Splendid view, clean environment and lots of fun activities are among vital criteria to attract tourists

Take some time off your work and go have some peace of mind at our humbly heaven on earth – the beach. Or bring your family together so that you could spend some quality time with them. Our beaches may not have the best strong wave coming to shore, or the best white sands, even the water are not all crystal clear. But those long stretches of white or rather, golden-coloured sandy beaches belong to us.

Beach Outing - As A Stress Reliever (Spiritually) Tranquillity.

Most of us feel more calm and peaceful when we are at the beach. The sound of wave rushes to the shore and the wind blowing on us give a sense of total calmness in us. This would instantly allow us to be more focus in whatever we are thinking.

With calmness effect and picturesque view surrounding the beach, it is the perfect place to unwind from our demanding responsibilities. Perhaps we just
need to choose the right time and perfect weather to have beach outing with our family and friends.

Beach Outing – As A Stress Reliever (Physically)

Besides being the place where we find peace of mind, by having a family picnic, or just strolling along the coastlines with your loved ones, it is also a place where we could initiate some extremely fun and activities like beach valley ball, kite-flying, building sand castles, or playing simple games like throwing Frisbees.

For more adventurous water sports, go for windsurfing or water skiing, kayaking, jet skiing, para sailing, snorkelling, diving, or just swimming. Getting involved in these sorts of fun activities would certainly recharge your energy. After all, we do need our adrenalin pumped-up once a while (provided you are fit to do so).

Sailing is one of the most popular and expensive beach sports

Malaysian Beaches

Our country has about 4,800 km coastline consisting variety of rocky, sandy and muddy shores. It is estimated that the marine space is 418,00km inclusive of the 12 nautical miles (NM) territorial sea and 200 nautical miles (NM) of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Areas with costal reefs are identified in islands located off the coast of Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Kedah and Perak. The islands include Pulau Redang,
Pulau Perhentian, and Pulau Tenggol, Pulau Tioman, Pulau Payar and Pulau Sembilan. Being the least stable and most changeable physical landform system on earth, the coastlines are greatly influenced by sea and weather conditions such as wind, waves, tides and currents. These factors determine
the form and position of the shoreline.

The wave actions for our beaches are different during monsoon season and the non-monsoon season. Waves are gentle during the non-monsoon season where the slow movement of water tends to bring residue from the seabed and deposits it on the seashore. The shore is also broad and has a gentle slope. Meanwhile, during monsoon season, the waves are strong and erode the residue from the beach to the seabed. During this time, the beaches would be narrow and have steep slopes.

Clean and not so crowded beach is a perfect nesting ground for sea turtles like this one

Beaches in Sarawak

In Sarawak, numbers of visitors to the beaches depend on seasons. If it were a holiday season, more people would be seen at the beach. Numbers are decreasing especially during monsoon season. Local tour operators, as well as the relevant authorities would organise various events to lure visitors to the beaches. Based on the statistic provided by the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism, Sarawak, there are more than 20 beaches in throughout the state. Each has its own uniqueness.

Although not all activities mentioned above, available in our beaches here, we could always initiate our own fun activities by coordinating with local authorities to organise some activities.

Safeguarding Our Natural Heritage

It is not just about how much fun we could have at the beaches, but it is also about appreciating our beautiful Mother Nature and be thankful that we are still able to be part of it. What about our future generation? Would these beaches still be in existence as they are now? It is learnt that more than 65% of our beaches are already developed. Sadly, some development projects have caused critical problems such as coastal erosion, pollution and habitat destruction.

	These strictly protected sea turtles come back to shore to lay their eggs during nesting season
Young and old – the beach is a place for all
	Children could also build-up their creativity on building sand castles!
Beach volleyball is also becoming very popular among our locals

We have expressed our concern over the of pollution of our coastal waters, the erosions that obviously caused by massive development projects near our beaches, and the threat to the coral reefs being exploited for commercial – all these have raised major concern, nationally as well as internationally.

Although it seems impossible to stop all the pollutions due to rapid developments, it is somehow, important to continue educating the younger generation on the importance of preserving our natural heritage.