Top 5 day-trip getaways to Hong Kong’s uninhabited islands

Wong Mau Chau is perfect for those who don’t want to spend the entire day on a beautiful but desolate island; it is small and can be explored in roughly an hour. Aside from the tiny beach, there is also a lovely old lighthouse, which lends the island an even more idyllic vibe. Snorkelers will love this island for its beautiful surrounding seabed with a variety of corals, and it is similarly popular with kayakers as well.

Port Island is also known as Chek Chau in Cantonese, literally meaning ‘red island’, because its sedimentary rocks are a coppery red hue. As you sail in, the contrast of red earth and peaks, green trees, and blue waters makes for a lovely scene—in fact, this natural beauty is known as ‘Danxia Wonder at Sea’. Port Island is small, but it does feature a small river with clear rivers just beckoning visitors in for a swim.

Technically part of the Sai Kung district administration, Jin Island only separated from the larger Kau Sai Chau Island by a narrow channel. Its Chinese name is Tiu Chung Chau, literally ‘hanging bell island’, because it has a 30-metre arch in the approximate shape of the bells that hang in temples.

Due to exposure to easterly winds and waves, erosion has led to the forming of sea caves, stacks, arches, and inlets. The most famous of these is the sea cave called Kam Chung Ngam, though it’s more commonly referred to by its imaginative name ‘Goldfish Wagging Tail’. This fish-shaped stack can be admired from the sea or from the top of the hill.

The Ninepin Group is actually comprised of 29 islands and islets in Hong Kong’s easternmost waters, thus named because when British sailors discovered the islands, they were reminded of the British game of nine-pin bowling. Apart from sea arches such as the Tiger Mouth Cave, and dramatic chasms like the Sunken Ship Crack, the Ninepin Islands are also famous for its looming columns that are naturally hexagonal. The islet of Yuen Shek Pai in particular has such columns rising neatly around its centre, forming a spiral staircase of sorts. Because its waters are prone to strong easterly winds, big waves, and rough tidal currents, it is only possible to visit the Ninepin Islands in summer time, from approximately May to September.

Located to the southeast of Sai Kung are a group of four islands collectively referred to as the Ung Kong Islands. The smallest of these is Wang Chau, which boasts a striking geological feature of a sea cave, which is one of the Four Sea Arches of Hong Kong. If you go a few days after a typhoon, you’ll be able to catch awe-inspiring views of the swells and waves pound into the Wang Chau Kok Cave.