Surat Bay, simple and lovely

The beach area created by Surat Bay enclave, is simple and lovely. It's long and connects to Cannibal Bay, and is wide - you have a lot of area to roll from the land where sand starts till the water. The sand itself, is also fine and smooth, although falling short of the word pristine.

We spent quite a long time here since it had been ages since we saw a very decent beach, especially how much I love beaches and sea and sun. I may have a slightly high standard, but with all the disappointment of beach side coasts I seen in New Zealand, this is definitely a yes-yes to visit. And have I told you we own the beach at that moment?

Sealion and seal spotting off Cannibal Bay

Cannibal Bay is another long and pretty stretch of beach in Catlins area. You can walk to cannibal Bay from Surat Bay, involving a mere 1hr one way. You will definitely not regret walking it thru, as this is perhaps one of the best beach area we saw on the way. Fortunately for us, since it is still winter, we get to own the whole beach.

Another highlight other than the pretty long beach is the high chance presence of sea creatures, or otherwise known as New Zealand sea lions and New Zealand fur seals. In bid of testing our luck, we got to see both the female version of sea lion + the fur seal. It is always so exciting to catch a wild sea creature lazing itself on the beach, when you least expected it. A friendly note though, they are easier to be spotted lazing in the beach when it is low tide, and make sure you observe under the shades created by the bushes off the sand! Clever creature eh.

A must do even if you have no time, as walking on the beach with the bay cures even if you only have 10 mins to do so!