My Top 3 Favorite Ocean Drives
My favorite experience when traveling is to chase the sunsets after a long ocean drive. Over the years, I have done just that during my vacations. If memory serves correctly, I have experienced a few of those in China, then Highway 1 in California, Sea-to-Sky to Whistler in British Columbia and so on. Let’s go through my top 3 by starting with one of my favorites in the North island in New Zealand.
90 Mile Beach, New Zealand
…and it is exactly 55 miles long. The special trait of that beach is the sand is hard and the beach is wide enough, one can drive over 100km/h in a car.
The drive to the beach is just as interesting as the destination. It is a stretch of the highways through a few small towns, then twists and turns over the mountains, and the endless green hills even in their winter time.
The same drive was featured in Top Gear Season 20 Episode 1.
How to get there:
When you land in Auckland, you would rent a car then drive a few hours north to the 90 mile beach. It is completely do-able from Auckland and come back in one day. Rental cars are slightly more expensive than that in the North America. My family just rented the cheapest option (20-year-old Toyota for about 80 dollars) and it worked just fine.
Kelingking Beach, Indonesia (on an Island off of Bali)
The cliff on the coast and the ocean washing off the beach with the turquoise and teal colors are just the views to behold. Though it was so difficult to find the roads that have not been maintained in years, getting there makes it a bit of a journey. This is why Kelingking Beach is not crowded with tourists while Bali is filled with nomads/couples/tourists.
How to get there:
If you stay around Ubud or Kuta in Bali, it is roughly one-hour motorcycle ride to the pier. With a 40-minute speed boat to Nusa Penida, you would rent a motorcycle around 6 dollars for one day (you could also join a van, then it would just be an easy drive). Either way, it takes roughly another hour to get to the beach.
Notice that if you ride a bike on your own, it is extremely hard to find the beach as there is almost no map/GPS and little to no signs for the beach. What I did was repeating “Kelingking Beach” to any locals, then I would be pointed to the right direction.
Hai Van Pass, Vietnam
It is the mountain pass between the cities of Hoi An and the ancient capital Hue in Vietnam. It is a beautiful hair-pin style mountain climb by the Pacific Ocean before backing down on the other side of the hill.
It was featured on Top Gear Season 12 Vietnam Special (Episode 8)
How to get there
One would rent a bike and just go one-way to Hue. There is no trick to it. But be ware of the buses and it is relatively dangerous. It is possible to do round-trip between Hoi An to Hue and back. It takes 7 hours on the road.
Places I excluded
Personally I feel Highway 1 in California and a few other places are very gorgeous, which I have returned many times. Though it is over-hyped by many and it is not a remote place that tremendous efforts are needed to explore. It is as easy as hopped off the plane in LAX with a dream and my cardigan, as Miley Cyrus would describe.
Above all three places mentioned are somewhat unique. If one says “literally driving on the beach”, 90 mile beach will come to my mind. Highway 1 or many roads in China, for example, are relaxing and scenic drives. However, if one mentions “a relaxing and scenic drive”, many beautiful ocean drives will come to mind.
Cheers to many places to explore.