Vacations, Hurry Before There Gone/New Hobby Idea
Picture the gorgeous beach you spent a week on this summer. Now picture that same beach next summer, destroyed. Perhaps it eroded so much that there's barely room to spread out a towel. Maybe a colossal concrete hotel is being built where the sand dunes used to be. Maybe it has been coated with a slick of spilled oil. Hopefully, your slice of paradise will remain well preserved. If we don't curb global warming, insist on sustainable development, and protect the world's beaches against pollution and mismanagement, they will disappear very fast and be gone forever.
The Maldives Islands: Tourism began in the Maldives relatively late. A United Nations mission on development which visited the Maldive Islands in the 1960s did not recommend tourism, claiming that the islands were not suitable. Ever since the launch of the first resort in Maldives in 1972, however, tourism in Maldives has flourished. Rising sea levels all but doom this string of 26 low-lying atolls in the Indian Ocean, unless the rest of the world acts—quickly—to curb global warming.
Goe, India: Goa’s unique history and culture, combined with its tropical climate and picturesque beaches make it the ideal place to escape to during the winter. Palolem beach stretches between two magnificent headlands and the beach is lined with towering coconut palms. Every season bamboo-hut resorts and restaurants are erected along the beach allowing tourists to stay right on the sand, only a few meters away from a swim in the Arabian Sea. The beach huts range from very basic to somewhat luxurious, with en suite huts becoming more common every year. However, the state's entire 63-mile coastline is eroding, and some beaches have lost as much as 65 feet of landmass in recent years due sea erosion and companies removing sand from the dunes for many new harbors being constructed.
Phu Quoc, Vietnam: This peaceful tropical paradise, floats in the warm turquoise waters in the Gulf of Thailand, 50kms from the Vietnamese mainland and a 50 minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City. Most are concentrated on Long Beach, a 12-mile strip of white sand running south from Duong Dong. Those closest to the town of Phu Quoc back onto a dusty dual carriageway studded with melancholy hawkers' stalls selling cans of green tea and the aptly-named Harpoon Gin.
Vietnam's hopelessly convoluted and corrupt bureaucracy will make it hard to get much built on Phu Quoc. But the 12-mile stretch of paradise known as Bai Truong (Long Beach) has already seen some concrete cookie-cutter hotels crop up alongside the more charming thatched-roof bungalows and this type construction will eventually take over the serenity of the island.
Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan: It is an area of striking beauty. Along the shores of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, the 2,500 acres that comprise the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Area boast a sparsely-developed landscape of spectacular beach, rare freshwater dunes, water, woods and wetlands; habitat to several endangered species; and home to a large number of significant historic and archeological sites. This cultural landscape and pristine view shed is now threatened by a proposed 400-acre residential development, including marina, hotel, restaurant and retail complex -- all prohibited by law for now by local zoning laws, but people are bucking the system and it won`t be long before it has to give way to future progress.
Maracco: When the Arabs first arrived here in the 7th century, they called the land "al bilad al Maghreb", the "western extreme" - the final stretch of terra firma before it is swallowed by the endless waters of the ocean. A land of horizons, where sea, sand dunes, skies and mountains extend interminably, Morocco is also a place of contrasts.
The Moroccan government has designated Larache as a target for major resort development, but the large-scale removal of sand makes the beaches unsuitable for tourism. It also ruins turtle and seabird nesting areas and exacerbates erosion problems by removing nature's defenses against storms.
Also, because of the threat of terrorism around the world lately there is a general threat from terrorism in Morocco. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers. You should have confidence in your individual security arrangements and maintain a high level of vigilance.
Mullins Bay, Barbados: This is the place to relax in a lounge chair under the umbrellas and shade of the Casuarina or palm trees, take a dip in the safely roped off areas, or venture out further on a jetski!
Vacation now because no one knows how long these beautiful places will be available to us tourists.
Thanks for listening,G Wells
Picture the gorgeous beach you spent a week on this summer. Now picture that same beach next summer, destroyed. Perhaps it eroded so much that there's barely room to spread out a towel. Maybe a colossal concrete hotel is being built where the sand dunes used to be. Maybe it has been coated with a slick of spilled oil. Hopefully, your slice of paradise will remain well preserved. If we don't curb global warming, insist on sustainable development, and protect the world's beaches against pollution and mismanagement, they will disappear very fast and be gone forever.
The Maldives Islands: Tourism began in the Maldives relatively late. A United Nations mission on development which visited the Maldive Islands in the 1960s did not recommend tourism, claiming that the islands were not suitable. Ever since the launch of the first resort in Maldives in 1972, however, tourism in Maldives has flourished. Rising sea levels all but doom this string of 26 low-lying atolls in the Indian Ocean, unless the rest of the world acts—quickly—to curb global warming.
Goe, India: Goa’s unique history and culture, combined with its tropical climate and picturesque beaches make it the ideal place to escape to during the winter. Palolem beach stretches between two magnificent headlands and the beach is lined with towering coconut palms. Every season bamboo-hut resorts and restaurants are erected along the beach allowing tourists to stay right on the sand, only a few meters away from a swim in the Arabian Sea. The beach huts range from very basic to somewhat luxurious, with en suite huts becoming more common every year. However, the state's entire 63-mile coastline is eroding, and some beaches have lost as much as 65 feet of landmass in recent years due sea erosion and companies removing sand from the dunes for many new harbors being constructed.
Phu Quoc, Vietnam: This peaceful tropical paradise, floats in the warm turquoise waters in the Gulf of Thailand, 50kms from the Vietnamese mainland and a 50 minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City. Most are concentrated on Long Beach, a 12-mile strip of white sand running south from Duong Dong. Those closest to the town of Phu Quoc back onto a dusty dual carriageway studded with melancholy hawkers' stalls selling cans of green tea and the aptly-named Harpoon Gin.
Vietnam's hopelessly convoluted and corrupt bureaucracy will make it hard to get much built on Phu Quoc. But the 12-mile stretch of paradise known as Bai Truong (Long Beach) has already seen some concrete cookie-cutter hotels crop up alongside the more charming thatched-roof bungalows and this type construction will eventually take over the serenity of the island.
Saugatuck Dunes, Michigan: It is an area of striking beauty. Along the shores of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, the 2,500 acres that comprise the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Area boast a sparsely-developed landscape of spectacular beach, rare freshwater dunes, water, woods and wetlands; habitat to several endangered species; and home to a large number of significant historic and archeological sites. This cultural landscape and pristine view shed is now threatened by a proposed 400-acre residential development, including marina, hotel, restaurant and retail complex -- all prohibited by law for now by local zoning laws, but people are bucking the system and it won`t be long before it has to give way to future progress.
Maracco: When the Arabs first arrived here in the 7th century, they called the land "al bilad al Maghreb", the "western extreme" - the final stretch of terra firma before it is swallowed by the endless waters of the ocean. A land of horizons, where sea, sand dunes, skies and mountains extend interminably, Morocco is also a place of contrasts.
The Moroccan government has designated Larache as a target for major resort development, but the large-scale removal of sand makes the beaches unsuitable for tourism. It also ruins turtle and seabird nesting areas and exacerbates erosion problems by removing nature's defenses against storms.
Also, because of the threat of terrorism around the world lately there is a general threat from terrorism in Morocco. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers. You should have confidence in your individual security arrangements and maintain a high level of vigilance.
Mullins Bay, Barbados: This is the place to relax in a lounge chair under the umbrellas and shade of the Casuarina or palm trees, take a dip in the safely roped off areas, or venture out further on a jetski!
You may find that beaches throughout Barbados are usually fairly quiet , however, Mullin's Bay offers something unique . Of course, this spot isn't one many would call metropolitan it isn't those planning on stopping at this beach during their vacations will enjoy escaping the buzz of city life without missing an opportunity to meet new people.
On the island's northwest coast, sunbathers used to be able to walk from the popular beach bar on Mullins Beach north for several miles up the sandy shore. Now, there are only impassable boulders, sea walls, and crashing surf. The Barbados government maintains that global warming is the main culprit in the island's erosion problem, and rising sea levels and severe storms certainly play a role, but to protect its shoreline, Barbados also needs to balance the demands of development and preservation.Vacation now because no one knows how long these beautiful places will be available to us tourists.
Thanks for listening,G Wells
