Aqua Luna: Symphony of Lights Cruise in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s skyline is the reason people photograph the city, and the only place to see all of it at once is the middle of Victoria Harbour. The Aqua Luna takes you out there after dark on a wooden junk with red battened sails, in time for the light show that runs across both waterfronts every evening.

The Aqua Luna is built in the shape of the junks that worked this harbour for generations, with the distinctive ribbed red sails that almost disappeared from Hong Kong waters in the last century. She was constructed by hand using traditional methods, and she is deliberately unhurried — the point of the sail is not to get anywhere.

Seating is on the open deck, under the sails and the rigging, and your drink is brought to you there. The skyline stands on both sides at once: Central and Wan Chai to the south, Tsim Sha Tsui and the Kowloon towers to the north.

At eight o’clock each night the buildings on both sides of the harbour run a coordinated display of lights and beams set to music. It lasts around ten minutes, and the towers themselves are the instrument — the show is choreographed across dozens of buildings on the two shores rather than projected onto them.

From a pavement on either side you see one bank lit and the other one behind you. From the middle of the water you are inside it, with the whole harbour turning at once.

The sailing lasts about forty-five minutes, so arrive at the pier in good time — boarding closes before departure and the boat leaves on schedule for the show. Confirm your pier and sailing time when you book: departures run from both the Tsim Sha Tsui and Central sides of the harbour.

One drink is included and further drinks are charged on board. The deck is open to the sky, so a warm night is a warm sail and a wet one is a wet sail; the operator may alter or cancel sailings in bad weather. The light show is run by the city, not by the boat, and can be suspended in heavy rain or for typhoon warnings.