HK
Sai Kung
Seafood quays, hidden beaches and Hong Kong's wild back garden
Seafood quays, hidden beaches and Hong Kong's wild back garden
The seafront promenade is the town’s social heart, lined with open-air seafood restaurants, cafes and sampans selling the day’s catch straight from the boat. Choose your fish, prawns or lobster live and have it cooked to order — one of Hong Kong’s great, easygoing eating experiences, with the bay as your backdrop.
Buy seafood live from the boats and have a nearby restaurant cook it for a small fee.
Boat tours from the pier weave among dramatic sea caves, arches and towering cliffs of hexagonal volcanic rock — some of the finest such formations on earth, protected as a UNESCO Global Geopark. It’s a spectacular, little-known side of Hong Kong, best seen from the water.
Take a geopark boat tour from the pier for the sea caves and rock columns.
Often called Hong Kong’s most beautiful beach, this remote crescent of golden sand and turquoise surf on the Sai Kung peninsula is reached only by a hike or a boat — and the effort keeps it blissfully wild. A cluster of beaches with a simple cafe or two, it feels like a tropical castaway coast.
Hike in over the hills or take a boat — there’s no road, which is exactly the point.
A short kaito hop from the pier, Sharp Island has a clear-watered swimming beach and, at low tide, a natural tombolo — a causeway of stones you can walk across to a neighbouring islet. It’s an easy, family-friendly island escape with snorkelling over corals.
Check the tides to walk the tombolo, and bring a snorkel.
The East Dam here shows off towering cliffs of folded volcanic rock columns and a wild, windswept coast pounded by the open sea — a geological wonder and a favourite for hiking and photography at the far end of the peninsula.
Take a taxi or tour to the East Dam for the rock columns and coastal views.
Sai Kung is all about seafood, and it does it better than anywhere in Hong Kong. Along the waterfront, tanks and sampans brim with live fish, prawns, crabs, clams and lobster; you pick what you want and a restaurant steams, fries or salt-and-peppers it to order. Beyond the seafood, the town has cha chaan teng diners, Western cafes and bakeries, and a relaxed, holiday feel with tables spilling onto the promenade. Cold beer, a sea breeze and a heaped platter of just-caught seafood is the Sai Kung way. Go with a group so you can share a spread, and eat facing the bay.
Sai Kung is in the eastern New Territories, without its own MTR station, but easy to reach: take the MTR to Diamond Hill or Choi Hung, then a green minibus or bus out to the town in around 30-40 minutes, tapping through with an Octopus card. Taxis (green in the New Territories) also make the run. From Sai Kung pier, little kaito ferries and hired boats reach the islands, beaches and geopark; the remote Tai Long Wan is reached by boat or on foot. To explore the country parks and the East Dam, a taxi or organised tour is easiest, as public transport thins out. The town itself is small and walkable. Allow a full day, and check the weather — boat trips depend on it.
Autumn (October to early December) is the finest time — dry, clear and comfortable for boat trips, hiking and the geopark, with calm seas. Winter is cool and pleasant. Spring can be humid and hazy, and summer is hot and typhoon-prone, though it’s the warmest for swimming at the beaches. For boat tours and coastal hikes, autumn’s settled weather is ideal — and always check for typhoon warnings before heading out on the water.
Wander the seafood waterfront, then a kaito ferry to Sharp Island for a swim and the low-tide tombolo.
A boat tour among the sea caves and volcanic rock columns of the UNESCO Geopark.
Pick your catch live from the sampans and have it cooked at a waterfront restaurant as the sun sets.
Buy fish and shellfish straight from the boats and stalls, then have a restaurant cook it — the Sai Kung ritual.
The islands, beaches and geopark are best reached by kaito ferry or hired boat from the pier.
For Hong Kong’s most beautiful beach, hike in over the hills or take a boat — there’s no road.
Boat trips and the geopark depend on calm seas — check forecasts and typhoon warnings, and aim for autumn.
There’s no MTR to Sai Kung — take the metro to Diamond Hill, then a minibus or taxi out to the town.
Quick answers to the questions travellers most often ask before visiting Sai Kung.
Explore the seafood waterfront, take a boat trip to the UNESCO Geopark’s sea caves and rock columns, visit islands like Sharp Island, hike or boat to the beautiful Tai Long Wan beach, and enjoy hiking and kayaking.
There’s no direct MTR — take the metro to Diamond Hill or Choi Hung, then a green minibus, bus or taxi out to the town (about 30-40 minutes). An Octopus card works throughout.
Its live seafood restaurants on the waterfront, the dramatic volcanic UNESCO Global Geopark, boat trips to unspoiled islands and beaches, and a laid-back seaside escape from the city.
Yes — for a green, coastal contrast to downtown Hong Kong: fresh seafood, geopark boat tours, remote beaches and hiking, all an easy day trip from the city.
Choose live fish, prawns, crab or lobster from the waterfront tanks and sampans, then hand it to a nearby restaurant, which cooks it to order for a small fee — a Sai Kung institution.
Download the Sai Kung area for offline navigation, walking directions and public transport routes.
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Skyscraper-packed Central, neon Tsim Sha Tsui, the Big Buddha on Lantau, seafood-and-hiking Sai Kung and breezy Stanley — five very different sides of Hong Kong.
Planning a wider trip? Our Hong Kong travel guide covers getting there, costs, when to go and more.