A long route full of corals, clear water, remote beaches, and a few nice rocks in the Geopark. More suitable for a swim hike than usual coasteering.
- Beauty/fun: 6/10. Best corals seen in HK recently, clearer water than Western routes, relatively remote, nice beaches. Almost no scrambling and tons of wading.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 4/10. If you are OK with the distance and being focused for long, it is an easy one. Protected from swell and wind, waves from boats and ferries might be the only ones you feel all route long. A few potential early exits, but with complex logistics or bushy hiking paths.
- The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)
See full screen & Garmin track.
Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park was the first place in Hong Kong where I saw corals, long years ago. Since I have been bringing friends regularly there swimming and kayaking. My last long solo swim before the Clean Half started also there heading West into Tolo channel. With strong swell and wind waves in other areas I decided to give the same route a try, but this time coasteering.
Early morning MTR to Choi Hung, minibus to Saikung, and a second one to Hoi Ha. Pass through the tiny village, the kayak renting shop, and onto the beach.
In no time “coasteering”.
Almost no scrambling required for long. Rock hopping and wading mainly well pass the initial areas where most stay. For example, this first coral area where tons of kayaks can gather on sunny days.
I have marked on the map the usual route we do when kayaking/ swimming around. Yellow line and the coral areas. The above is what I have called coral area 1, as usually we do them clockwise. This time I did not spend any time there and continued the walk. A little further I got into a new (for me) coral area. Very nice, even with jellyfishes around. Being fully clothed made the encounter completely painless.
On the rocks again and on a short scrambling area seen the entrance to Tolo Channel.
Start heading South West. Some more wading, as the vegetation gets completely close to the sea. A few peculiar-looking rocks next to where there should be a hiking path (I didn’t see it, but not checking either) And the “buoy border”. There is a police position there, to control smugglers.
Moving forward, more sections of easy scrambling and nice beaches with surprisingly clear water.
What I called PacMan rock. I do not think that has “officially” a name yet.
Arriving at the small pier next to the Caritas Camp.
A bit more wading (stubborn me, there was a hiking path around) and connect with the concrete path in Lai Chi Chong. There is a ferry pier and just next to it
part of the Geopark. Different rock formations
with pretty water as soon as I got a little further from the campground. Here approx in front of Che Lei Pai island (marked on the map).
More nice beaches afterward.
and rocks, seen the city getting closer.
Long route. Therefore I started to shortcut a bit with a few swims. I thought to swim directly to Kei Ling Ha Hoi Pier. A bit less than 1.5km (light blue line), would have been the fastest way to return for me. But I was not sure about the ferry schedule and I did not want to be alone in the “open sea” without fins and with a possible ferry coming towards me. So I decided to play safe and swim to Sham Chung pier.
Get out of the water with the surprised faces of the hikers that were waiting there for the ferry. Mindblown when I told them that I was coming from Hoi Ha 😉 They told me that I should not rush, still almost an hour before the ferry was coming… Mental calculations… Nah. Pass. Remove all the coasteering gear (gloves, sleeves, hard pants, calf guards, goggles), put it all in the backpack and jogging time. There is a concrete path very next to the coastline that becomes marsh.
See the Flying Phoenix & Dragon streams from below while jogging and finish at the bus stop of Sai Sha road.
If you want to do it shorter you could. Just decide what are you most interested in. If corals, start in Hoi Ha go to Lai Chi Chong, visit part of the Geopark and head back to the ferry. If more into colorful rocks and beaches to chill, start from Lai Chi Chong and head South. The ferry availability might be tricky (?) Before was significantly easier to get in. With Covid related hiking increase more people going to Tap Mun. So try to call them beforehand.
My preferred option would be to bring the swim buoy and “swim – hike”. Easy enough so that I would not miss the sternum and waist straps of the backpack.
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