Beach – HurricaneMaine

Xiaoxinshan Island and Turtle Bay

It is only 10 days until school starts again and I’m taking a quick trip to the beach for the weekend. We traveled to huizhou which is in the province and just a few hours drive away to snorkel and visit a national sea turtle refuge. The food for lunch was great: tofu, green beans and eggplant, and lotus root. I have not had lotus root this way and it is more like the shoots.

We took a speedboat to Xiaoxinshan Island. The water was pretty murky as we had a typhoon a short time back but we could see sea urchins on the rocks. It was good to swim in salt water and I was not really expecting to see a large amount of marine life as I have in Thailand or the Great Barrier Reef.

We took the speedboat back and then a short ride to the turtle bay hotel. It is not where the beach is which is just fine. It is quiet and right next to where we are visiting the next day. We cleaned up and went to the village for seafood.

The next morning I went to the pool for a swim and caught the sunrise.

After breakfast we walked to the double moon Bay. We had taken the speedboat from the left side the day before to go snorkeling.

We then walked to the national sea turtle breeding ground facility which was near the hotel. Despite removing mangrove forests and disrupting the actual places sea turtles need, they do have a breeding program here.

They are able to leave the large tanks during breeding season to lay eggs on the attached beach.

It was a very relaxing weekend. Fire the test of the time I’m going to relax in my new apartment, do some work, and enjoy swimming in the pool. COVID cases are making travel unpredictable as it is the summer holiday. I will have a six week holiday in December and January and hopefully cases are much less by then.

Xiangshui Bay, Hainan

I decided to go to Hainan on October break which is billed as the Hawaii of China. Of course I know there is no comparison and this is still a tourist trap but I felt I should check it out. My other option, Chengdu, is not allowing feeding of the pandas right now due to covid and I’ll wait to see if that changes. (Honestly I don’t know how the world could go back to normal.)

I took the metro to the airport. It is a straight shot and cheap. Usually it is mundane and routine. Not this time. I really need to be that person who videos things. There was a scary yet spectacular fight between a man and a woman. Skip this part if you want: Both ended up with injuries and it took multiple of us to keep them apart. But when it was really crowded, they got into it and I yelled STOP. It got everyone’s attention as it was in English and I gestured to the packed car to show there were too many people here. A few of us got between them. It stopped it for a bit but when he left he spat on her. In the age of covid….

I landed in Sanya then took a train to Lingshui. It is easy here as the train station is right outside the airport.

As for Hawaii….

The Marriott is beautiful, the pools are nice, but just like the majority of places in Hainan, you can’t swim in the ocean. In the park across the bay I could see people in the water. I decided to run there the next morning and wore my swimsuit to cool down in the water. It becomes deep quickly. In defense I can see why there is surfing but no swimming. I know there are a few areas that you can if you look.

Views from the 11.6 km run.

There are a lot of places where development here has stopped due to Covid-19. The jungle quickly takes over.

This flower was pretty. There were fire ants that reminded me to just keep moving!

The beach I ran on where i stopped to get in the water.

First evening.

A little restaurant one km away from the hotel is where I ate the first two nights. They all want to help with my order and it was a way to use their translation apps. I’m amazed at the people who assume I just arrived in China and do not have WeChat or Didi apps. They forget people are here to work. Of course I practiced Chinese too.

Squid Teppenyaki and a pickled vegetable that was pretty spicy!

A friend recommended Gangmen Harbor.

I’ve thought about going off the path a few times but this reminded me not to.

It was pretty but a long drive for a short visit. As the Didi driver left I wondered if I would have trouble getting another car out here. I was right. After two failed attempts I decided to walk as I noticed that we traveled through a couple small villages.

I was definitely a source of amusement. I stopped for drinks and eventually noticed a taxi that would definitely have to be going past me again. I was lucky… These small towns have narrow streets and many bikes.

This trip has been easier without having to show documents over and over. People here are still taken aback at seeing a foreigner and I have not seen any others while here. The guard at Gangmen Harbor did ask me where I was going (in ‘hinese). I replied sight seeing. He at least stepped aside.

Bunlos Resort, Yangjiang

I went on a banana tour to a resort this last weekend and was so happy to see friends from my school and dear friends from other schools I don’t see often enough!

This will be a great resort when it is fully open. It was a soft opening so not all stores and restaurants were open. But to be able to walk on the beach, swim in pools, and be with friends it was a great weekend.

The infinity pool at the top is nice. A typhoon was off shore so the weather changed constantly.

I enjoyed the pool off of the beach even more.

Fresh watermelon juice just blended with no sugar.

There is a rock path that leads to a cliff pool. We walked the path but did not pay to enter the pool.

For dinner we bought beer and take our and ate in one of the rooms so we could have good conversations and company.

Some other pictures of walking around the beach.

The breakfast buffet was good! I especially liked the steamed buns. The purple taro ones had date filling inside. The black ones were chocolate with a nut filling. The rice rolls are a local specialty and have shredded cabbage inside.

The Nanhai Maritime silk road museum was interesting and they recovered many artifacts from the sunken ship. The ship sank in 1000 AD.

The maritime silk road connected China with the Middle East and Europe. It takes its name from ‘Nanhai’ – the South China Sea. The wreck is in exceptional condition as a container was placed around it under sea and a bottom added. They then lifted the whole thing out and excavation is now done in the museum where people can watch. Quite the undertaking. It is thought to contain 60,000 to 80,000 precious pieces of cargo, especially ceramics.

Outside the museum is another beach and local merchants.

Da la jia island, China

On the last weekend in June, we traveled several hours on the bus to go to camp on an island on the other side of Shenzhen. I really don’t like camping but the opportunity to swim, snorkel, and paddleboard was worth it.

We had a great lunch along the way and celebrated the birthday of one of my friends, Tricia.

The water was terrific. The paddleboard had kayak paddles so I did not stand up on it as the paddle was not long enough.

We camped along the beach.

We caught barnacles and crabs. The crew cooked food on the beach.

Sunset.

Sunrise.

There were plenty of places to explore and many resort buildings were abandoned. The history of the island was that of a place for pirates and smugglers.

Stone with inscription about the island.

The big thing that was hard to see was the amount if plastic pollution. It did not just all wash up there. It was obvious people who were here earlier just dropped their trash. The people who run the camping area really should have a system and more concern for the environment. There was a lot of trash in the ocean when snorkeling.

A good time was had by all. There was karaoke at night, games and camaraderie by day.

Clearwater Florida

On a side trip for the beach vacation I have not yet scheduled for myself, Becca and I went down to Clearwater to visit one of her friends, Kai. Becca and Kai were in middle School together until she moved.

Lots of beach time. I love the warmer water. Even though I can only take the beach for so long, I enjoyed going for a few days.

I forget how being in the sun and swimming tires you out. I napped the rest of the day.

Plus the big lunch at Frenchy’s made me tired as well. I had never had a grouper Reuben. Yummy.

This little guy begged for food.

I ran a 7.25 mile run the next morning towards the Gulf. Of course I took off my shoes to run barefoot and dip my toes in the water.

Finally I had a chance to go paddle boarding that next morning. It has been a year and my skills in choppy water was rusty. But I went across the bay to a little island where the water was calmer to stand up. I also explored a portion of the island to get photos of birds and swam for a bit before heading back.

Yellow crowned night herons.

A pelican as I was paddling.

After a quick lunch we went to an escape room. It is pretty much the breakout boxes I do in school but the last code opens up the door so you can get out. Pretty fun. We finished in 39 minutes. it

Clearwater is beautiful with many places to easily walk. At sunset the view over the harbor is beautiful.

Ibis

More Ibis.

Last beach day, we went to St. Pete Beach. I was there last year for my IB training. I took a short run on the beach and snapped a few pics of birds. Becca and Kai went to a local boxing gym to check it out.

These are called Black Seekers.

The bird in the front is called a Sandwich Tern.

This is a little chick of the Black Seekers. The adults were not happy I stopped in front of this little guy to get his picture. I was given plenty of warnings with lots of noise and fly by.

The girls picked me up with lunch and we went to a local park to eat. Nice day. On the way back to the car we walked across a red ant nest. Those bites hurt. Good thing they were easy to knock off my sandals.