Island Hopping Hong Kong: Three Islands, One Ferry Day
Here's the fact that breaks every visitor's brain: Hong Kong isn't a city. It's an archipelago of more than 260 islands — only about 20 of them inhabited. And the best way to understand this place isn't a skyscraper at all. It's a ferry deck, salt on your lips, watching one island sink behind you as the next rises ahead. I should know: I live on one of them, and my commute is a boat.
Cheung Chau — my island
An hour by fast ferry from Central Pier 5, Cheung Chau is the island everyone wishes they'd found first. No cars, no high-rises — just a dumbbell-shaped village of fishing boats, seafood restaurants, beaches and lanes. See Pak Tai Temple (1783, home of the famous Bun Festival), swim at Tung Wan beach, hunt for Cheung Po Tsai's pirate cave — and if you're with me, meet the island's cats. Locals call me the Cat King; I accept the title with dignity.
Peng Chau — the island time forgot
Between Cheung Chau and Lantau sits little Peng Chau: half an hour by inter-island ferry, and fifty years behind everywhere else. This was once an industrial island — a match factory, a lime kiln, a cattle quarantine — and the ruins are still there to wander. Climb Finger Hill (95 metres, 15 minutes, huge views), visit the Tin Hau temple and the leather-factory-turned-art-space, and eat at a dai pai dong where the menu is whatever the owner bought that morning.
Lantau — the giant
From Peng Chau, ferries run to Mui Wo on Lantau — Hong Kong's biggest island, and its greenest. Depending on the day's ferry math (island law: the timetable is king), we either explore Mui Wo's silvermine beach and waterfalls, or continue to Tai O's stilt houses and the Big Buddha. Either way, Lantau is the proof of my favourite statistic: three-quarters of Hong Kong is green.
The ferry is the point
Tourists treat ferries as transport. Locals know they're the destination: open decks, harbour wind, the skyline shrinking behind you. An ordinary adult ferry fare is pocket money — yet it's the best cheap cruise in Asia. My advice: outside seat, left side outbound, right side home. And keep your camera ready for the moment Lantau's mountains first clear the horizon.
· Ferries: Central Pier 5 for Cheung Chau, Pier 6 for Mui Wo/Peng Chau — all take Octopus.
· Fast vs ordinary ferry: 20 minutes difference, half the romance. Take the ordinary at least once, outside deck.
· Inter-island ferries are infrequent — a missed one costs an hour. This is exactly why guides exist.
· Sundays: Cheung Chau gets busy by noon. Weekday islands are pure poetry.
👉 Do all three islands with me in one day: the Island Hopping Tour
Why I love this day
Because it shows visitors the Hong Kong that Hongkongers keep for themselves. No queues, no tickets, no velvet ropes — just boats, villages and the sea. When my guests sit on the ferry home, sunburnt and happy, they always say the same thing: "I had no idea Hong Kong was like this." Exactly. That's the point.
