Surprisingly interesting rock formations and fun scrambling on the Westernmost coast of the island. Everything fine but for the turbid water.

See full screen and the Garmin track (blue) & 2022 track (purple).

MTR to Tung Chung and bus or taxi to the West side of Shek Pik reservoir. There is a bathroom at the very start, perfect for you to get ready for the long day out.

Walk on the concrete till you arrive at the stairs down to Tai Long Wan campsite. If you want to simplify the day, go down the rock stairs.

In our case, we just followed a little further and

went down through Ling Bai stream.

The upper part is quite nice.

The lower is quite overgrown, as already mentioned in the previous post. Although not thorny.

Once on the beach, we started the coasteering.

Impressive Pak Kok area.

Initial lines on the rock and different tonality.

With Lantau Peak behind.

As per my posterior investigation, it seems that this area is well known for its peculiar rock formations and that hiking groups come to check the initial, easier to reach, spots. You can also see on the map above the usual exit used after exploring the tiny peninsula.

Impressive geological structures

with towering

tafoni.

Walking on them sometimes.

Coming out of the little cave.

There is another one previously (marked on the map) which can be quite picturesque too.

We did not take the pic “in” (in reality not deep at all). We were too focused on the black, red, all kind of color rocks.

Beware of your handholds though. Here Tyler after breaking one while climbing down… (click on the pic to zoom)

The wind and sea salt erodes the rocks.

Most peculiar rocks in the last section.

Positively surprised.

After this pebble beach, the walls become more regular.

You can continue to Kau Ling Chung for an easier exit. In our case, we decided to exit earlier, once we had still quite more things to visit that day and we had seen the most impressive rocks already (not really, check the 2022 update below).

There is a stream connecting with the Lantau trail.

Just after the initial ascent, we saw two tributaries. The left one looked more used and open. There were ropes set around. But not wanting to trust them and considering that the area was wet after some rain, Tyler decided to give the right, less steep, tributary a try. Ehhhh…

Very dense vegetation just a little further up. If using this stream, I would highly recommend bringing pruning scissors or a machete with you to help open your way. Finally, we arrived at the water-catching structure. Me crawling through the little tunnel in front (beware of the rusty metal structures within), Tyler through even denser vegetation above.

Once back on the main path we continued hiking west towards Fan Lau.

Go down to the beach and start coasteering again (we did not go but in the Easternmost part of the beach there is a small cave that you can go into).

The rock formations there are

less impressive but offer fun scrambling boulders.

Same color rocks

to hike and scramble on. Several beach sections where take a rest.

After turning North we faced the strong winds (force 6) that the forecast had warned us about. Watch/listen the video of Tyler below, even with the impressive noise reduction capabilities of his camera.

Relatively easy coasteering anyhow, higher than the breaking waves.

We found several bamboo structures and other trash brought by the wind and sea from who knows where.

We passed next to the Tin Hau Temple in Fan Lau Miu Wan.

Finally arriving at the beach of Fan Lau Sai Wan.

There we connected with the Lantau trail section 7, going through the picturesque valley of Yi O.

Quite some concrete paths.

With an intermediate stop at the lowest pool of Shui Lo Cho stream (Man Cheung Po), so that Tyler removed the salt from his body. I didn’t care vs cold. And go back to Tai O, from where you can catch a ferry or bus back to Tung Chung.

Video by Tyler.

April 2022: We went back again but this time just to do a straight coasteering route starting from Shek Pik ending up in Kau Ling Chung. Included on the map above (purple). The Garmin shows our initial wrong start. I saw a helipad marked on the map and wrongly assumed that was going to be next to the coastline. Instead, it is a lot easier to start directly next to the prison. You can pass, with no problem, and go down to the beach below. I liked all the route, way more diverse rocks than expected, both in the initial part and the last part that we had not done before. If I would need to choose I would prefer this second version a bit more.

The wave forecast was not bad at all

but nevertheless, as you can see in the video, we had some little “wave fun” again.

On the way, we found tons of ropes and ribbons till the exit after Pak Kok. If you are going to try to do the route dry, check carefully those ropes before using them and be extra careful choosing a day with no waves and lower tide, or you might end up with even more wounds or worse than these ladies.

We saw a few hikers going really slow and insecure while we were just jumping into the water if necessary to avoid dangerous areas due to waves.

If you just want to check a few of the rocky features and the cave here a video of how Daniel did it. In and out the same way on the South of Pak Kok. You can see the trail on the map above. Remember to check the tide!

April 2022 again: I realized that I had a tiny part pending to coasteer yet. From Kau Ling Chung  to Fan Lau East beach. Summer was going to hike with friends in the area and I decided to join them, go down to the coastline to tick out all Lantau coast, and then continue hiking with them.

The Garmin track. The rocks are pretty and there area small caves and a tunnel almost arriving at the East Beach of Fan Lau.

February 2024: starting in Big Wave Bay and ending the coasteering in Fan Lau. A bit of hiking, jogging and stream included too on our way to Tai O.

The Garmin track.

Everything you should know before coasteering.