After over two months of planning, the weather finally allowed us to make the trip to the farthest place we can go (without quarantine) in almost two years – Tung Ping Chau!

Getting there

Located in the northeastern-most part of Hong Kong, Tung Ping Chau is closer to China than our home city. It took us about 1.5 hours via ferry from Ma Liu Shui Pier in Sha Tin to reach the island. So it truly felt like we have taken a trip outside Hong Kong.

Ferries going to Tung Ping Chau only operate on weekends and public holidays. Two ferries leave for the island on Saturdays (9am and 3:30pm), and one on Sundays (9am). Going back to Ma Liu Shui Pier, there is only one trip on both days (5:15pm), so better make sure to catch it or risk a longer holiday in Tung Ping Chau!

We booked our tickets a few days ahead online (the website was all in Chinese but with Google Translate, we managed to get our roundtrip tickets costing 100HKD per person). Lucky we did as there was a long queue to the ferry when we arrived at the pier around 8:40am. With pre-booked tickets, we were ushered to the front of the line to board.

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Upon reaching our destination, we agreed to hike around the island first before we laze and swim at the very enticing white sand beach located just beside the pier. We knew the island is home to a lot of extraordinary rock formations, so from the pier we turned left and started to explore the island.

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We passed by Sha Tau village or what’s left of it.

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From the temple, we decided to take the path by the beach.

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We took a snack break by the campsite, which had overgrown foliage but was also a beauty as butterflies were everywhere!

Rock stars

Just a few steps from the campsite, we spotted the majestic Kam Lau Shek.

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It took us a while to get going from Kam Lau Shek as the area is just gorgeous. But we knew we have a lot more to cover, so we continued our trek.

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The hike was relatively easy but the noon time heat was making it a lot harder for the kids to chug along. So Aaron decided to take the little ones and find our beach spot to cool off, while Kinga and I check out another solid beauty – Cham Keng Chau.

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Not far from Cham Keng Chau, we found our first beach spot.

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Marine Park

We continued our trip around the island to close the loop and head back to the beach by the pier.

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We found the coral garden just in front of the reataurant. So we stayed in the area the rest of the afternoon just snorkeling.

I felt so alive to be back in my element. Aaron also said he felt like we were on a real vacation somewhere, doing the thing we love most – seeing fishes and corals.

Iza, Aaron’s snorkel buddy, found the best sighting of the day – a squid living under the biggest buoy on the sea. Aya, my snorkel buddy, was super happy to snorkel for the first time and see all the fish, clams, and corals. She said she can’t wait for our next snorkeling trip. Me too!

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Unfortunately – our trip had to end. We needed to catch the last and only ferry going back to Ma Liu Shui Pier. Before boarding though, we ordered a take away sea urchin fried rice and calamari from the Chinese resto. The food kept us busy on our ferry back to mainland Hong Kong. Our tummies were full and our island traveler hearts even fuller.

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*Island Traveler is the name of the magazine I worked on in Shanghai. My Facebook’s memory feed reminded me of the launch of the magazine exactly nine years ago on the same day we visited Tung Ping Chau.