Hong Kong is an exciting and energetic city and I have plenty of love for it. On the other hand though, it can also be quite a demanding one. Recently, I’ve wrapped up the first year of my Master’s programme (one year down, one to go!) and all my work deadlines and I feel very lucky to have booked a trip back to my less fast-paced hometown, Singapore.

On that same note, I thought I’ll share another side to Hong Kong, something less urban, less hectic, away from the city and much more relaxed. I’m referring to Hong Kong’s various Outlying Islands and the one in this post, Lamma Island, just may be my favourite so far, although I’ve yet to visit them all.

I first visited Lamma Island a few years ago, when my friend brought me here. I mentioned wanting to check it out and she excitedly told me that she would love to show me round her personal favourite outlying island, because she visits around once a week, to take a breather from everything. I feel like Hong Kong’s outlying islands are the perfect getaway to counter the endless hustle, for both residents and visitors alike. :)

There are two areas in Lamma Island, Yung Shue Wan (榕樹灣) aka Banyan Bay and Sok Kwu Wan (索罟灣) aka Picnic Bay. All the snapshots in this post are from Yung Shue Wan, when I visited last year. To get to Lamma Island, you need to take a ferry and I’ve included all details on getting there at the bottom of this post!

Lamma Island is an island that has a small residential population (compared to the rest of urban Hong Kong), a much more relaxed atmosphere and I really liked seeing quite a few small cafes while strolling through Yung Shue Wan.

There are also a couple of “vacation houses” where you can choose to stay in Lamma Island for more exploring or some time away from the city. Sounds like a much less expensive version of a staycation to me, although less luxurious than a hotel!

I came across this shop selling street food and how could I not buy some egg waffles from a stall called Lamma Island Egg Waffles? :) They were good by the way, all warm and chewy.

I also picked up some “super fishballs” and I was laughing over how big they were, like the easily amused person I am. They taste like regular fishballs, but are about three times bigger!

There’s something about small but quiet and peaceful beaches. :)

There is sadly a lack of greenery in urban Hong Kong (is this a reason why the summers are so meltingly unbearable?) so I like to be able to see more of it here.

To get to Lamma Island, I took a ferry from Central Pier number 4. At Pier 4, there are options for two ferry routes to either Yung Shue Wan or Sok Kwu Wan. I took the Yung Shue Wan route, which takes 25 minutes (the Sok Kwu Wan route is longer) and cost me around HK$17 each way. I looked it up and this fare seems to apply for Monday to Saturdays and should cost more on Sundays and public holidays.

I hope you liked this look into another side of Hong Kong! As much as I love the city life, the frantic pace is tiring sometimes and I think it’s great that even if I do not travel abroad, there are peaceful islands like this just a ferry ride away. :)