Dameisha Beach

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Looking outside, the weather didn't look too good, but I had made my mind up that I was heading to Dameisha beach. My thinking was that the cooler weather would make the walk more enjoyable and that there would be less people. Getting there was a bit of a process. First I took the subway for a few stops and then got on the bus. The bus was rather annoying as I am used to just scanning my card when getting on, but on this one you have to tell the conductor where you are going so that they can calculate the fare and then scan your card. Seems like a time wasting exercise, when you could just scan on and off like in other places. The bus journey took about an hour and I got off at the stop that my map app told me too. This didn't seem to be the best as I still had quite a walk. I was surprised when I cam to the shopping outlet village and was directed to the oath through there to get to the beach. Annoyingly you to scan your healthcode to enter the outlet village, seems someone didn't get the memo that we have abandoned all this. At least the outlet village was quiet and I was able to get through it quickly, only needing to retrace my steps once, as I took a wrong turn.

I reached what should have been the entrance to the beach and it was all boarded up. Feeling confused I took a walk along the street behind the boards hoping that there would be an entrance to the beach there. There was a random plane with a tartan tail placed on one of the pieces of grass. I think it was maybe advertising something. There were a few hotels with shops and restaurants, even a McDonalds on the ground floor. I bet the higher rooms had nice views of the coast on a good day, but since today was rather cloudy the view wouldn't be that great. I retraced my steps and saw people heading down the path into what looked like a building site and followed them hoping that that would take me to the beach. It did! There were gates to enter the beach, but the guard indicated that they would just open when you walked in front of them no need to scan anything. I was in need of the bathroom so that was my first stop. They were about a million stalls and were spotlessly clean. I imagine on a busy summer day it might be a different story. Then I headed down to the beach proper.

First impressions were that the beach was okay, it was smaller than I had imagined it to be, probably because it has big in the name I was expecting a never ending expanse of sand, but I could easily see the ends of the beach in both directions. Near to the spot I'd entered the beach there were some brightly coloured sculptures in human form with white wings for arms. I really liked these as they added a nice bit of colour to the beach especially on a grey and drab day like today. The wind was also pretty strong and the cold was seeping through my clothing and getting to the bone. Walking briskly warmed me up a bit. There were quite a few people on the beach despite the weather which surprised me. I walked along in one direction taking in the scenery around. The hill next to the beach had plenty of houses/hotels on it, and the people living/staying there must have some fabulous views. It was nice to watch the waves coming in to shore and going out again. I walked along as far as I could in that direction before the beach was cordoned off for a surf school.

I headed back in the other direction, taking in the views of the coastline that way. While the views were nice, they weren't anything special and I felt that the beaches on the Dapeng peninsula were nicer. I passed a giant sandcastle that you could climb to get views of the coast, but didn't bother. I felt sorry for the security guard, who was bundled up in a thick jacket and huddled under a beach umbrella, he must have been cold. I was rather shocked to see a couple of blokes swimming in the sea, especially as they weren't wearing wetsuits. They must be made of hardy stuff. When I got to the end f the beach, there was a pathway winding up the hill, but I didn't know if it only lead to accommodation or something more exciting and since it was manned by security guards, I didn't bother to investigate. I walked back to the entrance using the pathway behind the beach. This was nice as it gave some nice views and there were plenty of benches to sit and relax on. I liked the palm trees that divided the beach from the walkway. After exiting the beach, I came across a silver statue of some runners. I have no idea why it was there. The outlet village was a lot busier when I passed through it again. I also found a bus stop that was a lot closer, opposite the entrance to the outlet village and didn't have to wait too long for a bus to the subway. Dameisha Beach was pretty underwhelming, I don't think the weather helped and I had thought about returning on a better day but it's a bit too much effort and time, when I could go somewhere new instead.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Beach in winter
I can see your logic in visiting the beach when it wasn’t busy. I love the sculptures with wings and if you hadn’t mentioned the cold wind, I would have said it really looks like quite an ideal day 😊

[Zephyr]

Winter Wind
I loved the winged sculptures too. I should be used to the cold wind from the UK, but I had hoped to escape it in Shenzhen. I'm glad the winter is short here.