Big Wave Bay BeachBig Wave Bay Beach is a fair way to go, about 45 minutes from Central but it’s well worth the extra time and better than more popular beaches like Repulse Bay Beach. For kids, it’s excellent, nice sand, shallow, especially when the tides out and you can wade out about 50-100m and still be chest deep. Don’t be fooled by the name, Big Wave Bay Beach does not really have big waves. It’s known to surfers but I must have been there at least 10-20 times and never once have I seen any big waves there.
What makes it so good for kids is it’s got a little stream at the opposite end of the entrance to the beach where kids can catch fish and crabs and shrimps. The tide needs to be out though. If you get there it’s high tide, just wait and hour or so and it should have gone down enough to turn into a stream. You can buy nets and a bucket for less than HKD$50 at the shops just before you reach the beach.
We always drive to Big Wave Bay Beach but you can get there by taxi, which will cost around HKD$200-$300 (I think), and there’s buses. Take the MTR to Shau Kei Wan, Exit out of Exit A3, then take Bus #9. There’s also a minibus, here’s the info on that here. Note if you go weekends, there’s a lot of cyclists along Shek O Road which can hold you up a bit. After you get off, there’s a path leading down to the beach. Be a bit careful with young kids, it doesn’t look like there’s many cars using it but there are, and they drive quite fast with little notice of kids so keep them close. It’s only about 100m down to Big Wave Bay Beach, you’ll pass some shops that sell all kinds of beachwear, so don’t worry if you didn’t bring any togs or things for the kids to do, they sell it all and it’s cheap. Just don’t expect stuff to last long, we once bought a shovel and broke it on our first attempt at digging a hole!
You can also rent chairs and large beach umbrellas, and surfboards and body boards and other similar stuff. There’s a couple of restaurants, the one on the beach, to the right when you reach Big Wave Bay Beach, has a good bacon and egg sandwich and fries. They also sell pizzas and other snacky type foods but I haven’t tried them. The staff are nice and friendly. You won’t find too many tourists here, most of them will be at the closer to the city Repulse Bay Beach, which is dirty and not that appealing.
If you happen to be driving, there’s plenty of parking if you go there in the morning, but the meters only last for 2 hours and if you go over the limit there’s a high chance you’ll get a HKD$350 ticket. Bastards have pinged me twice! It’s a bit of a pain to go up and refill the meter, especially when you’ve got kids and are by yourself. If you only have time to go to one beach in Hong Kong, Big Wave Bay Beach would be my pick. It’s also way less polluted than Repulse Bay Beach (which can get disgusting) although the last couple of visits weren’t as clean as usual.
There’s changing rooms with outside showers as well, the inside absolutely stinks, but fine for a quick change. On the way back you can take the highway back to Central, or drive past Stanley, Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay. Note sometimes the traffic can get quite bad this way, it’s a one lane winding road and if there’s an accident, you’ll be waiting a long time. Most of the time it’s fine, but check Google Maps directions to see the traffic status, it’s usually quite accurate.
You can do Big Wave Bay Beach after a hike up Dragons Back, which is suitable for younger kids if they’re used to a bit of climbing.
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