Sai Kung is the green escape that most visitors to Hong Kong do not know exists. Thirty kilometres from the Kowloon waterfront, the peninsula unfolds into forested mountains, empty beaches, and a UNESCO Global Geopark of such geological improbability that it looks designed rather than evolved.
The MacLehose Trail Stage 1 from Pak Tam Chung is the most dramatic coastal hike in Hong Kong. The path follows the edge of the High Island Reservoir before descending to Long Ke Wan — a remote sandy beach with no road access, reachable only on foot or by kaito. Along the way, the East Dam of the reservoir presents the hexagonal volcanic rock columns face-on from a viewing platform: tens of thousands of perfect hexagons rising from the sea like a natural honeycomb, hundreds of metres across. The geological explanation (rapid cooling of volcanic rock 140 million years ago) does nothing to diminish the effect.
The Sai Kung waterfront is a different experience entirely — a row of seafood restaurants with live tanks outside, where you choose your catch and specify how you want it cooked. Steamed fish with ginger and spring onion, salt and pepper prawns, garlic butter scallops, and typhoon shelter crab (chilli and garlic fried crab) are the staples. The lunch extends naturally into the afternoon on a sunny October day.
Kaito boats from the pier serve the outlying islands and beaches. Sharp Island takes ten minutes and has a tombolo sandbar, clear water, and good snorkeling at the reef edge. Pak Sha Wan (Hebe Haven) to the south has a marina and a different character — yacht clubs and waterside restaurants frequented by sailors.