The heat’s on but you can still have fun without getting cooked by the sun. John Yip stays cool with these indoor sports

Baseball and softball
If flailing your Wii remote in the air no longer satisfies your craving for a good swing of the bat, try Play’s state-of-the-art baseball and softball machines as well as their automatic ball retrieval systems out for size. Balls shoot from a ‘virtual pitcher’ up to 150km/hr in each of their five batting cages. Aspiring pitchers can sharpen their skills at the professional-length pitching lane with targets, precision radar gun and LED speed display thrown into the bargain.
Play, 2/F, Kras Asia Industrial Bldg, 79 Hung To Rd, Kwun Tong, 2342 9830, 321play.com.hk.

Skiing and snowboarding
While Hong Kong may be void of mountainsides (or snow for that matter), before you head to frostier lands, you can avoid that awkward moment when you fall flat on your face by paying Slope Infinity a visit. Learn and practice with real boards or skis and poles on Slope’s revolving carpet training decks where the angle of incline and revolving speed are both adjustable to beginners and pros. Play (see above) has also got some pretty kick-ass moving slopes and the venue also holds snowboarding and skiing courses too. Rad!
Slope Infinity, 1/F, 148 Electric Rd, North Point, 2107 4567, slope8.com.

Skateboarding
Local skaters needn’t wander around Hong Kong’s cramped and ragged streets any longer. Sk85ive2 is an indoor skateboarding park, well-equipped with rails, wedge ramps and flat banks so you can flip the board any way you want. Co-owned by Vans and local skate shop 8Five2Shop, the park sprawls across 3,000sq ft and, of course, is air-conditioned to keep you cool in the summer heat.
Sk85ive2, Suite D&E, 7/F, Hang Seng Industrial Bldg, 185-187 Wai Yip St, Kwun Tong, 2344 3982, facebook.com/VansSk85IVE2.

Rock climbing
Within yet another industrial area in San Po Kong is the biggest indoor rock climbing studio in Hong Kong. Just Climb is over 5,000sq ft in size and has more than 10 routes of various difficulties, promising everyone a moment of Spider-Man heroism. Under the guidance of their professional coaches, including one former Cheung Chau Bun Fest champion, you’ll be scaling their bevelled walls in no time. As Just Climb have got sufficient floor padding and their walls aren’t super high, visitors don’t have to use harnesses (always a source of pain) and can simply enjoy the fun of gripping on for dear life.
Just Climb, Rm D, G/F, Prince Industrial Bldg, 706 Prince Edward Rd East, San Po Kong, 3561 7868, justclimb.hk.

Petanque
The rather static French ball game – much like lawn bowling but with shiny metal balls – is gaining momentum in Hong Kong and Les Boules is the place to play it. They serve a great selection of French wines and draft beers while guests can try their hand at petanque on one of the three lanes in the café.
Les Boules, 18 Woo Hop St, Shek Tong Tsui, 2872 0102, lesboules.hk.

Golf simulator
If you don’t have the time to go all the way to finish 18 holes, swing your clubs and putters in front of the golf simulators at City Links Golf, located conveniently in the middle of Central. With more than 65 championship golf courses to choose from, the four full-swing
golf simulators allow you to experience all the fun of the fairway.
City Links Golf, from $290 per 55 minutes. 10/F, The Centrium, 60 Wyndham St, Central, 2522 6366, citylinksgolf.com.

Racing car simulator
Sure, you might not really break a sweat in an air-conditioned vehicle anyway, but car simulators are a fun way to try out this motor sport indoors. And you can experience the thrill of accelerating at Sideways Driving Club yourself with their racecar simulators. Make your full throttle dreams come true as you speed through Formula 1 courses on one of their thirteen simulators, but just make sure you don’t drive as fast on your way home.
Sideways Driving Club, LG/F, 1-2 Chancery Lane, Central, 2523 0983, from $200 per 30 minutes, sideways-driving-club.com.