The Beauty of Air Manis Beach: The Place Where The Ungrateful Child was Cursed

"Dear God, if he isn't my son, please let him have a save journey. But if he is not, I cursed him to become a stone!" she prayed to the God. In the quite sea, suddenly the wind blew so hard and a thunderstorm came.

Who has ever heard or read the sentence above, let's raise your hand!  Yaps, the sentence is very familiar to us because the sentence fragment comes from a legendary story of Indonesian society which is well known and very attached to this day, namely Malin Kundang.

Air Manis Beach or in Minang language called "Aia Manih" beach is a tourist area located in Padang or to be precise in kecamatan Padang selatan, Kota Padang. 

This beach is one of the popular tourist destinations which is always crowded with people, especially during the holiday season or Eid.  Besides having an exotic panorama, this beach is also known as the Malin Kundang Stone beach. 

The combination of nature and the legendary stories of the Padang people is a special attraction for this beach.  Many tourists are curious about the original Malin Kundang stone, naturally this area is made as a tourist icon for the city of Padang.

I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to visit this beach. A little story, at first I didn't expect that I could finally arrive at this beach because at first my goal to Padang city was to accompany my cousin to take the entrance test to a university in Padang. On July 18, 2019, my family and I went to Padang. We were in Padang for five days and stayed at two different hotels in Padang.

After arriving  in Padang, we decided to stay at a hotel in the center of Padang, namely the Ion Hotel. The reason we chose this hotel is because the location of this hotel is not that far from my cousin's test location. 

On this first day in Padang, I did not immediately visit Air Manis Beach, but I visited my grandmother's house in Lubuk Basung. My mother and I and some of my family also went to Lubuk Basung, but my cousin was taking the test and his parents were still in Padang to accompany my cousin.

After two days in Padang and my cousin had also finished taking the test, unexpectedly my auntie suddenly suggested that we visit Air Manis beach, she said it would be a pity if we were already in Padang but did not visit the beach  with this very famous legend. Finally, on that day we checked out of the hotel and looked for another hotel that was closer to Air Manis beach.

The next day, we immediately went to Air Manis beach. Along the road to get there, I still feel comfortable because I can see the beautiful city of Padang. 

When I arrived there, I was greeted by the touch of the soft beach breeze and the sound of the waves from a distance. I was amazed at the scenery I saw, the beach with a wide coastline, sloping contours, and white brown sand.  This beach is also known for its small waves and has a beautiful panorama on the north side