Lamma Island Day Trip, Hong Kong: Ferries, the Family Trail & Seafood

A Lamma Island day trip is the easiest thing you can do in Hong Kong that does not feel like Hong Kong. You board a ferry at Central and about twenty-five minutes later step off onto an island with no cars on it, bicycles stacked against the pier railings and a paved footpath that crosses the whole island in an afternoon. Here is how the day works, with the current fares and timings.

Getting to Lamma Island: one pier, two villages

Every Lamma ferry leaves from Pier 4 at the Central Ferry Piers, a five to ten minute walk from Hong Kong Station and the IFC mall. The operator is Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry, not the Star Ferry company, and there are two separate routes from that one pier.

Yung Shue Wan is the northern village and the one most people want. It is the bigger of the two, it has the shops and cafes, and it is the standard starting point for the walk across the island. The crossing takes about twenty-five minutes.

Sok Kwu Wan sits on the eastern side and is really a row of seafood restaurants on a bay full of fish rafts. The crossing takes about thirty minutes and the boats are much less frequent.

Almost everyone sails into one village and out of the other, so you never retrace your steps: ferry in to Yung Shue Wan in the morning, walk across, eat at Sok Kwu Wan, sail home from there. Tap in with an Octopus card at the pier turnstile, or buy a single ticket at the counter. For which pier serves which island, we have a full guide to the Hong Kong ferry to the outlying islands.

What the Lamma ferry costs in 2026

Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry raised its fares on 1 April 2026. Sundays and public holidays cost noticeably more, which is the best argument there is for going on a weekday.

• Central to Yung Shue Wan: HK$24.90 adult Monday to Saturday, HK$34.70 on Sundays and public holidays.
• Central to Sok Kwu Wan: HK$30.90 adult Monday to Saturday, HK$43.50 on Sundays and public holidays.
• Concession fares (children aged 3 to 11, seniors 65 and over, registered disabled passengers) are half the adult fare: HK$12.40 and HK$17.30 to Yung Shue Wan, HK$15.40 and HK$21.70 to Sok Kwu Wan.
• Children under 3 travel free.

Sailing in to one village and out of the other costs an adult HK$55.80 on a weekday, HK$78.20 on a Sunday.

Check your last boat before you start walking. The last ferry from Yung Shue Wan back to Central is 12.30am. From Sok Kwu Wan it is 10.05pm, and the sailings before it are spaced widely apart, so that is the timetable that catches people out.

Walking the Lamma Island Family Trail

The Family Trail is the reason to come. It runs about 5km from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan, paved and signposted the entire way, and a straight walk takes most people an hour to ninety minutes. There are a couple of climbs and a set of steps on the Sok Kwu Wan side. Trainers are fine; nobody needs hiking boots for this.

Give it three to four hours, though, because the point is stopping. About thirty minutes out of Yung Shue Wan you reach Hung Shing Yeh Beach, and above it Lamma Winds, an 800 kilowatt turbine that was Hong Kong's first commercial-scale one when it started running in February 2006. There is a small exhibition area at the base and a lookout worth the climb.

The view from that beach is the thing photographs never prepare you for: clean swimming water looking straight across at the chimneys of Lamma Power Station. Half rural retreat, half industrial infrastructure.

Closer to Sok Kwu Wan a signposted detour drops to Lo So Shing Beach, smaller and much quieter than Hung Shing Yeh. Near the end you pass the Kamikaze Caves, tunnels cut into the hillside by Japanese forces during the Second World War, then a small Tin Hau temple on the way into the village.

The beaches, and when you can swim

Hung Shing Yeh is the one to plan around: a gazetted public beach with changing rooms, showers and toilets, nine barbecue pits, a shark prevention net and lifeguards. Lo So Shing has the same official status with fewer facilities and far fewer people.

Lifeguard cover at Hong Kong's public beaches runs roughly April to October, generally 9am to 6pm and 8am to 7pm on summer weekends and public holidays. Outside that season the sand stays open and the changing rooms may not. Bring a towel, because nothing on the trail sells one.

Where to eat: Yung Shue Wan or Sok Kwu Wan

These two villages are not the same meal. Sok Kwu Wan is the classic Lamma lunch: open-fronted seafood restaurants on the water looking out at the fish rafts, Rainbow Seafood the best known of them. Time your crossing to arrive hungry.

Yung Shue Wan is the better village to sit in. Its main street is one lane of cafes, bakeries, small bars and galleries, and where the island's long-standing expat and artist community spends its time. If you would rather have a long lunch than a hike, sail in here, eat and sail back out.

How to plan your Lamma Island day trip

Go on a weekday if you can. The fares drop, Hung Shing Yeh empties out and the ferries stop being standing room only. Leave Central by mid-morning, walk across before the heat peaks, and be at Sok Kwu Wan by early afternoon for lunch and an unhurried boat home.

Bring water, sun cover and cash. There is no public transport on Lamma and no taxis, so once you start walking, walking is the plan. If you want somewhere busier with more to look at, compare it against a Cheung Chau day trip. If you would rather have cable cars and a big set-piece sight, the Lantau Island day trip is the other direction entirely.

Quick answers

Is it worth visiting Lamma Island? Yes, if you want a half-day out of the city rather than another attraction. There is no headline sight here. You get a car-free island, an easy 5km walk past two swimmable beaches and a seafood lunch on the water, for under HK$60 in weekday ferry fares. On a two or three day trip it is a harder sell than the Peak or the Big Buddha.

How can I take a day trip to Lamma Island? Ferry from Central Pier 4 to Yung Shue Wan in the morning, walk the Family Trail across the island, eat at Sok Kwu Wan, then sail back to Central from there. Allow five to six hours door to door. Nothing about it needs booking.

How do I get from Hong Kong to Lamma Island? Only by ferry, from Pier 4 at the Central Ferry Piers on Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry runs both routes: about twenty-five minutes to Yung Shue Wan, about thirty to Sok Kwu Wan. Tap an Octopus card at the turnstile or buy a ticket at the pier counter.

What is the cost of a Lamma ferry ticket? A single adult to Yung Shue Wan is HK$24.90 Monday to Saturday and HK$34.70 on Sundays and public holidays. To Sok Kwu Wan it is HK$30.90 and HK$43.50. Children aged 3 to 11 and passengers 65 and over pay half; under-3s go free. Fares effective 1 April 2026.