Tai Long Wan day trip from Central Hong Kong

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wilder-beast migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
4
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling food market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
1
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
72 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
Asia
country
Hong Kong
Length of time
1 day or less
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 60
Time of year visited
April
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Beaches Boat trip Hiking
All Tags
Camping Dam Jungle UNESCO world heritage site
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
104th/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 30% SUMMARY RATING: Superb

Summary

I’ve called out in another travel entry (2 days hidden highlights of Hong Kong) that Hong Kong will surprise you with just how much natural beauty and tropical paradise is on its doorstep, and nothing shows this better than the day trip to the eastern beach of Tai Long Wan.  In my opinion, HK’s most beautiful beach for both sand quality, water quality and surroundings.  It’s stunning as you walk over the nearby headland to see the two main beaches with Sharp Peak looming over both of them and, as you get the sampan boat back, not for the first time you’ll be just amazed that you’re in HK

 

Plan for getting there and back – Getting there and back you’ve got 2 options: road or sea.  For road – either take a taxi direct to the Sai Wan Pavilion inside Sai Kung National park, or a bus to the entrance of the National Park (Sai Kung Country Park Visitor Centre – 45/60mins from Central) and then taxi from there to the pavilion (15mins).  Must be a taxi as Ubers are not allowed in the park.  Once there, it’s an hour walk down to the main beach of Ham Tim.  For sea, take one of the speed boats from Sai Kung Public Pier, which you can reach in 45mins from Central.  Takes around 30mins and HK$120 / US$15 per person.  Can get a little bumpy as you get towards Tai Long Wan, but only for 10mins or so, and along the way you’ll see the UNESCO World Heritage rock formations that hug the coast.  My suggestion is to take the taxi to the Sai Wan Pavilion, walk to Ham Tim as you pass by some of the small beaches and villages, chill out on the beach, walk over to the longer Tai Long Wan beach (just around the headland from Ham Tim), and then make your way back via speed boat to Sai Kung Town for some food in one of the seafront seafood restaurants

 

If looking for a bit more adventure when up in Tai Long Wan, the nearby rockpools are fun and the climb up to Sharp Peak (3 hours round trip) is well worth it for the views.  I could write all day about Tai Long Wan, but won’t – instead, Sassy does a great summary here with all the details you need https://www.sassyhongkong.com/whats-on-hk-tai-long-wan-guide-beach-eat-drink-camping/

 

Its obviously hard not to prioritise the classic highlights of Hong Kong, such as the Star Ferry, view from the Peak etc – and I’ve written a review for top tips on these here at 2 days for the famous highlights of Hong Kong – but if you’re looking for a tropical beach and fun adventure getting there, you won’t be disappointed in Tai Long Wan

highlights

#1 That amazing view as you pass over the headland and see the Ham Tim Beach with Sharp Peak in the distance

#2 Taking the sampan boat back to Sai Kung town and past some surprisingly impressive, and UNESCO-world heritage listed, rock formations

#3 The walk along the beaches, such as Sai Wan on the way to the main Tai Long Wan area

#4 Potentially taking the night to camp on one of the beaches - various places on the walk along the way and one place at Ham Tim beach allow renting of equipment

#5 Grabbing food and drinks at the beach restaurant on Ham Tim beach. A super spot to chill out and recover after a hike

#6 The walk past High Island Reservoir on the way to the beaches

#7 Climbing up the daunting looking Sharp Peak (not as bad as it looks)

#8 Taking on one of the nearby more challenging hikes, such as to Long Ke beach on the return back to Tai Long Wan

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other great day hikes around the World

Hiking Lake Esmeralda in the Tierra del Fuego
Overall Score: 78

Train ride from Sydney to Katoomba and checking out the Blue Mountains
Overall Score: 60

Hiking the stunning Zhangjiajie National Park
Overall Score: 83

Hiking near the hot springs of Altyn Arashan near Karakol
Overall Score: 80

The Northumberland Coast (in summer!)
Overall Score: 65

PR3 hike from Ermelo to Figas de Ermelo
Overall Score: 70

2 days by the beautiful Lake Como
Overall Score: 78

A day walking through Yosemite National Park
Overall Score: 78

A day walking through Arches National Park
Overall Score: 70

A walk around some of the key Inca sites near Cusco
Overall Score: 68

Hiking up to the former utopia of Livingstonia from Lake Malawi
Overall Score: 78

Hiking around Interlaken
Overall Score: 80

Score Detail

Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"?  That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others.  That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score

This overall experience score is calculated by:  take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10).  Then convert into a score out of 100

Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique".  Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides.  So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique".  But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience).  So, both of these scores are standalone