Letters | Hong Kong can be a sun and sea destination – if it improves beach facilities
- Readers discuss how the city’s beaches could be a tourist attraction, and the in-town check-in service for air passengers
What beaches in Hong Kong lack in terms of white sand and crystal clear water, they compensate for with their very convenient locations.
But an upgrade of the facilities at many of them is long overdue. The changing rooms are nondescript, as are the often old concrete blocks which house them. The toilet accessories are not much different from those available in public washrooms, if not the same. Lockers are few, if they are available at all.
Moreover, at Lower Cheung Sha beach, for example, the only showers are located outside the changing rooms. The rationale for having them outdoors is unclear. Probably the facilities were simply built a long time ago when less thought was given to privacy and much less value was attached to the comfort of users.
Hopefully all of this is to change. For examples of how to improve, as ever, it is not necessary to look far. Many Hongkongers would have visited Okinawa and noted how much better its beach facilities are. Many of them, while open to the public, appear to be managed by the resorts nearby. But there is nothing extravagant about those facilities, which are just very clean and pleasant.
As the swimming season draws to a close, this is perhaps a suitable time for the authorities to consider modernising the facilities at our beaches. With its many beaches and very long summer, Hong Kong has the potential to be regarded as a legitimate sun and sea destination. Our beaches ought to be among Hong Kong’s best attractions.