Tai Long Wan day trip from Central Hong Kong

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
4
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
1
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
72 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
132nd/454
Top 30%
continent
Asia
country
Hong Kong
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$60 (typically $40 - $80)
Time of year visited
April
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Beaches Boat trip Hiking
All Tags
Camping Dam Jungle UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

I’ve called out in another travel entry (2 days hidden highlights of Hong Kong) that Hong Kong will surprise you with just how much natural beauty and tropical paradise is on its doorstep.  Nothing shows this better than the day trip to the eastern beach of Tai Long Wan – HK’s most beautiful beach for both sand quality, water quality and surroundings.
It’s truly stunning as you walk over the nearby headland to see the two main beaches with Sharp Peak looming over and, as you get the sampan boat back to Sai Kung town, not for the first time you’ll be just amazed that you’re in HK.

 

View of Ham Tin Beach with Sharp Peak in the background, Tai Long Wan in Hong Kong

Wouldn’t believe this is in Hong Kong right?

 

Orientation and plan for getting there and back

 

Map

 

10 main spots on the map:

  1. Sai Kung Town and its public pier – this is where you get the sampan to / from Tai Long Wan
  2. Sai Kung Country Park Visitor Centre – you have top pass here to enter Tai Long Wan by road.  Ubers cannot pass but taxis can
  3. Sai Wan Pavilion – the furthest spot you can drive to before you need to start walking.  There is a mini bus stop here
  4. Sai Wan Beach – the first beach to get to on the walk from Sai Wan Pavilion.  Its a nice stop, simple beach restaurant and plenty of water sports
  5. Ham Tim Beach – the second beach, sensational view as you pass the headland, and with a 2 restaurants for food just off the beach
  6. Tai Wan Beach – the final main beach, and the biggest.  No buildings, just stunning long sand
  7. Tung Wan Beach – extra beach along that most people miss. Very small
  8. Sharp Peak – the sharp mountain peak that dominates views from all sides.  Gruelling walk up, but sensational views
  9. Four consecutive pools – beautiful rock pools just after the Sai Wan Beach
  10. Tung Wan Pier – an alternative route out of Tai Long Wan

 

Getting to Tai Long Wan and back – 4 options

Option #1 Road and walk

Either take a taxi direct to the Sai Wan Pavilion inside Sai Kung National park, or a bus to the entrance of the National Park (Sai Kung Country Park Visitor Centre – 45/60mins from Central) and then taxi from there to the pavilion (15mins).  It must be a taxi as Ubers are not allowed in the park.

Once there, it’s a 1-1.5 hour walk down to the main beach of Ham Tim, plus extra for the there-and-back to Tai Long Wan main beach.

 

Option #2 Sea

For sea, take one of the speed boats from Sai Kung Public Pier, which you can reach in 45mins from Central.  Takes around 30mins and HK$120 / US$15 per person.  Can get a little bumpy as you get towards Tai Long Wan, but only for 10mins or so, and along the way you’ll see the UNESCO World Heritage rock formations that hug the coast.

 

Option #3 The combo 🥇

My suggestion is to take the taxi to the Sai Wan Pavilion, walk to Ham Tim as you pass by some of the small beaches and villages, chill out on the beach, walk over to the longer Tai Long Wan beach (just around the headland from Ham Tim), and then make your way back via speed boat to Sai Kung Town for some food in one of the seafront seafood restaurants. It acts as a circular route so avoids repetition and gets the best of both worlds – the small beaches hike and the beautiful speedboat ride through the islands.

 

Option #4 Tung Wah Pier

The other more unusual option is to continue your Sharp Peak hike down to the Tung Wah Pier.  From there you can get ferries to bus connections more towards Ma On Shan.

 

Highlights

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#1 That amazing view as you pass over the headland and see the Ham Tim Beach with Sharp Peak in the distance

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#2 Taking the sampan boat back to Sai Kung town and past some surprisingly impressive, and UNESCO-world heritage listed, rock formations

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#3 The walk along the beaches, such as Sai Wan on the way to the main Tai Long Wan area

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#4 Potentially taking the night to camp on one of the beaches - various places on the walk along the way and one place at Ham Tim beach allow renting of equipment

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#5 Grabbing food and drinks at the beach restaurant on Ham Tim beach. A super spot to chill out and recover after a hike

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#6 The walk past High Island Reservoir on the way to the beaches

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#7 Climbing up the daunting looking Sharp Peak (not as bad as it looks)

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#8 Taking on one of the nearby more challenging hikes, such as to Long Ke beach on the return back to Tai Long Wan

Practical tips

If looking for a bit more adventure when up in Tai Long Wan, the nearby rockpools are fun and the climb up to Sharp Peak (3 hours round trip) is well worth it for the views.  I could write all day about Tai Long Wan, but won’t – instead, Sassy does a great summary here with all the details you need https://www.sassyhongkong.com/whats-on-hk-tai-long-wan-guide-beach-eat-drink-camping/

 

Its obviously hard not to prioritise the classic highlights of Hong Kong, such as the Star Ferry, view from the Peak etc – and I’ve written a review for top tips on these here at 2 days for the famous highlights of Hong Kong – but if you’re looking for a tropical beach and fun adventure getting there, you won’t be disappointed in Tai Long Wan.

 

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other great day hikes around the World

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Hiking Zhangjiajie National Park
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Hiking near the hot springs of Altyn Arashan near Karakol
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The Northumberland Coast (in summer!)
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Lake Como – the world’s most beautiful lake
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A day walking through Yosemite National Park
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A day walking through Arches National Park
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Inca sites to the north of Cusco
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Hiking up to the former utopia of Livingstonia from Lake Malawi
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Hiking around Interlaken
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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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