Lamma Island

In my perspective, there are three reasons to visit the island of Lamma, the beaches, the hiking trail and the seafood. Lamma is the island to visit for some R&R after the bustling metropolis of its northern island neighbour, the Hong Kong Island. The island of Lamma is located south of Hong Kong Island, the nearest of all the other inhabited island where its northernmost tip is only 3 km across the East Lamma Channel from Ap Lei Chau in Aberdeen. Though I wouldn’t as much as calling the island a sleepy back-water, there are no cars here, total population less than 10,000 where the majority are fisherfolk and farmers including some foreigners, and there are only two main settlements or villages, Yung Shue Wan to the north and Sok Kwu Wan to the east while some other smaller settlements are scattered throughout the hilly landscape. Both Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan are connected by a 4km hiking trail, which is very popular for tourist and locals alike to trudge along for some sightseeing and nature exploring. The trail is packed with people during weekends and along the trail lies some of the beautiful beaches that can be found in HK.

Ferry services are available which connects Central in Hong Kong Island via pier 4 of Central’s Outlying Islands ferry terminal to both Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan. Most travel books would suggest taking the ferry to either one of this destination, walk along the trail towards the other while having a stop at beaches along the trail and finally ending the journey and taking the ferry back to Central from the other end of the destination. I have not personally hike along the trail since travelling with small children and having to push around stroller for my youngest son is not the recommended condition to venture around the somewhat steep and inclining trail. Nor have I taken a dip at any of the beaches along the trail since all my 4 visits to HK were in January and nobody is crazy enough to take a dip in the water during the peak of winter. Perhaps someday I should consider coming to HK in the summer just so I can sample some of the 40+ beaches HK has to offer.

One thing I did sample though was the seafood at Sok Kwu Wan. Famous for its open-air seafood restaurants, these restaurants are aligned along the small waterfront, extended over the water “floating” on stilts and shaded by canopies; they offer scenic views of the harbor (though somehow the now defunct cement factory located on one of the hills somewhat blighted the otherwise magnificent view). The restaurants itself does not look that fancy, it closely resembled those small roadside eateris back home, with ceiling fans attached on the canopy of the extended part of the restaurant where the dining area is located to keep cool. All restaurants here have tanks filled with fresh seafood (much like what our typical seafood restaurants back home have to offer), with prices that vary daily depending on the current market value and also by the supply and demand. The weighing system here uses the old catty system, where one catty of prawns costs an average of HKD160 to HKD200 (RM64 to RM80), with half a catty usually enough for two people (a catty is equivalent to about 680g or 1 ½ lb). A catty of lobster will cost about HKD350 to HKD450 (RM140 to RM180), though small lobsters for one person are also listed for around HKD140 (RM60), along with a variety of other seafood, poultry, and vegetable dishes. The most prominent of these restaurants is the Rainbow Seafood Restaurant which also provides a complimentary ferry service to/fro Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island.

Yung Shue Wan on the other hand is a completely different story. Though it’s the larger of the island’s two main villages, Yung Shue Wan remains a small place, with little more than a main street following the curve of the bay. There is a small Tin Hau temple dating from the late 19th century at the southern end of Yung Shue Wan. It takes awhile to walk past new development before reaching the center of the town. There, apartment buildings and shops lined up along the hillsides with restaurants, bars and other tourism-related businesses being the main players. The village has a laid-back, tropical-island atmosphere though, and a sizable population of expatriates perhaps drawn by low rents and the slow pace of life can be found much like those in Lantau Island.