An easy route full of cliff-jumping opportunities, clean water, beaches, and varied rock formations and colors. Good for beginners.
- Beauty/fun: 7.5/10. Comparatively cleaner water here, good cliff jumping spots, ending in a nice beach from where to take back ferry or continue through easy hiking paths.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 3.5/10 Protected from East swell waves, short, no high scrambles required with short swims, several possible early exits but a few can be overgrown.
- The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)
See full screen & Garmin track with an extra piece.
If you want to take public transportation to the very start of the route you could do so with quite some bus changes. Add 20/15 minutes walking on concrete from either Po Lo Che or Sai Kung bus terminus. Next to the Sai Kung Sewage Treatment Works is the start. Find your way next to that wall on the left.
You will be walking next to the little water channel for around 200 meters until you arrive at the connection
with the sea.
You can test your scrambling and free soloing skills or soon jump into the water.
With just a few short swims you can be scrambling low all the time in this initial stage.
A big part is very flat.
Nevertheless with very colorful rocks around.
A few sandy areas too, but with quite some trash whenever I have been there…
Clean water though.
After a bit more than an hour, the route becomes more interesting with several cliff-jumping opportunities.
Still relatively easy.
All the high jumps are optional.
Several up to 7m “safe” jumps. In any case, you can hurt yourself if arm entry is incorrect, hurt your ears, etc. So if you are new to this, practice cautiously, increase height slowly, and always check that water is deep enough.
Spectacular May clear water (one of the best coasteering months usually).
Perfect for the short connect swims.
More jumps (he puts his arms against the body before hitting the water)
Ladies challenging themselves with the walls.
You can find easier climbs.
Or swim a bit more. This time next to “Iurgi Beach” 😛 Named that way cause for a while I used to say that it was my private beach, accessible swimming only. The sandy area was without water only in low tide (<1 meter) in 2021. In case you want to go there to lie down, time your window of opportunity.
If you want to challenge yourself further, high scrambles are available too, not suitable for beginners. Definitely no water enough under in this spot…
Arriving at the turning point.
Pak Ma Tsui. Main early exit and from where “common” hikers come and visit this place.
Because of that, you can find ropes and ribbons in the area.
Avoiding them. You never know how safe they are.
Still clear clear water.
Some more small white sand beaches.
Before arriving at
the Ma Lam Wat hamlet. Do not trespass. Find the way to the main “street” and onto the pier.
You could continue going up and down the hiking path. But instead, it is easier to swim the 100 meters to the opposite shore. It is better to swim from there and not further South, as there are Kaitos coming to this pier and they might not see you…
Continue short coasteering
and you will arrive at the pier and beach just behind.
For most the outing finishes here. You could continue a bit further. There is a nice tiny beach just afterward. Usually a lot quieter than the previous one.
And some additional coasteering. Nothing especially interesting, but seeing the entry to the Yacht Clubs.
In the middle, you have the Scout Training Centre. Supposedly you should not be entering here. So you would need to continue coasteering for a while and find a bit obscure path up to the main one connecting Trio beach (Hong Fu road). I would not advise doing this extra part but for the most hardcore “I want to do all”s.
Late Nov 2022: Summer was slightly sick and we needed to cancel our outing to Jin or other longer routes in Sai Kung. Instead this one in relaxed easy mode. I tested some of the jumps and with tide <1m a few are not safe. Be careful. A lot more ropes and different structures set by fishermen or, most surely, hikers (we saw tons of ribbons) to keep dry. Beware too. Some are pretty dodgy and unnecessary. Scramble on your own or get wet.
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