Handpicked experience · Hong Kong
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hundred-metre columns of the wrong rock entirely, a freshwater lake made by damming the sea at both ends, and a sand path that appears and disappears on schedule.
Sea caves and sheltered bays that beginners can handle
Cliffs that rewrite what you thought columnar rock was
Boat support, so the hard crossings are not paddled
Landings for photographs and a walk on shore
A group small enough to stay together on the water
A full day of sea kayaking in the Hong Kong Geopark off Sai Kung, paddling beneath the volcanic columns of High Island, through short sea caves and into sheltered bays, with boat transfers used to skip the exposed crossings.
Suitable for beginners: instruction on the water, a safety briefing first, and a small group moving at a pace set by the slowest paddler. Boats carry you across the open stretches, so the kayaking happens where it is enjoyable rather than where it is merely hard work.
The cliffs here are made of hexagonal columns up to a hundred metres tall, which is a formation most people associate with basalt — the Giant's Causeway, Fingal's Cave, the Devils Postpile. These are not basalt. They are rhyolite, a silica-rich rock that erupts violently and rarely produces neat columns at all. A caldera collapsed here roughly a hundred and forty million years ago and the ash sheet it left cooled slowly enough to crack into this shape, which makes the site one of the largest examples of acidic columnar jointing anywhere.
The freshwater reservoir behind those cliffs was, until the 1970s, a sea channel. Engineers built dams across both ends, pumped out the seawater, sealed the bed and refilled it with rain. The eastern dam is faced with interlocking concrete blocks shaped like giant jacks, stacked to break waves before they reach the wall. Hong Kong has almost no natural fresh water, and this is what solving that looked like.
Off Sharp Island a sandbar runs out to a smaller island, and it is walkable only around low tide. Water builds from both sides as it goes under, so the crossing has a schedule rather than an opinion. Your guide will know the day's timings; the sandbar does not negotiate.
Also on Sharp Island are boulders whose surfaces have weathered into a crazed pattern of squares. They are known locally as pineapple bun rock, after the crackle-topped bun sold in every bakery in the city. The cause is unremarkable — sun, salt and expansion — but the resemblance is exact.
You will get wet, so bring a change of clothes and shoes that can be soaked. Sun on the water is much stronger than it feels, and there is no shade at sea. Trips depend on wind and sea state and are called off when conditions are poor; typhoon and rainstorm signals stop everything outright. Personal accident cover is not included in the booking, and this is a booking without free cancellation, so watch the forecast before you commit.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
No. There is a safety briefing and instruction on the water, and boat transfers cover the exposed crossings so the paddling stays within sheltered ground.
Columnar rock is normally basalt. These are rhyolite — silica-rich, violently erupted, and rarely column-forming at all — which makes this one of the largest acidic examples anywhere, and they reach about a hundred metres.
By damming a sea channel at both ends, pumping out the seawater, sealing the bed and refilling with rainwater. The seaward dam is armoured with interlocking concrete blocks to break waves before they hit it.
Only around low tide. The sandbar floods from both sides as the water returns, so the crossing runs to the tide table rather than to your plans; the guide will know the day's window.
Boulders whose surface has weathered into a grid of squares, named after the crackle-topped bun from Hong Kong bakeries. Ordinary weathering, uncanny likeness.
Trips are called off when wind or sea state is poor, and typhoon or rainstorm warnings stop everything. This booking has no free cancellation, so check the forecast before committing.
No. Personal travel and accident cover, and any park permits, are your own arrangement.