With a metropolitan and polluted city like Hong Kong, you’ll never imagine there are nice beaches just an hour away from the city. But YES, there are beautiful beaches in Sai Kung. My top two favourites are Tai Long Wan, aka Big Wave Bay (大浪灣) and Long Ke (浪茄). Pollution free, white sandy beach, and wave for your boggie board.

Along the short 20 minutes hike, this route offered some of the best panoramas I`ve seen in Hong Kong. There’s also campsite beyond secluded Long Ke Wan, bring your own tent, food & drinks, as there’s no shop whatsoever in this area. It is definately quiet and remote for the peace seeking campers / swimmers. With a gentle sea breeze, one can stroll along Man Yee Road towards the site to be rewarded by a pleasant panoramic scene of High Island Reservoir.

Location: Long Ke Wan (Long Ke Beach), Sai Kung East Country Park.

How to Get There: take Bus 96R at the Diamond Hill MTR Bus Terminal, or mini-bus from Choi Hung MTR Station to Sai Kung Town. From Sai Kung Bus Terminal, take a green taxi to Man Yee Reservoir East Dam (tell the driver you want to go to Long Ke). You then walk along the roadside path marked towards Long Ke Wan, over a hill for 20-30 mins.

How about sailing in Hong Kong’s beautiful harbour, in an traditional Chinese junk boat, with a stylish cocktail on your hand?

There’s a private run junk boat called Aqua Luna (or “Cheung Po Tsai” in Cantonese), run by Aqua Restaurant Group, which owns some of Hong Kong’s most cutting edge luxury restaurants in HK, including Aqua, Ayuthaiya, WasabiSabi, etc.

Aqua Luna is probably the last traditional Chinese Junk boat to be designed and handmade in Hong Kong. This 28-metre junk was built in by a 80 year old master craftsman, supervised by an equally experienced 73 year old ship-building veteran, over a period of 18 months, using traditional Chinese boat building methods which have now all but died out in Hong Kong.

Price per person: HK$150 (day)/ HK$180 (evening) – 45 mins including cocktail /drink

Reservations:
Phone: +(852) 21168821
Website: www.aqua.com.hk
Email: info@aqua.com.hk

The only liscensed organic dairy farm in Hong Kong. The cows were feed with 100% organic grasses. This dairy farm have been in operations for 40 years. The farm is small, however, you can see the whole milk production process here, from gplantation, cows breeding, milk production, and packaging. Beacuse there’s limited production of the milk, they are not available for sale in supermarkets. You can also sample the milk in the farm though. You can be sured that you won’t drink milk with Melamine here.

Hong Ning Dairy (牛牛樂園)
Address: DD 81, Man Uk Bin, Sha Tau Kok, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Phone: +(852) 2674 0282
Fax: +(852) 2674 1571
Entrance Fee: HK$18/person (including free milk sample)
Feeding: you can buy some grass for HK$5 to feed the cows
Opening Hour: 10:00-16:00 Daily
Remarks: avoid Sunday if you can, as it’s over crowded with local group tourists.

Set against the mountain of Hok Tau (Fanling), occupying an area of 160,000 sq. ft., Lavender Garden is a place where you can relax and enjoy the countryside, escape from the busy city life with all modern conveniences at hand. The best season to see Lavender is in Autumn and Winter, when the weather is dry and cold.

Activities:

1. Barbecue – BBQ areas are fully equipped with tables, chairs and canopy for shade. Food and drinks can be conveniently purchased at the park. And you don’t have to worry about setting up the fire, they’ll do everything for you, full service.
2. Animals feeding – There are different varieties of turtle, including a 15kg Alligator Snapping Turtle. They also have goats & koi carp fishes that you can feed
3. Make your Own Candle - You can create your very own candles. Choose a glass and fill it with colourful stones, fill it with melted wax.
4. Shopping – There’s a mini market selling locally produced snacks and dried foods, organic fresh vegetables, and Chinese tea. They also carry a wide range of flowers and herbs that are perfect for your home.

Lavender Garden
Address: DD76 Lot 655 Hok Tau Road, Fanling, New Territories, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2674 7822
Fax: +(852) 2674 6361
Email: info@lavendergarden.com.hk
Entrance Fee: HK$5/person (under 3 years old free of charge)
Opening Hour: Mon-Fri 10:00-19:00 / Sat, Sun, Holidays 10:00-22:00

Directions: Take MTR train to Fanling station. From there, take the 52B (Hok Tau) minibus, which runs at 20 minute intervals. (The last bus depart at 20:20) Alight the minibus before it turns right at the entry to Hok Tau Village. Walk straight along Hok Tau Road for a couple of minutes and you will see LAVENDER GARDEN on your left.

Remarks: Outside food & drinks are nor allowed in the garden

Famed for its oyster farms and seafood restaurants, Lau Fau Shan (流浮山) is recognised as an important part of Hong Kong’s heritage. It is where some of the earliest settlers lived.

This small fishing village is located on Deep Bay (Western New Territories), near Tin Shui Wai and facing Shekou in Shenzhen. About 100 tons of oysters were harvested every year, some for consumption in Hong Kong restaurants and some for export to neighboring countries. Little remains of this today due to pollutin. However the village with its excellent seafood restaurants, now become a tourist attraction for local foodies, especially during weekends and holidays. You can have a truly delicious seafood meal here without much fear of being ripped off. The coastline sunset scene is breathtaking. You can also see a 1500-year-old temple founded by the legendary monk Pui To, who is said to have landed on this coast in a wooden tub.

After you alight from the minibus, take a walk through Ching Tai Street (the only street in Lau Fau Shan) to the shore. You’ll pass through a a stretch of seafood restaurants and fishmongers’ stalls selling dried seafood. Here, you can buy excellent oyster sauce made by fresh oysters, as well as dried scallops, dried oysters, dried prawn, dried shrimp eggs, salty fish, etc. With the same quality, prices are usually cheaper than shops in the city.

How to get there: Take MTR to Tai Po Market station. Walk to the minibus terminal on Tai Fung Street. Take #33 maxicab, the ride takes around 20 mins.
Warnings: traffic congestion during weekends and public holidays.