Tai Long Wan

Tai Long Wan translates roughly to “big wave bay,” which is a slightly confusing coincidence given there’s an entirely different Big Wave Bay on the other side of Hong Kong Island, but nobody who has done the hike out here would ever mix the two up. This one is in Sai Kung, on the far eastern edge of the country park, and getting there requires actual commitment — a minibus to Sai Wan Pavilion, then a hike of roughly ninety minutes to two hours over exposed hillside, depending on which of the four connected beaches you’re aiming for and how many photo stops you allow yourself. I underestimated it the first time and ran out of water halfway, which is a mistake I’d recommend against repeating.

The payoff is the kind that makes you stop mid-sentence. Four beaches sit in sequence along this stretch of coast — Sai Wan, Ham Tin, Tai Wan, and Tung Wan — connected by a shorter trail once you’re down at sea level, each with its own character but sharing the same improbable water color, a turquoise that photographs looked doctored until I saw it myself. Lia and I made it to Sai Wan first, dropped our bags, and swam immediately, salt water on sunburned shoulders and the specific relief of finishing a hard hike somewhere this good. There’s a small guesthouse at Sai Wan serving cold drinks and simple noodle dishes to hikers, run by people who clearly understand exactly what state you arrive in.

What makes Tai Long Wan genuinely exceptional rather than just remote is the surf. This is one of the only reliable surf breaks in Hong Kong outside typhoon season, and the sand itself is finer and whiter than almost anywhere else in the territory, backed by dunes and marshland rather than concrete promenade. We camped overnight on our second visit — bringing a tent is a real option here and rewards you with a sky free of Hong Kong’s usual light pollution — and woke up to a beach with no one on it, waves rolling in steady from a horizon with nothing built on it at all.

When to go: October to December for the most comfortable hiking temperatures and the clearest water. Bring more water than you think you need, start early to avoid the worst of the midday heat on the exposed sections, and check that a kaido boat is running from Sai Wan back to Wong Shek Pier if you’d rather not hike out the way you came in.