Travel Report: Cheoc Van Beach, Macau.

February 2018. Visitors to Macau’s pretty Coloane Island could easily set aside a full day for its many delights. Seen the pandas at Seac Pai Van Park? Checked out the stilt houses in Coloane Village? Grabbed some egg tarts at Lord Stow’s Bakery? Then it’s probably time to take a leisurely walk to Cheoc Van Beach. It lies one and half kilometres from the village main street down Estrada de Cheoc Van.

Cheoc Van Beach, Macau.

Don’t come here expecting some kind of Chinese Copacabana! Actually the beach is a tiny stretch of sand, but still picture perfect on a quiet, sunny day like this. In the summer, at the height of Macau tourist season, I imagine it must be an absolute horror show.

Cheoc Van Beach, Macau.

Cheoc Van Beach is a crescent-shaped stretch of sand that occupies a tree-lined corner of Bamboo Bay. There’s not much here, besides a fancy hotel and a large outdoor swimming pool. Sadly the pool was closed and completely drained on the day of our visit.

Cheoc Van Beach, Macau.

Coloane Island, Macau.

When we arrived Cheoc Van Beach was virtually empty, with just a local couple walking their dog. And it wasn’t long before a bored security guard shooed them off. No dogs allowed apparently. Hence I had the place all to my selfie.  

Coloane Island, Macau.

In addition to the hotel, Cheoc Van Beach has two small restaurants. One is a large seafood joint that blasts out back to back Beatles tunes and looked pretty busy. The other is this shabby little café owned by a Chinese couple who acted as if our patronage was causing them some kind of inconvenience. Armed with an overpriced coke and a really crappy coffee, Wonderboy and I sat daydreaming as we gazed out across Bamboo Bay. We thought about how, if we had the capital, we could transform Café Crapville into the kind of place people would flock to. Who knows, maybe it would even be a cash cow. 

For more on my time in this amazing corner of China, check out my other articles on Macau.

Like these? Then why not leaf through my many more reports from across China.

I’ve also written a short story series called Challenged in China.

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