nice huh? And all at the very doorstep of Park Island residents. I personally start each morning with a 20 minute swim in the ocean. A great and healthy way to start the day! Get off the ferry terminal and walk past the palm trees. Piazaa at Park Island Along the beach Boulevard... Stop and smell the flowers... Flowers on Park Island Follow

I love sunshine, and I like it on the beach when it warm, but not burning hot. So, right now the weather in HK is perfect :) I am right now at a cafe that overlooks the beach on Ma Wan (with internet acess), with a glass of fresh orange juice, and a pizza on the way. During the week, not many people visit the beach and its mainly Park Island residents on the island. But on the weekends its packed with lots of visitors from other parts of HK coming over (some to enjoy the beach, and other to sightsee and visit the Noah's Ark theme park.. Both is fine with me - I like it quiet, but also fun to join the crowds in the weekend (and the weekends are surely good for the local shops here). What I really like about the Park Island, is that unlike many of Hong Kong's best beaches, where you need to travel a lon time to get to (and then often with no facilities), the beach is only 2 mins away from my apartment. For those of you worried about sharks, I should add that Park Island has o