A little trip to the supposed 'best' beach in town
It’s Saturday and the weather is looking great. Had a lie in, took my sweet time tidying up things and then prepped to go out. My goal: Nata beach.
I’ve been meaning to visit this much-hyped beach in town so I planned to devote the rest of the day there with a good book that I just bought last night.
While checking out Google Maps for the route, I spied a little Italian joint on the way to the beach so I decided I’ll make a lunch stop there too. So far so good.
Now on to the trip itself. Took a good 50-min drive to reach this little town. Then I went off in search of the trattoria in the middle of the residential area.
The food itself was alright -- got the soy sauce-based pasta and sponge cake -- and the vibe of the shop was very relaxing. (Funny how the staff clocked me as a foreigner as soon as they saw me pull out my new book which ofc is in English!)
Anyway, once I had my fill, I set out for the beach, ready to spend the day reading my new R. Osman detective novel.
Google Maps said it’s gonna be around 15 mins on foot. And though it was fairly complicated, I managed to navigate myself out of the residential maze and onto the beach-side. But here’s the hitch, what I now see before me is a parking area surrounded by fences with no discernable way to turn left or right to actually access the beach.
To say I was confused is an understatement. I’m in the right place for sure, but it looks like a dead end.
Should I double back and find a different way? Seems tedious and the sun is so hot and bright in the midday. So, probably not.
Or maybe try to get through the forest and hope there’s a path to the beach? Unlikely. There’s hardly any path to even enter. So, scratch that too.
Regardless, I have to start walking back and maybe I’ll find a person to ask. Just then, I saw two boys who seem to be heading towards the inaccessible beach. Bingo!
Either they are locals who know the way or they’re just as lost as I am, in which case, we can put our heads together to figure out the way.
I’d say they are high schoolers but they could also be college kids. But I’m not banking on them understanding enough English so I prepared to switch to Japanese language mode.
The following exchange was in Japanese but for the sake of this post, I translated them to English.
Excuse me, is this the beach?, I said while pointing in the vague direction of the parking area.
And that’s how I found myself chatting with these two teens about English and school in general, which def brings me back to a time when I was an asst teacher for public schools. But that is a story for another time.
One of them says they don’t really know much English but would need to buckle up soon since they are scheduled to go to NZ for rugby. He asked for some advice and I dished out the easiest, most encouraging bits I can muster in my wonky Japanese.
They led the way towards a narrow path on the left side where you can go up some steps and bypass the fence altogether to finally see…the beach!
It stretches as far as the eye can see, and for a crazy moment I considered walking the length of it until I hit the very end. But I reminded myself of the book I’m very much looking forward to finishing so, not today.
After a while, I bid the two of them goodbye as I continue on, trying to find a good spot by the water to settle down with my book.
By the way, I was surprised and puzzled by the presence of paragliders above. And it doesn’t look like they’re doing tandem flights so I’m quite sure these are non-pros trying to practice on the low hill.
And yes, I agree that the beach itself is nice and peaceful and relaxing. But it’s far too hot to not use an umbrella so it was a bit of a hassle to then also hold a book.
Thank God for giving me the foresight to bring my UV umbrella and portable fan at least. Otherwise, I don’t think I could last long.
To be fair, the beach itself really isn’t too bad. It’s just the lack of any shade or restrooms nearby doesn’t make it conducive for long-term relaxation.
I managed it for an hour or so before it dawned on me: Wait, this is not actually relaxing anymore.
So I quickly checked Google Maps for the bus sched and, thankfully, I was able to find my way back to the main road just in time to catch the once-in-an-hour bus back to the city.
I’m now continuing my novel in the park, which is not too bad, really.
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