Hac Sa Beach 黑沙海滩

About Hac Sa Beach

The broad shore gives this part of Macao a different character from the dense urban waterfronts. Hac Sa Park backs the beach with picnic and recreation facilities, allowing a visit to alternate between the shore and a more sheltered park setting. Swimming depends on the day’s official beach conditions; a shoreline visit does not require going into the water.

Archaeological excavations of the beach's black-sand site in 2006 uncovered pottery more than four thousand years old, indicating that people were active on this shore in antiquity. A small fishing settlement over a century old, called Hac Sa Village (黑沙村), stands nearby. Hac Sa Beach was originally the largest natural beach in the Macau region, but erosion in recent years has reduced its area; the government has added yellow sand to keep the original black sand from vanishing, and the black sand now lies mostly beneath the surface and along the shoreline, appearing sparser than the added sand.

The beach is about 1,350 metres long and was anciently called Dawan (大环, ‘big ring’); it is crescent-shaped, with a gentle slope, a broad strand and clear water. Its black sand is said to have been carried close to shore by ocean currents, and analysis attributes the colour to glauconite (海绿石), a secondary mineral worn down by waves over the years and deposited on the shore. From the 1960s a dense windbreak of ironwood trees (木麻黄) was planted along the beach. It has been named one of the “Eight Sights of Macau” (澳门八景) and is considered a favoured spot for water activities and stargazing.

What to look for

• Look for the dark sand grains that give Hac Sa its name.
• The adjoining Hac Sa Park provides picnic and recreation areas behind the shore.

Location & getting there

Getting to Hac Sa Beach

Approach the Hac Sa beach and park area from Estrada Nova de Hac Sa. The beach support-station area is a named arrival point on the public road approach.