As well as crossing Lamma Island, the plan was to traverse the highest peak on the island – Mount Stenhouse (353m). Also known as Y Island, Pok Liu Chau and Pok Liu, Lamma Island is the third largest island in Hong Kong with a population of about 7,000 people. Originally a fishing village, it now has a strong tourist industry with frequent ferry services from the mainland.
The busiest ferry terminal is at Yung Shue at the northern end of Lamma Island, named after the many banyan trees in the area. There are no cars on the island, so hundreds of bicycles are lined along the pier. The popular, paved Lamma Island Family Trail starts from here and makes its way across the island to Sok Kwu Wan – initially I’m following this route.
It’s more of a stroll than a hike along the concrete path, which initially follows the edge of the bay, before reaching Hung Shing Yah Beach. This is the most popular beach on Lamma Island, although it’s not too busy today. (The annual water quality ranking of the beach has been maintained as ‘Good’ since the Environmental Protection Department’s Beach Water Quality Monitoring Programme began in 1986.)
The trail starts to ascend gently from the beach, with views out towards the “dumbbell-shaped” Cheung Chau Island to the west and the Lamma Power Station on the opposite side of Hung Shing Ye Bay.
Veering off the paved path, I continue climbing up to the Kamikaze Cave, which was used in World War II. It’s not a natural cave but a tunnel bored into the rock, and was probably used to store munitions. Three other caves (or tunnels) closer to the shore hid “kamikaze boats”; wooden boats carrying half a ton of TNT explosives that were aimed at British Navy vessels.
I’m soon back on a paved path, known as the Snake’s Trail or Snake Path, which passes the Lamma Youth Camp and continues to climb towards a saddle.
From this saddle there’s a stunning view out to Hong Kong Island, and over Picnic Bay with the peaks of Mount Stenhouse, Yam Ling Au and Ling Kok Shan Au towering over the bay.
On the opposite side of Picnic Bay is Sok Kwu Wan village (my ultimate destination today), and almost directly below is the long jetty of the Asano Cement Plant, which closed in 2001.
There’s great views across both sides of the island, as the trail descends towards the western coastline.
The Snake’s Trail rejoins the Lamma Island Family Trail, just before a small pavilion. There are no views from the pavilion, which gets 1.5 stars on Google Maps and comments like “Blocked by trees. And what you can find are the view of electronic power plants and the rubbish left by people. Save your effort and time.”
From the pavilion there’s a rough trail to Tit Sha Long beach, which descends fairly steeply through the jungle.
It’s not the most scenic view from Tit Sha Long beach, with the Lamma Power Station on the other side of the bay, but the beach is completely deserted and feels quite secluded.
Once back on the Lamma Island Family Trail, the Picnic Bay Lookout Pavilion offers some nice views over Picnic Bay (Sok Kwu Wan).
The main trail passes Lo So Shing Village, named after the numeroous pandanus (“Lo So”) trees, and also called Chans Village because all the male residents are descendants of the ancestor CHAN Tzs-fat. A side-trail descends to Lo So Shing Beach, which is surprisngly quiet – but it is winter. In Summer there is a kiosk and the beach is patrolled.
From here I’m not re-tracing my steps to the Lamma Island Family Trail, but following what turns out to be a very rough track towards the more rugged southern part of Lamma Island. I’m surprised how indistinct the trail is, but I push on as route starts to climb up through the jungle. Somewhere along here the trail enters Lamma Island South SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), a nature reserve covering the entire south-west end of the island to protect a “bird population of unusual species”.
The trail soon emerges from the forest and into grassland, with a great view over Lo So Shing Beach (and the power station) to the north…
…and to the north-east is the small fishing village of Mo Tat Wan and the densely populated Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island.
The trail is surprisingly overgrown as it ascends the ridge in the middle of Lamma Island towards Mount Stenhouse, the top of which is now shrouded by cloud.
Also not surprisingly, there are increasingly good views as the trail gains elevation, with a view down the entire length of Lamma Island.
I persevere with my ascent up the mountain, although visibility is now reduced and I can’t see the top of the peak.
About 600m from the top I decide to give up on reaching the summit; partly because it’s getting late in the day (I didn’t start until 2:30pm) and mainly because I’m not going to see anything once I get there. A ribbon marks one of the trails that seems a little more used; it continues to ascend, but rather than heading straight up Mount Stenhouse it veers across the mountain.
The trail starts to descend past Penis Rock, a phallic-shaped rock sticking out of the mountain, and offers some more views towards Repulse Bay.
Soon the descent gets very steep and slippery, with a rope on one of the steepest sections.
I make another side-trip along a trail that leads to Sham Wam Beach, a small south-facing bay.
The secluded Sham Wam Beach is within the Sham Wan SSSI nature reserve, and is the only regular nesting site for Green Turtles in the South China (it’s closed June to October).
The main track ascends gently as it passes next to Yam Ling Au (110m), marked by a concrete trigonmetric point.
Slightly further on is Ling Kok Shan Au (136m), another minor peak which has a small pavilion. I’m seeing a few people for the first time since Lo Shing Village, with a paved track leading up to here from Picnic Bay / Sok Kwu Wan village.
Ling Kok Pavilion frames a nice view over the harbour to Hong Kong Island.
The trail (which is now paved) passes a junction with a trail descending to Tung O and Shek Pai Wan Pier (which doesn’t have any ferry services) to the east, and Sok Kwu Wan to the west. I’m continuing straight ahead, up and over Ling Kok Shan.
There are some great views as the paved trail ascends. This area is known for it’s many oddly-shaped boulders (including Poodle Rock, which apparently looks like a dog if you squint while looking at it from the right angle) and there’s another “Japanese tunnel” near the trail.
The paved trail traverses Ling Kok Shan (250m), the second highest peak on Lamma Island.
From the peak I stay on the paved trail, which continues onto Mo Tat village (which has an infrequent ferry service), a little longer.
What I’m looking for is a less-used trail that descends to Sok Kwu Wan, where I’ll get a ferry back to Hong Kong. Although it’s not signposted, I soon find the trail that drops down to the east. I’m starting to get used to the very high-quality and often paved main tourist trails, compared to the quite rough and often overgrown secondary trails.
The views are sometimes obscured by trees, but there are frequent glimpses of Picnic Bay below.
As I descend I spot the ferry coming in from Hong Kong Island, which I’m hoping to catch heading back out.
I’ve timed this hike well despite my late start, with the sun setting as I drop into the forest.
The last section of the track is quite rough and marked by ribbons, before it reaches a good trail that runs along the coast.
I make my ferry from Sok Kwu Wan – not that it really mattes as they are fairly frequent – and enjoy a scenic 20min cruise back as the sun dips below the horizon.
While I didn’t reach the top of Mount Stenhouse, this hike across Lamma Island offered some great views, secluded beaches and World War II history. Once you leave the main trails, there are many different routes you can take that explore the rugged southern end of the island.
Getting to Lamma Island hikes
Two ferry services get you to Lamma Island, with multiple hiking routes between them, from the easy and paved Lamma Island Family Trail to the more challenging hike described here, which traverses the two highest peaks of the island.
The most frequent ferry services run to and from Central and Yung Shue Wan, with two or three ferries every hour. It makes sense to finish here, doing the walk in the opposite direction to what’s described here. From Sok Kwu Wan there’s a ferry about every 90min to Central. At both Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan there are plenty of places where you can get a drink or lunch/dinner after your hike.
Staying on Lamma Island
It’s an easy ferry trip from Central on Hong Kong Island to Lamma Island… but if you want a completely different experience to the hustle and bustle of the mainland (and some great seafood restaurants) you can also stay on the island. Just remember there are no taxis, so you’ll need to carry your luggage from the ferry pier.
More information
- 360 Nomad – Kamikaze Tunnels of Hong Kong – A story of War and Occupation
- Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry Ltd (HKKF) – Central to Yung Shue Wan / Central to Sok Kwu Wan
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