Top eight Asian beaches
Whether it’s sand, sea and serene isolation or bustling stretches of city-slicking white-powdered fun in the sun, there is a beach to suit your mood
One of advantages of living in Hong Kong is how easily we can hop on a plane and soon be relaxing on a palm-fringed screensaver of a beach. A few hours after leaving Chek Lap Kok we’re reacquainted with deep-blue skies, fluffy white clouds and air so clean it makes us dizzy. Here, then, in no particular order, are eight Asian beaches that are worth discovering. To provide consistency, I’m sticking to places I’ve actually visited. As a result, there’s no room for Cambodia’s finest, the islands of Okinawa or the west coast of Taiwan. So many beaches, so little time …
1 Selong Belanak, Lombok, Indonesia While Bali lures the hordes, adventurous travellers take the ferry across to neighbouring Lombok and head straight to the south of the island. Transport connections require ingenuity but persevere because, as everyone knows, all the best places are hard to reach. Selong Belanak is a welcome antidote to the unchecked development, overcrowding and waste management concerns that blight more established Asian tourist resorts. The broad bay ticks all the boxes: luminous turquoise seas, sand as white as washing powder and more bovine beach action than on Lantau Island. Think Phuket 30 years ago.
2 Gan, Maldives The Maldives are consistently ranked among the world’s most dreamy destinations and although it’s hard to know where to begin, a pristine patch of sand on the time warp territory of Gan gets my vote. There may be lovelier locations in the archipelago but there’s more to Gan than swimming and sunbathing. The island is a former British military base and the beach is situated between the parade ground, rows of low-rise garrison buildings, a mildewing art deco cinema and what’s left of the jetty. The British pulled out in 1976 – I bet they were sorry to leave.
