My Saturday Trip to Sai Kung Islands

Sai Kung is one of the most picturesque areas of Hong Kong, with its scenic mountains and sea and small islands. The town itself has lots of seafood restaurants and the area around Sai Kung has many country parks, barbecue areas, campsites and hiking trails.

My adventure packed weekend started off on the dock of Sai Kung pier, watching workers on fishing boats sell salted dried fishy goods. You know you have arrived once you catch the fishy smells, which were somewhat titillating. Today, the promenade was brimming with visitors, most of them taking a leisurely stroll with their pet dogs.

I was thinking of taking a boat trip on a sampan from Sai Kung to Sharp Island and take long exposure photos once I reached there. I have always admired Michael Levin's work and I wanted to mimic his very minimalist style of capturing Landscape photos in long exposure.

In contrast to the countless visitors at Sai Kung promenade, there was hardly any people on the Sharp Island dock when the group that I was with alighted from the boat. The sleepy island was almost as empty as Vigan City at siesta time.

Jumping from the sampan, I decided to stay till last boat ride back to Sai Kung Pier to catch the sunset. When the golden time arrived, the setting couldn't have been more beautiful and romantic. Between the dips of the mountains, I saw a glowing sun reflecting off a still sea. The sand and docks was glowing in orange, and the sun gently smothered every surface it touched. 

When I finished taking photos, I packed my things and sauntered back to the dock to wait for last boat ride back to Sai Kung. I drank my bottled water and took in the purple-steaked skies, the smell of fresh sea water and the soft sounds of waves. My lung, eyes and ears would thank me for this weekend.

From Lohas Park, I went to Tseung Kwan O MTR Station. From there, I simply took the Bus 792M to Sai Kung Bus Terminus. The Bus service is every 20 minutes and the journey time was around 40 minutes.

From Sai Kung pier, I took a boat service to Sharp Island. The boat ride was about 15 minutes and the round trip ticket was 20 HK$. 

Fresh seafood can be bought from a floating market of fishing boats moored alongside the Sai Kung promenade.

Boats (locally known as Kai-to) which were tightly packed in this bay, bobbed gently up and down.

Sharp island is connected by a narrow piece of land, called tombolo, which leads to neighbouring Kiu Tau.

The colourful harbour is always a hive of activity and sampans line the promenade selling catches of seafood direct to the public and local seafood restaurants.