Hua Hin beach

 A very relaxing weekend getaway two and a half to three hour drive from Bangkok is Hua Hin, a small quiet beach resort town in the Gulf of Thailand.

beach

view of Gulf of Thailand from Hyatt

On Hua Hin beach:

Inspite of covid, the beach was surprisingly very busy.

Sand bubbler crabs:

While walking on the beach, I was fascinated by small sand balls all over. On closer inspection, I saw very tiny crabs almost the color of sand and almost unnoticeable. These shy crabs scutter to their holes at slightest movement. It was not easy to take pictures of them but I managed to take few pictures and came back to the room to find out more about these crabs.

Sand bubbler crabs are small crustaceans that live on sandy beaches of warm tropical waters.

intricate pattern made by these tiny crustaceans

small crabs, arrows pointing, one on right almost inside its hole

crab coming out of its hole

a close up

They remain inside their holes when the tide is high. As soon as the water recedes, they come out scrambling all over the place. They pick up sand particles, sifting through them to take in small plankton and microscopic food particles. After scrapping the sand of food, they make them into round balls. This way they do not pick the same sand again.

jelly fish surrounded by small sand balls

crab hole and a lone crab caught on camera

looking at the number of sand balls, the tide has been away for quite some time

Jellyfish:

With a penchant for searching beaches for some interesting finds, I saw beautiful jelly fishes, ofcourse all dead :)

Not fond of swimming in sea, I had no fear of a jellyfish sting, but got almarmed when my foot fell on something gooey.

white box jellyfish

Box jellyfish are very venomous. Their sting can prove to be very fatal, and leading to death at times.

Phyllorhiza punctata, Australian spotted or white spotted jellyfish. Had never seen a blue colored jellyfish earlier.

This species of jellyfish is native to Gulf of Thailand but has now become an invasive species all around.

ventral side of brown mosaic jellyfish, isn't it beautiful?

dorsal side, arms with tentacles all around

Though beautiful, deadly sea nettles's sting is said to be very nasty causing severe burns.

Cicada market:
Very close to Hyatt Regency on the main road is Hua Hin's weekly night market. The market is open on Friday to Sunday.

The open air market is a place where people come out on weekends to spend some time.

The market has everything: art and artifacts to buy or browse, decorative items, clothes, handmade accessories, paintings and many more things.

Huge lanterns hang from trees under which are tables and chairs are arranged to give a feeling of space.

Live shows:

The visitors are entertained by live shows and music.

a magic show in progress

Open-air amphitheatre provides a platform for artists to perform. It some times gets well known artists from Bangkok.

Not only shows keep the visitors entertained, a live band plays with others enjoying food

man making beautiful blow glass decorations

artifacts on display

Bags, hats, clothes, cosmetics everything is there. There is so much to shop.

food attracts us all

There is large variety of food to chose from, snacks, salads, sea food, stir fries..... 

som tam( papaya salad)

Horse in a souvenir shop here? Probably because they have horse riding along the beach, a horse club. There are also ponnies for children to ride along the beach.

The market gets pretty crowded on weekends but we went during the covid days, so did not see many people.

Overall, it is a good outing with fun filled activities.