Five of Hong Kong's Weirdest Beaches: Black, Pink, Grey, White and...Bacon?!
Contents
- 1. Lung Kwu Tan - Black Beach
- How to Get to Lung Kwu Wan
- 2. Kim Chu Wan - Grey Beach
- How to Get to Kim Chu Wan
- 3. Hung Shek Mun (Pink Beach)
- How to Get to Hung Shek Mun
- 4. Ham Tin Wan (White Sand)
- How to Get to Ham Tin Wan
- 5. Bacon Beach
- How to Get to Bacon Beach
If you've seen one beach, then you've seen them all. Not so when you live in a city as packed with incredible and weird spots as Hong Kong is!
I've scoured the length and breadth of the city to uncover an eclectic selection of the weirdest and most beautiful beaches around. Some of them might be common knowledge, but I hope that at least a few places on this list will be completely new and interesting enough to ignite the inner explorer within you.
So, whether you're looking for a post-apocalyptic black beach to shoot your next metal album cover on, or a bright pink beach to connect with your inner unicorn, this article has you covered!
The beaches I'll cover are as follows
- Lung Kwu Tan - Black Beach
- Kim Chu Wan - Grey Beach
- Hung Shek Mun - Pink Beach
- Ham Tin Wan - White Beach
- Devil's Fist - Bacon Beach (yeah, you read that correctly)
1. Lung Kwu Tan - Black Beach
The reality surrounding Lung Kwu Tan is as dark as its hue. While at first glance, this beach seems like a cool spot to visit, the reality is that it's a potent reminder of how humans can really ruin natural ecosystems.
The beach is actually composed of regular colored sand and it's the coal from the powerplant nearby that gives it its signature black hue. In many parts of the beach, you'll see the natural yellow sand struggling to poke through the black sooty overlayer in a futile attempt to remind us of its former beauty.
I've seen some social media accounts trying to pass Lung Kwu Tan off as a mini Iceland in Hong Kong, but this is just not true. Aside from there being no black volcanic sand, the beach is small and heavily polluted. There's also a flammable gas pipeline below the sand that somehow makes the situation even more comically tragic.
I suppose this would be the perfect place for a death metal album cover, though!
How to Get to Lung Kwu Tan
To get to Lung Kwu Tan, take the MTR to Tuen Mun Station and leave through exit C1. Cross the road and look for the bus stop, which is just to the left of the crossing. You'll want to take the K52 bus to the final stop. You can get off one or two stops early if you want since the final 2-3 stops are all beside the beach.
2. Kim Chu Wan - Grey Beach
Kim Chu Wan is located in Sai Kung Country Park and is right beside East Dam and Po Pin Chau, both of which are famous hikes in the area.
While I've only seen the beach from above, there are photos of people scaling down into Kim Chu Wan, though I imagine this would be extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by anyone without proper gear and experience.
From my favorite vantage point (on the way to Po Pin Chau), you can see why the grey beach below is also known as Hong Kong's Heart. When paired with the natural curve of the mountain, it almost looks like half a heart!
How to Get to Kim Chu Wan
To Get to the vantage point of Kim Chu Wan from the above photos, you'll need to first make your way to East Dam. The above guide will give you detailed instructions on how to do so by hiking or by public transport.
Once you arrive at East Dam, you'll have to hike to the vantage point. You can find a detailed article with instructions on how to hike to the Kim Chu Wan vantage point below.
3. Hung Shek Mun (Pink Beach)
Hung Shek Mun is not an easy place to get to. It's tucked away in a remote corner of Hong Kong beside Starling Inlet, right beside the border with China.
You'll need to budget at least an hour to get to the start point of the hike (yes, you'll have to hike here unless you can charter a specialized boat) and the hike takes nearly 6 hours round trip. You'll have to take the same route back, which really makes the whole experience even more grueling.
Add to this the horrifying fact that a good 40 minutes of the journey is through overgrown trail that you can barely see, and you might reconsider your decision to visit Hung Shek Mun.
Then again, as I alluded to earlier, you could always just charter a boat from Wong Shek Pier and save yourself the hiking hassle.
How to Get to Hung Shek Mun
There are two ways to get to Hung Shek Mun. For those who don't fancy a minimum of 5.5 hours of hiking, which includes plenty of bushwhacking, you can take a boat directly to Hung Shek Mun from Wong Shek Pier. I've linked the boat company in the above section.
For those of you who fancy a crazy, unforgettable adventure, then you can attempt the hike to Hung Shek Mun. I should reiterate that this is NOT an easy hike. You should not attempt to hike to Hung Shek Mun unless you are experienced and are hiking with friends. Since a large chunk of the trail is overgrown, you'll have to rely on ribbons to navigate.
If none of that deters you, check out the hiking guide below for detailed instructions on how to get to Hung Shek Mun.
4. Ham Tin Wan (White Sand)
Ham Tin Wan is probably one of Hong Kong's most famous beaches. Though it takes some time to get to, the views and white sands of this wonderful beach are totally worth the effort.
Despite the trail to get there being moderately long, I've taken many a novice hiker along this route and not a soul has regretted it...thus far.
The beach is unique among Hong Kong beaches in that it can get pretty crowded on weekends, but is still really clean. You'll find campers, surfers, sunbathers, people playing sports and even just sightseers all in one place paying respect to this gorgeous strip of sand.
Ham Tin Wan has a little restaurant that serves up a mean veggie fried rice and some wonderful traditional Hong Kong-style milk tea.
How to Get to Ham Tin Wan
Just like with Hung Shek Mun, there are two options on how to get to Ham Tin Wan. You can either hike there (which I highly recommend) or you can take a speedboat directly there. Alternatively, you can hike to the beach and arrange for a speedboat back through the little food kiosk on the beach. However, this may be unreliable.
Should you want to take a boat directly to the beach from Sai Kung Pier, you can do so here.
If you want to hike there, then follow the hiking guide below!
5. Bacon Beach
Okay, so Bacon Beach is actually called Shuen Wan, apparently, but I'm just going to continue calling it Bacon Beach. You can find its coordinates here.
This is probably the most remote of all the beaches on this list and is also the toughest hike I've ever done in Hong Kong. Luckily, you can just take a boat directly to Devil's Fist, which will save you about 11+ hours of hiking. Yeah, this one's a real slog!
The beach itself is nothing to write home about, but the bacon-colored rock walls are pretty sweet! The other attraction at this far-flung corner of Hong Kong is the Devil's Fist rock that people flock to see.
From the twisted angles of Instagram posts, I imagined this rock to be several meters tall, but it stood at about waist height, and I am not a particularly tall human being. Don't believe me? Well, if you arrive at the wrong time of day, the Devil's Fist stone will be completely submerged by the tide. I arrived at 12PM, so that seems to be a safe time to visit.
How to Get to Bacon Beach
You can either hike or take a boat to Bacon Beach. In this case, unless you're a serious masochist and love inflicting unnecessary pain upon yourself, I'd suggest just taking a boat.
If you want the satisfaction of earning your stripes (of bacon), then hike to the beach and arrange to be picked up from there.
If you're dead set on hiking there, I commend your bravery and possible stupidity.
Since I've yet to write a comprehensive guide on hiking to Devil's Fist, I'll leave a GPX file for anyone who wants to make the journey.
