Hong Kong - South Hong Kong Island Travel Guides | Hong Kong | Sub Regions | Hong Kong - South Hong Kong Island

The villages scattered around the south of the island are most popular because of their waterfront location, ranging from the traditional fishing village of Aberdeen with its junks bobbing around the harbour, to the holiday-friendly Stanley, famous for its market. An easy journey from Aberdeen is Ocean Park, one of the largest oceanariums in Asia, and with plenty to occupy a full day. Shek O is a wealthy expat enclave with a dramatic setting via a breathtaking bus ride and Repulse Bay is one of the best beaches in Hong Kong, packed at weekends. All are accessible by bus.

Sights

Bus nos 70 or 75 from Central or Admiralty. Ferry (T 2815 6063) from here to Yung Shue Wan, via Pak Kok Tsuen, 0600-2100, every couple of hours.

This floating village of junks and fishing boats bobbing in the typhoon shelter is worth a detour if en route to Ocean Park, the Peak or Lamma. Out of the ferry pier and on the left is the Aberdeen Sampan Company, which offers sampan tours of the harbour for around $50 per person, for a half-hour cruise. You may well be approached by the assertive old ladies who operate the sampans, so settle a price before departing. The road along the waterfront is hardly an attractive one; past the concrete monstrosity on the right, but then there are the free boats to the floating restaurants, which is what drew tourists here in the first place.

The most famous is Jumbo Floating restaurant, a favourite with tour groups since 1976, with rather over-the-top imperial palace decor. With a capacity of 2,300 and said to be the world’s largest floating restaurant, don’t expect personal service or an intimate atmosphere and even the food would not be worth going for if it wasn’t for the novelty of the garish interior. For a free look at its ornate gold furnishings and the 60 breeds of fish and marine life in the pool (there to be eaten), make use of the free shuttle boat taking people from the waterfront. If you eat there, and are prepared to pay over the odds, take heart that your fellow diners included Queen Elizabeth II and John Wayne. Slightly less ornate is the Tai Pak restaurant, also with a free shuttle boat. Further along the pier is a row of boats selling seafood from piles of crates.

Aberdeen, T 2552 0291, http://www.oceanpark.com.hk 1000-1800. $180, $90 children.

A huge oceanarium and theme park with dolphins, pandas, sharks and rides. Good for kids of all ages and equal amounts of education and pure entertainment.

Buses nos 6, 6A, 6X or 260 from Exchange Square in Central, or MTR to Chai Wan and green minibus No 16M.

This small, seaside village on the south of Hong Kong Island makes for a day trip high on easy-going shopping and eating with a little culture and sightseeing thrown in. Once the favourite spot for the first colonial settlers, it is best known for its daily market, with a fort, cemetery and prison slightly further out, and an air of faded grandeur rather like an English seaside resort.

The open market stretches between Stanley New Street and Stanley Market Road, 1000-1900 daily, with a wide collection of good value silk ties, handbags, shoes, Chinese handicrafts and cheap brand-name clothes (some genuine), usually at fixed prices. Rooting around can unearth some decent bargains and it is a good place to stock up on presents. Weekends are the busiest days, but the crowd is pretty good natured. Along the waterfront and inside the market is a huge selection of places to eat, from noodle bars to refined European cuisine, plus several English-style pubs.

Around the bay and on the right-hand-side of Stanley Main Road is one of the oldest colonial buildings in Hong Kong: the old police station was built in 1859 and is now a restaurant. A posting to Stanley was hardly ideal considering the high level of danger from piracy as well as isolation and poor health, but the village became a more desirable seaside resort in the early 20th century.

The elegantly built Murray House, near the promenade by Stanley Plaza, was originally built in 1844 for the British Army and situated in Central. It was dismantled in 1982 to make way for the Bank of China tower and, all but forgotten, the pieces lay in storage for many years. They were painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick in its current location in 1998 with a few added modern-day gizmos.

Bus nos 6, 6A, 6X, 260 from Exchange Square in Central, and alight at Repulse Bay.

Hong Kong Island’s most popular beach can get ludicrously packed at weekends and has recently been extended. The most prominent sight on the approach by bus is the lurid, pastel-coloured Repulse Bay Apartments, its undulating surface reflecting the shape of the surrounding hills and a large, square hole eight storeys high punctured through its middle. This replaced the Repulse Bay Hotel (the only remainder of which is The Verandah), built in the 1920s and one of the area’s most prominent landmarks, venue of choice for celebrity cocktail parties and tea dances and the last stronghold against the Japanese invasion during World War II. It was also later used as a hospital and recuperation centre.

Considering that the apartments have some of the highest rents in Hong Kong, the beach is refreshingly kitsch. The lifeguard’s terraces (lifeguard between March and November) have a pair of large statues of two goddesses, Kwun Yum and Tin Hau, adjacent to the changing rooms and showers. Space BBQ Restaurant has a large waterfront terrace, complete with a Wurlitzer CD jukebox with all the best Cantopop tunes. A little further down is Tai Fat Hau with traditional Cantonese dishes like hot and spicy duck’s tongue and steamed eel in sweet sauce. During the summer, wakeboarding operates from Xtreme Wake Boarding.

Bus no 9 from Shau Kei Wan MTR (Exit A3) and bus no 309 from Exchange Square (Central), Sun only.

The bus ride alone is worth the trip; a hair-raising route winding through the hills (top deck front seat essential), past Tai Tam reservoir and great views over to Stanley, usually at breakneck speed. Seen from above, it is picturesque and reminiscent of a traditional Chinese community, contrasting starkly to the millionaires’ mansions surrounding the village. Shek O is a favourite for wealthy expats, many of whom will be swinging their golf clubs at the nearby exclusive Golf and Country Club. The village itself has a dramatic setting and the beach is pretty big and clean with powdery white sand, toilets, changing facilities, concrete barbecue pits, benches and a playground. Should you have forgotten your bucket and spade, there are shops around the edge of the car park selling beach accessories, charcoal and forks for barbecues, snacks and drinks. No 87 Shek O Village (in the car park) hires bikes for around $50/day, and is open till late in the summer. If the golf club won’t let you in, the next best thing is the obstacle golf course on the beach. A couple of miles away is Big Wave Bay, a much better beach and very popular with surfers (equipment for hire), and also some Bronze Age rock carvings. Although there are very infrequent buses between Shek O village and the bay, it takes around half an hour to walk.

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