Golden Beach () is located at the 18 milestone of

Castle Peak Road Castle Peak Road is the longest road in Hong Kong. Completed in 1920, it runs in the approximate shape of an arc of a semi-circle. It runs West from Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po, New Kowloon, to Tuen Mun, then north to Yuen Long then east to Sh ...

So Kwun Wat So Kwun Wat, commonly pronounced So Kwun Fat, is an area on the south coast of the western mainland New Territories in Hong Kong. The proper So Kwun Wat is a populated area in the valley between Siu Lam and Sam Shing Hui. It includes So Kwun Ta ...

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It is contiguous with the adjacent

Cafeteria New Beach Golden Beach () is located at the 18 milestone of Castle Peak Road in So Kwun Wat, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is contiguous with the adjacent Cafeteria New Beach and Cafeteria Old Beach. Golden Beach is the largest public beach in Tuen Mu ...

and

Cafeteria Old Beach A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the United States, U.S., is a type of Foodservice, food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a lar ...

. Golden Beach is the largest public beach in Tuen Mun with a total area of and a length of . The water quality is usually classified as Grade 2 (Fair). Tropical trees, like coconut, and flowers of various species are planted on both sides of a promenade running parallel to the beach. Refreshment kiosks, a hotel, and a shopping centre are located adjacent to the beach. Golden Beach is unique amongst the beaches of Hong Kong given the fact that it has a volleyball court. The Hong Kong

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

team occasionally practises on Golden Beach.

History

Golden Beach was one of the first artificial beaches constructed in Hong Kong, following the private beach at Tai Pak in Discovery Bay. It was built in 1994 using about of sand. It opened to the public in 1995, originally under the management of the Regional Council. In 2000, management of the beach was transferred to the newly formed

Leisure and Cultural Services Department The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...

(LCSD).

Features

* Changing rooms and showers * Dolphin Square * Restaurant * Seaside promenade * Toilets * Tuck shop

Patronage

Golden Beach is the busiest of the six gazetted beaches in

Tuen Mun District Tuen Mun District is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. It is the westernmost continental district of Hong Kong. It had a population of 487,546 in 2011. Part of the district is the Tuen Mun New Town (or simply Tuen Mun), w ...

. In 2016, according to the LCSD, it had an average attendance of 1,941 on weekdays, 4,438 on weekends and holidays, and 670,350 during the bathing season. This makes it one of the most well-attended beaches in Hong Kong, behind only

Repulse Bay Repulse Bay or Tsin Shui Wan is a bay in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District, Hong Kong. It is one of the most expensive residential areas in the world. Geography Repulse Bay is located in the southern ...

Shek O Shek O is an area of the south-eastern part of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. It can refers to Shek O village or Shek O Peninsula or Shek O Headland. Administratively, they are part of Southern District. Geography The name "Shek O" literal ...

, and

Clear Water Bay Clear Water Bay () is a bay on the eastern shore of Clear Water Bay Peninsula of Hong Kong, located within Clear Water Bay Country Park. There are two beaches at Clear Water Bay: "Clear Water Bay First Beach" and "Clear Water Bay Second Beach". ...

Second beaches.

Environmental issues

Marine refuse

Like many other beaches in Hong Kong, Golden Beach suffers from a worsening problem with marine refuse. On occasion, vast amounts of garbage suddenly wash up on the beach. The rubbish often bears Simplified Chinese characters, leading citizens to suspect that it originates from Mainland Chinese ships. On 1 August 2017, more than 18 lorry-loads worth of rubbish washed up on the beach in one 24-hour period.

Sand loss

The beach suffers from serious loss of sand, and has shrunk significantly over the past two decades. The bases of several lookout towers, which were once set well back from the water line, are now exposed to the sea. In April 1999, the beach was replenished with about 7,900 square metres of sand. The

Civil Engineering and Development Department The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) is a department of the Hong Kong government that reports to the Development Bureau. Its major services include provision of land and infrastructure, port and marine services, geotechnic ...

(CEDD) and

Halcrow Group Halcrow Group Limited was a multinational engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom Halcrow was one of the UK's largest consultancies, with origins stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialised in the provision ...

analysed aerial imagery taken from 2001 to 2008 and found that Golden Beach eroded by up to two metres per year, affecting its recreational value. The study found that the high rate of sand loss is driven by the fact that Golden Beach is situated oblique to the prevailing wave direction. This has caused sand to migrate north, in an anti-clockwise direction, such that the southern end of the beach has completely eroded. The LCSD had to close part of the beach in 2008 as the problem worsened. After Typhoon Hagupit hit Hong Kong, the LCSD hired the CEDD to conduct remedial works at Golden Beach, at a cost of HK$7.2 million. This included replenishment of sand, construction of

gabion A gabion (from Italian ''gabbione'' meaning "big cage"; from Italian ''gabbia'' and Latin ''cavea'' meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, ...

walls, and construction of

groyne A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concre ...

s. These improvements were made from 2009 to 2011. Still, Golden Beach is smaller than its original size and length.

Water quality

The

Environmental Protection Department Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is a department of Hong Kong Government concerning the issues of environmental protection in Hong Kong.The EPD is responsible for developing policies covering environmental protection, nature conserva ...

conducts water quality testing at Golden Beach at least three times per month, year-round. The department uses a four-point grading system to reflect water quality, where Grade 1 (Good) reflects the best quality. During the 1990s, the water quality at Golden Beach consistently ranked as Grade 3 (Poor). Various sewerage infrastructure improvements have helped boost the quality to an average of Grade 2 (Fair) since the turn of the millennium. During the 2016 swimming season, the water quality ranked Grade 2 (Fair) for about 85 per cent of tests, and Grade 1 (Good) about 15 per cent of the time.

References

External links

Official website
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