Home For The Holidays

How to have an amazing summer vacation without ever actually leaving the city. By Carla Thomas and Sarah Fung WET HOT HONG KONG SUMMER

photo: Deena Schwan

Stuck in Hong Kong for the summer? Join the club! With COVID-19 closing borders and grounding planes worldwide, it looks like no one will be making a summer escape from the city this year. Luckily, we happen to live in one of the best places in the world for staycations, with remote beaches, soaring mountains and expanses of ocean, plus all the conveniences of a world-class international city. Use our Hong Kong summer fun guide to have an absolutely brilliant summer, without ever leaving home.

There’s no way you’ll feel the heat while you’re wakeboarding! (Assuming you spend most of your time wiping out like we do, that is.) If you’re keen to get drenched in an afternoon of water sports, head for Tseung Tau Village in Sai Kung where you can check out Wake2Chill. They provide everything water sports-related, such as wakeboarding, wakesurfing, wakeskating, kayaks, canoes, jet skis, even a floating pier! Get a group of friends together and this makes for a perfect day in the sun. wake2chill.com

A Team Edventures

Day Trips

WAKEBOARDING

COASTEERING

Coasteering combines swimming, climbing and cliff jumps to make your way along a rocky coastline on foot. Sound challenging? It is, but also highly enjoyable according to inside sources! Surfing Hong Kong offers coasteering and surf lessons in Big Wave Bay, as well as kids summer camps, which include beach cleanups, for anyone on school holidays. Costs $350 per child. coasteeringhongkong.com

A Team Edventures

KAYAKING

There’s loads of places around Hong Kong to try your hand at kayaking. If you’re keen to set off your own, there are ample places to rent kayaks that don’t require a massive journey from Central, like Aquabound at Stanley Beach, which rents single ($80/hour) and double kayaks ($150/ hour) as well as tours and instruction. aquabound.com.hk

If you want to embrace your sense of adventure this summer, hire a local tour operator to bring you to more uncharted waters. Sea Kayak Hong Kong provides half and full day kayaking tours around some of Hong Kong’s most untouched islands and coastlines, like the inner islands of UNESCO Global Geopark in Sai Kung with its stunning remote beaches and emerging coral reefs. $750 per person. seakayakhongkong.com

CYCLING

Explore Hong Kong’s natural bounty on two wheels with Wild Hong Kong. This outdoor tour company runs a Plover Cove Cycle & Hike tour that takes you on a guided excursion of the Plover Cove reservoir before ending with a refreshing dip in a secret waterfall! $500-$700 wildhongkong.com

Wild Hong Kong

A Team Edventures also has totally unique kayak trips worth checking out, like a day-long tour around Tai O fishing village, where you can kayak between stilt houses before swimming in waterfall pools on Lantau ($900). Or try their night paddle trip to Cheung Chau ($700), taking in the vivid bioluminescent algae before hitting up the island’s night market. ateamedventures.com

Apnea Academy

WINDSURFING

Take up a new sport with an all-day windsurfing lesson at Cheung Chau Windsurfing Centre. They offer both private and group lessons for beginners, and you’ll learn the fundamentals in a safe and controlled environment before testing yourself in the water. Lessons are available most days of the week (closed on Wednesdays); $1,800 per person for group lessons, $2,500 for private. ccwindc.com.hk

FREEDIVING

ZIPLINING

Catch some serious air as you zipline from cliff to cliff on craggy Tung Lung Chau Island! Hong Kong Rock Climbing Adventure offers various excursions in rock climbing and canyoning, as well as a day-long trip that gets you hiking, ziplining and abseiling before hopping the ferry back to civilisation. $680 per person. hkrca.com

NATURE WALKS

Sure, we all know Hong Kong’s hiking is second-to-none, but for a more immersive experience, get a local nature expert to lead you into the wilderness.

Forest therapy specialist Kembali offers half- and full-day female-only events to help women reconnect to Mother Earth. Check out their monthly Women’s Wild Swim in Tai Po ($150), or for younger ages, the “Daughters of the Earth” summer programme takes small groups of girls out into wild spaces to explore their abilities, learn fire-making, whittling, tree climbing, bouldering and rock pool swimming. $2,400 for 18 hours of instruction over three weeks. kembali.org

Shinrin Yoku Hong Kong specialises in the Japanese art of forest bathing. This summer they’re offering “Sisters’ Walks,” a three-hour guided forest bathing experience in the woods with your very best girl squad. Includes professional guiding, healthy snacks, tea ceremony, and a special gift bag to take home with you. $1,388 for two people. shinrinyokuhk.com

Apnea Academy is a freediving school that teaches breathing and relaxation techniques to help hold your breath underwater for long periods of time (around two minutes!). They offer a half-day Discovery Freediving course which covers basics like freediving physiology, safety rules, static and dynamic apnea (the scientific term for “holding your breath”), among other bits. Participants must be 16 years and older. $800 per person. Contact apneahk@gmail.com for more information.

Kembali

5HIKES TO TRY THIS SUMMER Think outside Dragon’s Back.

Tai O to Shek Pik Reservoir, Lantau: a relatively flat and scenic hike around Fan Lau Fort. Plover Cove Country Park: see centuries old villages and mangrove swamps. Castle Peak, Tuen Mun: moderately difficult with sweeping views of Tuen Mun. Sharp Peak, Sai Kung: precipitous at times, but highly rewarding views. West Dog’s Teeth, Lantau: one of the hardest in HK, not for the faint of heart!

Walking Tours

LITTLE ADVENTURES IN HONG KONG

HONG KONG GREETERS

Suitable for all the family, Hong Kong Greeters offers tours of unexplored corners of the city, Check out the walking tour of Aberdeen, in which you hit up the famous fish market and Hong Kong’s smallest temple, before capping it all off with an exhilarating Zoom Rib ride around the southern coast of HK Island ($700). If you’re in need of some vegetarian inspiration, the vegetarian and vegan food tour takes you from Wong Tai Sin to Kowloon Walled City, with plant-based dim sum and desserts along the way ($575). hkgreeters.com

Featured in the New York Times, Lonely Planet and National Geographic, to name just a few,

Little Adventures in Hong Kong

is one of the most authoritative walking tours around. Headed by journalist Daisann McLane, you can opt for heritage or culinary walks, like the Won-ton-a-thon Ultimate HK Street Food Tour, a marathon 4-5 hour programme of sampling the city’s most delicious and famous dishes from street food to noodles and dim sum. Custom walks can be organised on request. littleadventuresinhongkong.com

TALKS AND WALKS

Local historian and writer Jason Wordie offers fascinating walking tours with a historical bent. Even if you’ve lived in Hong Kong for years, you’ll be sure to learn something new on one of his tours. Scheduled walks take you through historically rich urban areas from Central to Sham Shui Po; to outlying islands such as Cheung Chau; and even along remote history trails such as the Gin Drinker’s Line in Shing Mun. His Happy Valley cemetery walk is also a fascinating glimpse into Hong Kong’s rich past. Check his website for upcoming walks, which can be booked via Ticketflap. talksandwalks.hk.

HUMID WITH A CHANCE OF FISHBALLS

Specialising in “off the eaten path” food tours, Humid with a Chance of Fishballs takes guests on districtbased eating tours, from night eats in Kowloon City, to food and culture in Sham Shui Po. The guides can also arrange brewery tours, guided dim sum lunches, and even a floating dinner on a sampan. Also offers an online class combining a Cantonese class with milk/lemon tea and egg tart-making. humidwithachanceoffishballs.com

SNAKE SAFARI

Hong Kong Greeters Humid with a Chance of Fishballs Little Adventures in Hong Kong

Experience a different side of Hong by embarking on a snake safari with local wildlife expert, William Sargent. One of Hong Kong’s official snake catchers, William takes small groups out on educational night hikes from 7:30-10pm to search for specimens of Hong Kong’s diverse snake population. Tours run from March to September and cost $380 per head. Participants need to be able to hike around 4 kilometres. Oh, and bring a head torch! Enquiries: keepitwildhongkong@gmail.com

Glamping

SAI YUEN

Spread out over 11 acres of farmland on Cheung Chau, Sai Yuen Farm has ample room, activities (bubble waffle-making workshop, anyone?) and amenities to keep anyone happy. Choose from a range of glamping accommodation styles, such as African Safari Tent, Native American Teepee, Mongolian Ger or a Geodesic Dome, where you can star gaze until you fall asleep. saiyuen.com

Sai Yuen Farm

YHA NGONG PING

Embrace your inner bohemian with a night spent at this shabby chic glamping accommodation. Spacious bell tents come with beds, pillows, blankets, and lighting, with hot showers and cooking facilities on hand. Feel free to glam up your tent with your own personal touch like fairy lights if you wish. At least one person in your party needs to be a YHA member, but the application process is straightforward and not age-based. info@yha.org.hk

WELCOME BEACH

Caravans are the main attraction at this Lantau beachfront campsite (besides stunning Cheung Sha Beach, of course). Here you can glamp to your heart’s content in caravans that hold up to a maximum of five people, as well as access to BBQ facilities and nearby watersports rentals. welcomebeach.com.hk

MINGLE FARM

Always wanted to sleep in a mushroom? Now’s your chance! Mingle Farm’s quirky AEcoSphere inflatable tents come with all the amenities of a hotel, including bed, air-con, and toiletries. If you’re after something a bit more swish, you could also spring for one of their deluxe caravans, which come with fold-down beds, private bathroom and kitchenette. Nothing like roughing it in the great outdoors! minglefarm.com

Children as young as 2 can get in on forestry fun, with various camps catering to wood-working, hiking & climbing, obstacle courses, and even STEM camps where you can blow things up or make your own slime! Camps run over three days (MonWed or Thu-Sat, 10am-4pm) from July 13-August 15. $1,200-$3,600. hongkongforestadventures.com

HONG KONG FOREST ADVENTURES (2-8 YEARS)

ARK EDEN SUMMER CAMP (5-11 YEARS)

Nine weeks of nature, play and adventure? Sign us up! Ark Eden’s summer camp provides a varied lineup of outdoor activities and ecofun, including trips to beaches and waterfalls, campfires, nature crafts and ecolearning using the surrounding nature of its gorgeous valley location on Lantau. Every day is different, so kids shouldn’t be bored even by the end of summer. Runs from June 22-August 21, starts from $750/ day per child (discounts offered for multiple camp days.) Email info@ arkedenonlantau.org for more info.

OUTWARD BOUND (9-18 YEARS)

Older kids can challenge themselves with one of Outward Bound’s outdoor expeditions, which takes young adults out for multi-day excursions into Hong Kong’s wilderness. Expect kayaking, jetty jumping, rock climbing, and more! These expeditions are designed to bring participants together in challenging and new circumstances, developing new skills and having new experiences that they can take with them into the real world. Courses start from $5,100 for five days, four nights. outwardbound.org.hk

Outward Bound