• Areia Branca Beach
View of the beach from the road to Hera
Map showing the location of Areia Branca BeachPraia da Areia Branca (Portuguese)Tasi-ibun Areia Branca (Tetum)
Map showing the location of .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}Areia Branca Beach.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}Praia da Areia Branca (Portuguese)Tasi-ibun Areia Branca (Tetum)
LocationAvenida de Areia Branca, Metiaut, Cristo Rei, East Timor
Nearest cityDili
Coordinates8°31′55″S 125°36′54″E / 8.532017°S 125.614978°E / -8.532017; 125.614978

Areia Branca Beach (Portuguese: Praia da Areia Branca, Tetum: Tasi-ibun Areia Branca) is a public beach on the north eastern shore of the Bay of Dili, in the suco of Metiaut, East Timor. It is very popular with both local residents and tourists.

Etymology

The beach's name, Areia Branca, is Portuguese for "white sand".[1]

Geography

The beach from its southern end
The beach from its southern end

As its name indicates, the beach is white and sandy.[1] It is about 600 m (2,000 ft) long, and located close to the north eastern end of the Bay of Dili, east of the centre of Dili, capital city of East Timor.[1][2]

On its land side, the beach is fringed by shady trees,[1] and overlooked by steep low hills creating a dramatic backdrop.[3][4] The hills are covered with Eucalyptus alba savanna woodland, in which small stands of tropical dry forest are developing. The beach and hills are all part of the Areia Branca no Dolok Oan Important Bird Area.[4]

The beach and its environs are one of Dili's and East Timor's most popular beach areas for both local residents and tourists.[5][6][7] On Sundays, the beach is often crowded from early in the morning until late at night.[8]

Especially at low tide, the water at the beach is very shallow with a sandy bottom, and therefore suitable for children, but not conducive to swimming by adults.[1][9] Local residents often walk with spears to the beach's coral breaks to go fishing at low tide. They also commonly shelter under the trees while repairing fishing nets.[10] Other beach users frequently engage in onshore physical recreation, including walking or running along the beach, especially in the early mornings and late afternoons. Yet another, less physical, activity at the beach is watching the sunsets.[7]

History

In the final years of the Portuguese colonial era, the authorities hoped that the Areia Branca Beach would become a tourist destination. With that in mind, a few shelters were built there.[11]

Soon afterwards, the beach was the scene of tragic events. During the invasion and occupation, people were taken to the beach, executed, and dumped into the water; others were shot on the Dili wharf and their bodies were later washed ashore at the beach.[11][12]

In the early years of the 21st century, particular efforts were made to develop the beach and the area surrounding it into a leisure and tourist destination.[13]

On the morning of 11 February 2008, the then President of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta, was out jogging on the beach when rebel soldiers entered his nearby residential compound. As he walked back there from the beach, the rebels opened fire on him in an assassination attempt. Ramos-Horta was critically wounded in the incident, but survived.[11]

Facilities

The beach is equipped with cabanas that are free to use.[1] Picnic huts and plastic chairs can be rented, and it is possible for beach visitors to participate in boating or kayaking.[14]

During the term of East Timor's IV Constitutional Government (2007–2012), the beach was rehabilitated.[15][16] Various hospitality facilities were built on the other side of the access road, Avenida de Areia Branca, including bars, restaurants and coffee shops that now sell national and international foods and drinks,[7][16][17] and guesthouses.[3]

Hospitality customers can even sit at a table at the beach while sampling a cold coconut, drinking a locally produced coffee, or dining on freshly cooked fish or other seafood washed down with a beer.[3][10][18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lakad Pilipinas: EAST TIMOR | The Beaches of Dili". Lakad Pilipinas. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lakad Pilipinas: EAST TIMOR | Climbing the Cristo Rei of Dili". Lakad Pilipinas. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Best East Timor Beaches: Areaia Branca". Manny Timor Adventures. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 BirdLife International (2022). "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Areia Branca no Dolok Oan". BirdLife International. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "Beaches". Tourism Timor-Leste. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Bhatia, Aunindita (29 May 2022). "10 Facts About The Lesser-Known Timor-Leste". TheTravel. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Gosaves, Lucivânia (21 April 2020). "9 pontos turísticos de Díli, no Timor-Leste" [9 tourist attractions in Dili, East Timor]. Quero Viajar Mais (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Gosaves, Lucivânia (7 May 2020). "10 pontos turísticos do Timor-Leste, na Ásia" [10 tourist attractions in East Timor, Asia]. Quero Viajar Mais (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  9. ↑ Betteridge, Ashlee (28 July 2012). "Areia Branca, Dili". betty loves blogging. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Five reasons to visit Dili, Timor-Leste". Pacific Tourism Organisation. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 Kingsbury, Damien (2009). East Timor: The Price of Liberty. Basingstoke, Hants, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780230606418.
  12. ↑ Gomes, Donaciano (1995). "Chapter 6: The East Timor Intifada: Testimony of a Student Activist". In Carey, Peter; Bentley, G. Carter (eds.). East Timor at the Crossroads: The Forging of a Nation. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i Press. p. 106. ISBN 0824817885.
  13. ↑ Allis, Thiago; Santos, Maria Helena Mattos Barbosa dos (2016). "Chapter 6: Tourism in East Timor: Post-Conflict Perspectives". In Pappas, Nikolaos; Bregoli, Ilenia (eds.). Global Dynamics in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality. Advances in Hospitality, Tourism, and the Service Industry (AHTSI) Book Series. Hershey, PA, USA: Business Science Reference. ISBN 9781522502029.
  14. ↑ Tan, Luna (18 August 2013). "Walk to Cristo Rei Passing By Areia Branca, Dili, East Timor". Life to Reset. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry inaugurates the Areia Branca Garden". Government of Timor-Leste. 29 April 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  16. 1 2 “Goodbye Conflict, Welcome Development” AMP Government Snapshot (2007-2012) (PDF). Government of East Timor. 2012. pp. 77–78. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "Government helps create new companies". Government of Timor-Leste. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  18. ↑ Roughneen, Simon (13 July 2017). "6 reasons to visit East Timor". CNN Travel. CNN. Retrieved 2 April 2022.

Further reading

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