Sun & Sweat: An Insider Guide to the Top Five Unusual Summer Sports in Hong Kong

  To most, the Hong Kong summer is only about the beach and boat trips. If you still think these are your only options however, you are missing out on all sorts of sporting adventure. So whack on your flip-flops, ride the tide and pick something different from our Top Five Unusual Summer Sports Guide. SUP Yoga Because combining one sport with another is all the rage nowadays, stand up paddle (SUP) yoga - fusing yoga with, you guessed it, paddle boarding - has developed quite a following in Hong Kong. An introductory session is carried out on dry land before moving onto the water to perform anything from basic to advanced poses. So whether you want to take your yoga to a whole new level or just try something kooky and new, what’s not to love about a floating sun salutation? Where to play: Stanley main beach, or any beach with SUP board renting Contact: www.supyogahongkong.com or email [email protected] Kite Boarding Considered one of the universally exciting X Games, kite boarding (or kite surfing) is a mixture of wind and board sports. Fly the kite and let it guide your direction while working the board. Simple right? Consider it wind surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, surfing and kite flying all rolled into one! To master the tide, all you need is the equipment, the wind…and at least a couple of days of solid instruction. Where to play: Lantau Island, Tuen Mun, Lung Kwu Tan, Sai Kung Contact: kiteboarding.org.hk or kiteboarding-club.net Bubble Soccer With the FIFA World Cup craze running wild all over the city, it’s only natural to feel a little suffocated by all the TV and social media updates. It’s time to put down the gadgets and actually go play some soccer. Not fun enough? Try wrapping yourself in a giant protectable plastic bubble before getting on field. Now you can tackle your opponents without holding back. Think Zidane meets Saurez! Anyone else foresee a bubble soccer World Cup coming up? Where to play: Soccer 360, Tsuen Wan, or any indoor sports hall with a full basketball size court, schools or clubs Contact: www.bubblefootball.com.hk or [email protected] for more information Beach Volleyball With all the digging and smashing, volleyball players can easily get injured. But when the pitch is moved to the beach, where unforgiving concrete is replaced by soft, soft sand, players feel safer to dive hard for balls, and the game becomes more intense, and therefore, more fun! With only two players on each team, beach volleyball requires synchronicity and communication to execute smashes, dives and serves in perfect formation. So picture yourself and your best bud rocking swimsuits and sunglasses, using your Pacific Rim-style ‘drift’ expertise to serve the other team an epic smack down! Where to play: Kwai Chung Sports Ground Contact: Visit South China Athletic Association or email [email protected] Dragon Boating Dragon boating is a traditional Chinese sport, undertaken every year to celebrate the Tuen Ng Festival in Hong Kong. Tuen Ng takes place in May or June every year, with many organisations and corporate teams competing for honour, trophies and the sheer fun of it. Although the completive season has just finished, the most serious teams get back to training as soon as they freshen up. Not only is it a very physical activity, dragon boating also trains up team spirit, coordination and cooperation. To participate, you’ll need to gather a gang of friends (up to 20), or join an existing team. Finding a good group of people and paddling towards a common goal - isn’t that what life’s all about? Where to play: Stanley Main Beach, Shing Mun River Contact: www.buzzdragon.com,www.rhkyc.org.hk , www.loreley-dragonboat.com, or facebook.com/stormydragons search around on the net

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