Watching Waves At Pololu Valley’s Black Sand Beach

It’s a short downhill hike to reach the black sand beach which occupies Pololu Valley on the Big Island. Of course that means it’s uphill on the way back to your car! But I’d say it’s achievable for pretty much any able-bodied person, so long as it’s not wet and slippery out there.

Once we reached the bottom of the valley I spent some time walking up and down the beach, listening to and watching the waves. The ocean was so powerful here, with a really strong undertow pulling the water back out. It’s probably not a great place to go swimming! Especially since there is no lifeguard at all.

What it lacks in swim-ability it makes up for in isolation. We were sharing the beach with about 10 other people, so between the what must be about three or four hundred metres of sand it wasn’t too difficult to feel alone with nature. An incredible spot, and definitely worth the hike!

A Longtail In Paradise

For about an hour it was pretty much paradise! When we arrived for lunch on our tour with Phuket Sail Tours this beach was completely deserted. Unfortunately I’m not sure exactly where it is, but I think it’s on Koh Phi Phi Don in Thailand. Maybe someone out there with eagle eyes can help me out?

The perfect isolation lasted until these chugging longtail boats turned up with some fellow tourists. At least they made a great subject for this photo! And we left shortly after to escape to another quiet spot elsewhere.

What drew me to this shot was the negative space in the bottom half of the photo. I think it does a great job of leading the eye to the top half where the main subject is. It’s the first time I’ve consciously noticed this crazy effect surrounding negative space, I’ll definitely be looking out for it more in the future!

Do you recognise this beach?! Maybe you can tell me where it is? Or maybe you like using negative space in your photography? I’d love to hear from you!

Maya Bay Without The Crowds

Maya Bay is a tourist hotspot and at peak times you’ll do well to see the sand for the people. So we decided to take a sunrise tour of the Koh Phi Phi islands to try and beat the crowds. While it was made famous by its appearance in “The Beach”, our guide assured us that the bay had actually been very popular before the film cast a spotlight onto it. This allayed any feelings that we might be late to the party. I was skeptical that our departure time of 6:30am would give us much of an advantage, but I rested safe in the knowledge that whatever the outcome we’d made the best effort to get there as early as possible.

We really had no idea how busy the beach would be when we arrived. Our boat coasted up to the shore at about 7:45am and I counted only 10 people already on the beach. There was just one longtail boat parked up in the shallow water. I couldn’t believe how quiet it was! And for about 15 minutes it really felt like paradise. Fortunately I managed to get this shot before the barrage of other tourists came motoring into the bay just after 8am. It captures a moment I’ll not soon forget.

Have you ever visited Maya Bay? Taken a sunrise tour to beat the crowds? Was it successful?! I’d love to hear from you!

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A Krabi Island Paradise

We spent the last four days of our time in Thailand enjoying the beach life in and around Phuket. It was the first time I’ve ever seen or experienced a tropical beach, and it was brilliant. I really felt like I could just relax and unwind for the first time in a long while. The more remote beaches only accessible by boat were undoubtedly a highlight.

On our second day we did a day trip with Phuket Sail Tours which included some time around the islands of Krabi. This beach was our final stop before heading back to Phuket. When we arrived it was quite busy with four or five long-tail boats populating the shore. But as the afternoon went on other people left and eventually it was pretty empty. Bliss!

We did some snorkelling in the shallow waters and had a bit of time to lay down and enjoy the tranquility. I have to say that in the past I have turned my nose up at beach holidays as boring and unadventurous. But this trip has completely changed my mind!

Do you enjoy a good beach holiday? Have you ever visited any of the Thai islands? What’s the best beach you’ve ever laid eyes on?

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Monterosso al Mare – What a view!

CinqueTerre_20130525_0039.jpg, a photo by Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. on Flickr.

My first blog post! This is the full picture from my header, taken just before a downpour on a recent trip to Monterosso Al Mare in the Cinque Terre region of Italy. There will plenty more coming up from this trip, this is a little taster (and a test of posting to the blog from flickr). I don’t know if anybody lives in the building to the right, but what a fantastic view if they do!