Repulse Bay

Repulse Bay is the most accessible beach from central Hong Kong, a long crescent of imported sand backed by high-rise apartment blocks on the southern side of the island, with full facilities, lifeguards in season and shark nets offshore. At its eastern end stands the Kwun Yam shrine, a compound crowded with brightly coloured statues of deities and mythical animals, a longevity bridge that is said to add years to those who cross it, and a terrace over the water; it belongs to a rescue association rather than to a temple, and it is unmistakable. Behind the beach, the residential block with a large square hole through its centre is the building visitors photograph.

History

The origin of the English name is obscure; one typical story says that pirates based here in 1841 were repulsed by the Royal Navy, though none of the stories rests on solid evidence. Roads between the south and north of the island opened the area up, and in the 1910s the bay was developed as a beach; the Kadoorie family built the Repulse Bay Hotel in 1920, a bus route from Central was started to bring swimmers, and in 1955 William Holden and Jennifer Jones stayed at the hotel while filming Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (Wikipedia, Repulse Bay).

Highlights

• The Kwun Yam shrine - crowded coloured statues at the eastern end.
• The longevity bridge - the crossing said to add years.
• A long crescent of imported sand - the most accessible beach from Central.
• The building with a hole through it - the block behind the bay.

When to go

April to October for swimming; the beach is quiet and walkable in winter. Half a day. Summer weekends are extremely crowded and the buses queue.

What to expect

The sand is imported and replenished, and the setting is a wall of apartment towers. Summer crowds are heavy and the water gets murky. The shrine is gaudy and busy. Everything nearby is expensive.

Nearby

Stanley is south; Central lies north over the hill.

Key facts