Hot Water can be a Beach

This post follows an early and very cold morning.

We got up at 5:30am, drove the 45 minutes to Hot Water Beach in the dark (complete with rain and wind) and pulled up to the deserted car park.

After debating whether stripping into swim gear on a beach being buffeted by huge waves on a very cold and grey day was actually a good idea, a couple of other tourists arrived and we decided we couldn’t back out now. Armed with a small spade, we got out of the comfort of the van and went in search of the famous hot water which gives the beach its name.

An artist's impression of our time at Hot Water Beach

Here, hot water bubbles out of the sand two hours either side of low tide, and if you’re quick and strong, you can actually dig yourself a small hot pool spa to sit in. We hadn’t however counted on the weather, which made digging for our lives rather unpleasant (as we were being hit by tiny needles of sand from every direction every time the wind blew). However, after meeting up with two American tourists (the only other brave souls on the beach) we joined forces and dug… a small puddle of hot (and I mean HOT) water. In some places it was too hot to stand in, but as the occasional wave rolled in and smashed into us, the cold sea water tempered the boiling pool and in the end we were afforded some time sitting in the warm waters. We both enjoyed the whole experience a lot, and weather meant we had the beach pretty much to ourselves which is always nice, even if we did have to endure some freezing rain and could only spend limited time on our hard won hole. In the end, we rewarded our early start and hard work with a full cooked breakfast and hot coffee to warm up.

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