The Discovery Bay to Mui Wo hike is perfect if you’re wanting to get off Hong Kong Island without wasting much time getting to and back from your hike. This hike is very straight forward and offers fantastic views of Discovery Bay and the surrounding islands (if the weather is cooperating). The first half of this hike can be challenging, with a lot of uphill stairs and a fairly steep climb up to Tiger’s Head. However, the rest of the trail is flat and downhill. The hike ends at Silvermine Bay Beach, so bring your bathing suit and take a quick dip in the water before catching the ferry back to Central.

Starting point of the Discovery Bay to Mui Wo hike

Head to Central Pier 3 and hop on the Discovery Bay ferry (view the timetable here). The journey takes about 25 minutes and the hike begins 5 minutes from the pier.

Discovery Bay to Tiger’s Head (Lo Fu Tau)

Once you’re off the ferry and at Discovery Bay Plaza, head right towards the beach. Depending on what time you start this hike, you could grab breakfast at one of the cafes (there’s also a Pacific Coffee there) beforehand. Otherwise, keep following the path towards the beach. Once on the walkway along the beach, you’re going to take the first left (where you see the people in the photo above) up the path between the housing complexes.

Walk past the housing complex and make a right after the houses at the intersection (see first photo above). Walk down the path where you’ll have houses on your right and trees on your left across the road. At the first crosswalk, turn left and cross the street. You’ll see a green sign and a white sign (can see them in the middle-left of the second photo above) with stairs leading up. This is the start of the hike.

Although not long, the stairs leading up to the Discovery Bay lookout are quite steep, and can be relentless on a hot and humid day. That being said, the views are fantastic once you reach the top.

After you’re done taking a few photos, head down from the lookout point (just keep following the path) and turn right after you finish going down the stairs (if you head left you’ll see a helicopter pad followed by a gazebo with another lookout point). Only a few steps down that paved path is where you’ll make the first right and head up. From here, you’ll be going up a dirt path to get to Tiger’s Head (Lo Fu Tau Country Trail).

At this point, you’re almost at the top – the dirt path you see in the photo above is the same one you’ll be climbing up to get to this point.

Tiger’s Head (Lo Fu Tau) to Mui Wo

If the skies are bright and blue, the view from the top would be stunning. Unfortunately, I had no such luck when I went and couldn’t see anything more than a few feet ahead of me (but at least there was a photo to show me what I was missing out on, right?..). From this point, the rest of the hike is all flat and downhill – just keep following the path.

After about 20 minutes, you’ll come to a fork in the path with a little pavilion. Go left towards Mui Wo, which you’ll be able to see in the distance as you descend.

Once in Mui Wo, you’ll walk past a small waterfall, a few temples, and the Silvermine Cave. Shortly after the cave, you’ll have a point where you could continue to walk straight, but you’ll also see stairs looping down and going back in the direction you came just to the left beside the tree with all the signs on it (see photo above).

To get to Silvermine Bay Beach and the ferry pier, turn around and head down the stairs and continue along the path. After a 10 minute walk through the little local villages, you’ll reach the beach. From here, you can take a dip in the water, grab a snack, or head back to the ferry pier if you’re eager to get home. On your way to the ferry pier, there’s a cooked food center with tables looking out onto the water that I would recommend eating at if you’re hungry.

Journey Length: about 10 km
Total Time: about 2.5 – 3.5 hours