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Clockwise from
left: The iconic
Star Ferry has been
plying Hong Kong’s
harbor since 1888;
steamed prawns
with garlic at Sau
Kee Andy’s Seafood,
Yung Shue Wan;
Herboland, the only
organic herb garden
in Hong Kong; Sok
Kwu Wan’s row of
restaurants at dusk
THE STAR FERRY
pushes off from Hong
Kong’s Central Piers throughout the day
and well into the night. It has docked
along these waters since the service
began in 1888. And although Hong
Kong’s waterfront may have changed
beyond recognition, the iconic ferry has
remained a constant, plying to and fro
across the harbor. It’s a shorter journey
to Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui nowadays,
thanks to reclamation, and takes under
ten minutes. At little more than PHP13,
it qualifies as one of the most affordable
scenic boat rides in the world.
Halfway across, the natural and
man-made majesty of Victoria Harbour
becomes clear — as does just how
busy this waterway can be. Everything
from two-man rowboats to loaded
barges and jetfoils churn up the sea and
out to the west — in what are known
as the Fairways — anchored junks,
frigates and huge cruise liners laze on
the shimmering briny.
From piers next to the Star Ferry,
boats head through the Fairways to
some of Hong Kong’s outlying islands.
There are over 200 in these waters,
ranging from barren boulders up to
Lantau Island, the largest in Hong
Kong. Neighboring Lamma Island
can be reached in as little as half
an hour, similar to the travel time
you would incur from Central
District to Causeway Bay on the
tottery Edwardian-era tram.
Two ferry services head to
Lamma: one docks at Sok Kwu
Wan, a bay on the eastern coast,
while the other serves Yung Shue
Wan, the island’s main settlement
in the northwest. Both villages
are linked by a countryside path
known as the Family Trail, which
snakes through the heart of the island,
passing beaches and hillside vantage
points that offer stunning panoramas of
Lamma’s rugged interior and coastline.
H O N G K O N G ’ S I S L A N D S
