Mui Wo

Mui Wo is where most ferries from Central actually land on Lantau, which means it functions, for the vast majority of visitors, as a pure transit point — the place you get off the boat before catching a bus to Tai O or the cable car to Ngong Ping. I made the mistake of doing exactly that on my first visit, and it was only on a later trip, when a delayed connection forced me to spend three hours there, that I understood what everyone else was rushing past.

The town’s older name, Silvermine Bay, comes from a small silver mining operation that ran here in the 19th century, largely unsuccessful and now reduced to a modest waterfall and a cave you can walk up to in about twenty minutes from the town center — not a major attraction on its own, but a pleasant, unhurried excuse to walk through banana groves and past small vegetable plots that residents still tend between the low apartment blocks. The waterfall itself is more of a strong trickle most of the year, dramatic only after heavy rain, but the walk there tells you more about how Lantau actually lives, day to day, than most of the postcard stops do.

Mui Wo’s beach runs in a long, calm curve facing the bay, popular with local families rather than tourists, and considerably quieter than the ferry crowds passing through the town center would suggest — most people simply never walk the extra ten minutes to reach it. I rented a bicycle from one of the shops near the pier, cheap and slightly rickety, and rode along the flat coastal road out toward Pui O, passing water buffalo grazing in the wetlands beside the road with a total unconcern for the cyclists going by that I found strangely calming.

When to go: Any season works for a short stopover, but if you’re planning to linger and cycle the coastal road, aim for autumn or spring when the heat is manageable. Rent a bicycle on arrival rather than waiting until later in the day — the shops nearest the pier tend to run out on busy weekends.