Cristo Rei Beach (, ) is a public beach facing the

Bay of Dili The Bay of Dili (, ) is a bay on the north coast of East Timor adjacent to Dili, its capital city. The bay forms part of Ombai Strait, which separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Island ...

in the '' suco'' of , East Timor.

Etymology

The beach takes its name from the colossal ''

Cristo Rei of Dili The ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' (Christ the King of Dili) statue (, ) is a colossal statue of Jesus Christ situated atop a globe at Cape Fatucama in Dili, Timor-Leste. It is one of East Timor's main tourist attractions. The statue was designed, ...

'' statue immediately to its north.

Geography

Cristo Rei Beach is composed of clean white sand and is about long. It is located at the north eastern end of the

, about from the centre of

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

, capital city of East Timor. On its land side, the beach is surrounded by steep low hills overlaid with ''

Eucalyptus alba ''Eucalyptus alba'', commonly known as white gum, khaki gum or poplar gum, is a species of tree that is native to Australia, Timor, and New Guinea. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, flower buds in groups of seven, white flowe ...

'' savanna woodland, in which small stands of

tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

are developing. The beach and hills are all part of the Areia Branca no Dolok Oan

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. Due to the beach's sheltered position inside the bay, it has only gentle waves. Immediately to the north of the beach are

Cape Fatucama Cape Fatucama (, ) is a cape (geography), cape or large headland a short distance north east of Dili, on the north coast of East Timor. It is best known as the site of the ''Cristo Rei of Dili'', a statue, colossal statue of Jesus, Jesus Chris ...

and the ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' statue at its peak; the statue is visible from the shoreline, and accessible from the beach's car park via a 570-step concrete staircase. On the other, eastern, side of Cape Fatucama, and accessible via the same staircase, is

Jesus Backside Beach Dolok Oan (), also known in English as Cristo Rei Back Beach or Jesus Backside Beach, is a public beach located in the '' suco'' of Hera, a short distance northeast of Dili, East Timor. The beach forms part of the south shore of Wetar Strait, i ...

, so named because the ''Cristo Rei of Dili'' statue faces in the opposite, western, direction. At weekends, Cristo Rei Beach is popular with local residents because of its gentle waves and sandy bottom, and food vendors congregate there to hawk packed lunches. On weekdays, the beach is mostly deserted.

Facilities

The beach is separated from its access road, Avenida de Areia Branca, by a stone wall, with entrances surmounted by sculptures of monkeys. On the other side of the Avenida are a car park and shelters that have been described as perfect for a picnic lunch. In the early years of the 21st century, particular efforts were made to develop the area into a leisure and tourist destination. During the term of East Timor's IV Constitutional Government (2007–2012), various other facilities were constructed at the beach, including

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

bathrooms A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts thereof. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink (also known as a wash basin in the United Kingdom). A toilet is al ...

, and water tanks.

References

External links

{{authority control Beaches of Timor-Leste Dili Municipality

Etymology

Geography

Facilities

See also

References

External links