Shek O (石澳) Beach - Hong Kong

From Wikipedia - "The name "Shek O" literally means the "rocky bay". The entire area is a peninsula on the southern coast of the Hong Kong Island, facing the South China Sea. Shek O is surrounded by Shek O Country Park, Big Wave Bay and Cape D'Aguilar."

Beach Model

The first time we went to Shek O (石澳) was way back at the end of 2005 with our friends Annie and Dennis at the back end of our six week China trip (see our China Travelogue). It was a cold mid December night and the streets of Hong Kong were wild with rioters at the WTO meetings. globalization protestors had gathered outside the HK Convention center and were charging the police lines. I remember watching the television and seeing police desperately trying to fight protestors back. At the time we were sitting in a Thai restaurant relaxing with a few cold beers in the chilly December air. After that we went to an outdoor beach side bar and were warmed by a giant fire before heading back into Hong Kong. We have always meant to go back but never got round to it until this last weekend.

Us in Shek O in 2005 with Annie and Dennis

On Saturday one of our friends (an ex coursemate of mine from business school Sam) took us on a hike over the mountains behind Shek O. We walked for about four hours (at a leisurely pace) along the trail (will write more on this hike later) which had spectacular ocean views of both Shek O and Stanley. After the hike we were all hungry so jumped onto a bus and landed up at a beautiful Thai restaurant near the beach. The food was pretty good and fortunately they were showing the rugby too so we could watch the England-France RWC 2011 quarter-final. Once the food was finished, and the rugby finished, Queenie and I headed to the beach.

The beach was bigger than expected. There was a long lead up to the water which gave people plenty of room to spread out and relax. On the side of the beach were some restaurants (some seemed to be doing BBQs) and of course the regular beach crowd hanging out and playing beach games or swimming. The beach was pretty and is in a nice natural bay. There were some waves but the waves weren't that big and there were some good views. We enjoyed just hanging out on the beach and relaxing. We didn't have bathing suits (and it was getting late) so we decided not to swim. But the water was a bit chilly but still pleasant to walk in. Below are some pictures of the beach and the people on the beach at Shek O.

Quite close to us on the beach was a model that was trying to do a portfolio of shots. We managed to take a few pics of her in a few poses.

Beach Model - 01

Beach Model - 02

Beach Model - 03

There were also enty other people hanging out on the beach.

Shek O Beach

Me at Shek O Beach

We also spent some time just relaxing on the rocks at the back of Shek O beach. It was such a beautiful place to relax.

Queenie on Shek O Beach

Paul on Shek O Beach

The view from the rocks

Shek O is a great place to hang out and relax. Some good Thai restaurant, far away from the main centres of Hong Kong so you feel away from the crowds. The beach wasn't too crowded and it looked pretty clean. We hope to go back and swim there someday in the future. Until then why dont you go?