What better way to spend a Tuesday off work thanks to the Chung Yeung Festival than to hike through Sai Kung East in search of the “deserted beaches” everyone talks about!?
Now, not only was the hike to get to these deserted beaches long, the journey to actually get to the beginning of the MacLehose Trail was a nightmare. Let’s start from the beginning..
We left quite a bit later than we should have, given that it was a holiday; clearly not off to the best start. By the time we packed our bags and left our door, it was around 10:30am. We had to take the MTR to Hang Hau Station, which took about 20 minutes. Once we made it to Hang Hau Station, we had to hop on a Public Light Bus (a small van-esque form of public transportation where the drivers most definitely do not follow the speed limit) to the main bus station in Sai Kung. This was about a 30 or so minute journey.
We clearly did not plan out our route to get to the beginning of the trail very well; we had no idea where we were going once we got off the bus. All we knew was that we needed to hop onto another Public Light Bus to take us to the MacLehose Trail. After getting directions on three separate occasions and wandering around for the better part of half an hour, we were mortified when at last we found the bus stop.. There were probably seventy people waiting in line for the bus. Thankfully the bus line went relatively fast – we only waited for about half an hour.
Beginning of MacLehose Trail
After another twenty minutes we finally arrived at the starting point of the MacLehose Trail. The hike was a bit difficult, especially given the temperature, but the view was fantastic – clear, blue water, plenty of outlying island, and lush greenery surrounding us.
To get to Tai Wan Beach, you’ll have to walk by two other beaches, through Sai Wan Village, across a rickety bridge, and past a delicious restaurant before we finally made it to our stopping point.
Heading into the first beach: 
Ham Tin Wan Beach: 
Tai Wan Beach:
After spending the remainder of the day soaking up the sun and catching some waves (which were massive!), we made our way back to the previous beach – Ham Tin Wan – to catch a boat taxi back to Sai Kung Town where the bus terminal is. Now, this is the part of my adventure where things most definitely do not go as planned. It’s about 5pm and we are on the beach waiting for the boats to come back and pull into shore so we can go home. We are sore, hungry, and exhausted at this point. Finally, three yellow taxi boats (did I mention that apparently these boats are illegal) came.
As we walked to the water, we saw people around us pulling out tickets. Apparently, we had to buy a ticket ahead of time for a specific time slot. Well, as our luck would have it, all the time slots were completely full except for the last one at 7:30pm. To make the best out of a shitty situation, we went to the little restaurant up on the shore and across the rickety bridge to settle our stomachs.
8pm. Taxi boats arrive. Waves are massive. Takes about fifteen minutes for the drivers to come into shore. Begin to question how in the world I am going to climb aboard when it is moving all over the place. Water all over the boat. We were crashing into massive ways; the boat would fly into the air, tossing everyone up and out of their seats, and then come crashing down. All the while, water was spraying into the boat, soaking all of us.
After an excruciating forty minutes, we made it to Sai Kung Town. Freezing and tired, we found a bus to take us back to the MTR station. At about 11pm, we arrived home. Thankfully in one piece.
Want to know more about Sai Kung? Check this out: http://www.hongkongextras.com/_sai_kung.html
