Small islands in between Lantau & HK Island. A couple of nice beaches, OK short scrambling, combined with kayaking for a fun half day out.
- Beauty/fun: 6.5/10 the relatively small islands have quite some features. The aforementioned beaches, small caves, a couple of lighthouses, and diverse rock formations. Also tons of trash and not especially clean water.
- Difficulty (check this link if new here, this is not your standard HK hiking web): 5/10 if you are comfortable with kayaking or, even easier, you go there with boat support, the coasteering is relatively simple. A few high scrambles, almost completely protected from swell, and relatively short loops.
- The map (how to download to your phone offline maps)
See full screen & the Garmin track.
On our ferry rides to D-Bay, Peng Chau, and others I had seen Kau Yi Chau several times and it was definitely in my pipeline. Initially, I thought we might be able to swim there from Peng Chau. But after some talks with different people who had been swimming / sailing around and checking the boat traffic, it looked too risky without some kind of support. Eventually, I found that there are kayaks to rent in Peng Chau. So updated plan ready.
Tyler & James were in town during Chinese New Year. They wanted to go coasteering, but the forecast was far from ideal for any of the best routes: big east swell and strong winds. They are both strong kayakers, so we decided to give this a try.
We met the kayaks’ owner on the pier. He gave us the paddles, PFDs, and he walked with us to the beach while confirming that we were OK with the far-from-ideal weather conditions. A double kayak for James & me and Tyler on his own in a single. Finally even stronger winds all day long, mostly in the 30kph range. Therefore we changed our usual practice. We tend to go to the further point and most difficult coasteering first and do the easier parts later. In this case, it made more sense, above all for Tyler (who was making the greatest kayaking effort), to divide the Eastward paddling into two sections. So first land on Siu Kau Yi Chau.
If you don’t read Chinese, that Siu 小 from 小交椅洲 means small. And a small island it is indeed. A couple of pretty decent beaches, fun scrambling, and in less than forty minutes back again at the starting point.
After almost another 40 minutes of paddling, due to the wind, we arrived at (big) Kau Yi Chau. Here is our landing spot.
There was space for several kayaks even at 1.3m tide. From there we started coasteering clockwise. Quite flat initially, with tons of trash. Once we arrived at the lighthouse area, a bit more scrambling and the first signs of hikers there. We could see quite some ropes, I am guessing for them to stay dry after coming with a boat.
Relatively easy coasteering anyhow and another lighthouse.
A little after the small cute caves.
Some more scrambling, a nice cliff jumping spot, and after one hour and a half (total time on the island) back at the kayaks spot. A little lunch break and start the return paddling.
Even if Tyler was a bit tired and therefore we stopped a few times, we did the return trip in 40 minutes. Leave the kayaks on the beach, bring all the gear back to the ferry area and find a restaurant for a proper lunch.
A video with drone footage of both islands.
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