Are you a complete beginner who wants a really easy coasteering route taking a few nice cave pics & little more? Then this can be for you.
- Beauty/fun: 3/10 short, almost no real scrambling, quite some sea life in relatively more clear water, several shallow caves and crowded beaches.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 2.5/10 with one tiny swim and a few wades. You could do it dry, the first section excluded, in low tide if you are ready for high scramble including a couple of meters leap, 6.5/10 if so. Possible early exits every now and then. It can be exposed to swell and wind waves.
- The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)
See full screen & the Garmin track (including going up to High Junk Peak & run to Hang Hau.
After one month in a cooler climate & quarantine, I wanted to start the acclimatization back to subtropical HK summer. Sunny, hot, humid, late start due to PCR requirement. I decided to go for a short route on my own. I had tiny parts of this shoreline pending. Would I find anything interesting? Spoiler alert… No.
MTR to Hang Hau, or even better to Po Lam, to have more chances of getting space in the #16 minibus going to Po Toi O.
The start is just muddy, in my case dry in the mid tide,
and small piers after (drone picture with a higher tide).
So you will need to wade a bit to avoid getting into private properties. Or you could, just easier, avoid it completely and start on the pier marked on the map instead. Then you have a small nice rock section (for the average in this route, nothing special for regular coasteerers). Really easy to scramble on.
Just one point where I jumped into the water to avoid a longer high leap. Not recommended alone + I was starting to get hot 🥵 again. I have marked another exit/entrance a little later. There is a dry creek we used to access the coastline in a clean-up. Next to Cala d’Or houses. It is even easier moving forward, a stretch of small rocks, and back scrambling here.
This section became famous a couple of years ago because of “impressive cave” pics. The reality is far from that. The caves are pretty shallow. But with a wide-angle and some knowledge, you can definitely get some good-looking photos.
When I was there it was starting to get crowded with different groups of hikers approaching from both paths. The Southern one (3 on the map) ends up almost atop a tiny waterfall and the most famous cave (the pic above) just a little after. A dozen ladies were there shooting and modeling. So I just continued. A little later a barely 2 meters deep “cave” was good enough to take the first pic of this type. You can see it below on the left from inside and outside 🤷♂️. A little further, after the second hiking path connection, another picturesque cave. This time I helped a couple of ladies who had arrived kayaking there, taking pics of them.
By the way. If you try to scramble as much as you could you might miss this one. I was passing above, a bit sketchy but doable, before realizing that the cave was just under me.
Continue the easy coasteering and arrive at the usually pretty crowded Second Beach.
Just after you have the highest cave en route. Short coasteer and First Beach. Usually with less people. I would suggest you to go to the showers there
and stairs up to the bus station. Completely non interesting rocks otherwise up till Tai Wan Tau Beach, where you don’t have showers and do have longer concrete way up to the bus stop.
Some more pictures and a video of the day.
If you are in the area, you are experienced, and you want to try a way more interesting route you have a lot of options. Short and easier but with kayak Steep Island, or a bit more challenging around the Golf course, or the classic starting/ending at Green Egg island.
August 29, 2022 at 4:39 pm
We started after the mentioned pier. There is a path at the left side of the houses. Not really a path. Its a water flow that can be hidden by the bushes.
We did until the first beach. Very nice and beautifull. Ofcourse will be crouded on weekends as said. Lots of iate partyes too. I used a 5mt rope to assist my partner in a place and we scrambled very nice and fun clifs… Perfect for begginers as you can scape up (some places) or swim. We just swin in the Instagram cave and the next cliff.
Well explained. Awesome adventure. Thank you very much.