Beautiful coast bit spoiled by “civilization” but a fun coasteering nevertheless. If you are new to this, please, be careful.

  • Beauty/fun: 6/10. I really would love this route without all the extras that you can find now.
  • Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 3.5/10. There are some sections that before you might have decided to swim. Now with so many extra “helps” not required at all in Ap Lei Chau section. Ap Lei Pai itself is quite simple if getting wet, some bush walking or complex scrambling if not, mainly on the East coast. Doable in 2-3 hours. One easy exit in the middle.
  • The map

And the ViewRanger track.

Different public transport options. In my case, I took the MTR to Lei Tung station, Exit B and from there start going up the little hill in front. Some stairs West direction next to the the Ap Lei Chau service reservoir playground. Walk for 15-20minutes and you will arrive at the end of Lee Nam road. The sea and the shoreline to “coasteer” just in front of you!

The initial part is quite easy. As soon as it starts getting a bit more complicated… Someone decided to make it easy…

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Ropes that I don’t mind. But it takes all the fun of a coastline like this one

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and part of its natural beauty, when someone builds with concrete, wood, metal, etc some kind of an “easy” way around.

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I don’t like it cause it creates an unreal feeling of security to some hikers that can get into trouble if they don’t know what they are doing. In any case, soon you will start seeing Ap Lei Pai, the “daughter” island of Ap Lei Chau.

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Did I mention already the false sense of security that these structures create?… “Hiker” doing it with sandals…

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Nice rock formations.

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And the beach that connects the two islands. Check the video below. End of the first section.

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In Ap Lei Chau the assistance is minimal. Some ropes and little more.

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Easy coasteering in general and if you have doubts or with big waves, you could do it completely dry following several ribbon routes.

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Natural pool

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just before arriving at the lighthouse. End of the second section.

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The southernmost point on the island and a place for climbers to gather and practice on shortish walls.

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You can easily find the way up to the hiking path that traverses the middle of the island. Or continue on the East coast with the port far ahead.

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With the drone on I didn’t want to test the water tightness of my bag 😛 so climbed a bit and bush-walk to avoid the swims. It is way more fun and easy just with a couple of extra swims. The main one marked on the map. That little bay doable also with a bit tricky scrambling (see 2019 Instagram below).

If you try to continue dry you will be sometimes scrambling high.

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Finally you will arrive at the end of the island and the connection with the main path that most people use to come here.

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Ropes again to “help” you up… Nice views from above.

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You could continue coasteering up till the port (messy exit and just a little bit more of coasteering that way), but I preferred to go uphill.

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And back down to the MTR. Steep and sandy, but compared with what you have done already a piece of cake 🙂

Video with the drone of most you will see there.

And several more pictures and video going with a big group of newbies, Jul 2019.

Enjoy!

Update 2021: Even further ropes and structures full route. We did it completely dry relatively easily, but for those that wanted to check the psicobloc routes (check the climbing web).

Garmin track doing a full loop from the MTR and back next to the boat shelter area which is quite messy, with dogs and bush.

Everything you should know before coasteering.