Despite visiting Hong Kong several times a year, we don’t really explore all of Hong Kong the way that we probably should. There are actually a ton of beautiful hiking trails, beaches, and outdoor places around Hong Kong, and if you can bear the humid, hot weather that is prevalent most of the year there, there are actually quite a few options when it comes to outdoor fun.
On our previous trips, we’ve ventured to Cheung Chau Island and Discovery Bay, so this time, we decided to hit up the fishing village of Tai O in Lantau Island!
My 2 year old nephew Brady is obsessed with cars, and he is very familiar with all the taxis in his hometown Hong Kong, in addition to other places he’s traveled to. Hong Kong has 3 different types of taxies–red, green, and blue. It’s pretty common to take either red or green taxis being that the red taxis service all of Kowloon and Hong Kong, and since my sister and her family lives in the New Territories, they see green taxis day in and day out. The blue taxis, however, service only Lantau Island, so Brady (nor us, for that matter) has never sat inside a blue taxi. As soon as we decided to take a day trip to Tai O, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity take let Brady experience a blue taxi!
My sis drove us to Tung Chung, parked there, and then we hailed a BLUE (!!) taxi to take us into Tai O. The drive there was pleasant, full of lush, green trees and glimpses of the ocean every now and then. Upon arrival, it was lunch time already, so our first order of business was to find a place to eat!
We found a tiny, old style dim sum place and had some delicious cheung fun (rice rolls) and spareribs with rice.
After lunch, we began strolling around the narrow streets of Tai O. Most shops sold local snacks and dry seafood, but we did get to eat the best sweet tofu dessert we’ve ever had!
Tai O is known for its traditional stilt-house community and is one of the few remaining fishing villages in Hong Kong. Because of its close proximity to Tian Tan Buddha and Ngong Ping Cable Car, many tourists visit all 3 places in one day. For us, however…with a toddler in tow, and a pre-teen that cannot stand the heat, we decided that we would not be overly ambitious to hit 3 places in one day and just visited Tai O on its own. It did turn out to be a very hot day (even in April!), so our stroll around the village was not as pleasant, especially as we tried to maneuver Brady’s stroller through tight alleyways and small shops!
The day that we were there, Tai O felt very deserted and quiet, but we heard it gets quite busy during the weekends and holidays. Some of the stilt houses that remain appeared to be abandoned, and definitely did not look safe to live in.
There were small boats that took tourists further out into the water, where there supposedly would be sightings of pink dolphins. As much as Bridge loved both pink + dolphins, she was unmotivated to take a boat ride in the heat, so we decided to save that for a future visit. 🙂
That pretty much sums up our day trip to Tai O! Another day trip we took while in Hong Kong this time was to a beach call Hap Mun Bay, which is on Sharp Island, off the coast of Sai Kung fishing village.
We drove to Sai Kung and parked our car there, then bought tickets to take a small boat out to Hap Mun Bay. The boat ride took only about 10-15 minutes and the kids loved it.
Upon arrival to Hap Mun Bay, we saw that there was a lot of construction going on, leaving just a small area left for people to enjoy the beach. That was disappointing, but we didn’t let it ruin our time there!
The water temperature was not too cold, and quite pristine. Since it was a very hot day, Bridgette wasted no time at all and jumped right into the sparkling blue-green water. I stayed behind and played with Brady on the sand, helping him to build mini sand castles, just so he can have fun jumping on them to destroy them, lol.
I’m delighted we got to explore 2 new places on our trip to Hong Kong this time, and look forward to discovering more hidden gems on our next trip there!
