Mui Wo, Pui O, Oh Oh Oh! A Southern Lantau Beach Adventure

As promised, here is a recap of another adventurous half day trip that we took out to Lantau shortly after our boat trip.  In retrospect, I'm so glad we took advantage of those hot, sunny days at the beginning of July, because we are on endless days of muggy, gray, gloomy rain.  Lola's summer camp was canceled Tuesday due to a typhoon and we have had lots of amber rain alerts as well...it's not all bad because we are the maniacs that scream and run through the puddles on our street in our swimwear and rain boots (well, the kids, not the adults) as the rain pounds down, and the kids have an absolute blast.  But, I'm glad we put those sunshine days to good use. Carpe diem!

Lantau is a really idyllic place where the pace of life could not be more different from the hustle and bustle of Central.  Wild cattle roam the streets, there are barely any taxis, no cars show up on the Uber app (I tried) and people take bicycles and ferries as their primary means of transportation.  Lantau is a huge place home to Tung Chung, the airport, sleepy beach towns, and remote and traditional fishing villages like Tai O.  There is a lot of beautiful beach.  Auntie Lyn and auntie Julie told me that it reminded them of their hometowns in the Philippines.

It was a really nice chance for the kids, especially Lola, to let loose and try something new.  I like that the kids are getting used to having sand under their feet (Al was so resistant for so long) and while Lola was horrified at the crashing noises of the waves when we first got there, she eventually warmed up to the whole thing completely and it was quite hard to convince her to leave.  It is not easy to get there though, especially when you are traveling with three such little ones.

We departed our apartment shortly after 7 am to get on the 7:40 am fast ferry departing Central.  At that hour the ferry was empty and we had our choice of seats.

We got on a big bus once we got to Mui Wo ferry pier, 30 minutes later.

After 9 stops or so, or a "mere" 20 minutes later, we got dropped off on the side of a ramshackle street and vaguely pointed in the direction of the water.  After a 10 minute walk, where we passed by this large field of cattle and cranes grazing under a beautiful bright blue sky, we finally reached Pui O beach.

We were met with this:

The sand was silky smooth to our touch and still cool.  Most of the beach, southern facing, was still shaded.  The place was nearly empty, but for a few families with young kids.  As the morning went on, a few kids' adventure summer camps started.  Initial trepidation of the waves crashing quickly set aside, the boys walked the beach and lost no time in getting absolutely soaked.

Lola needed a little more time and coaxing, and started off slow by playing in the sand with her newly acquired sparkly shovel.  Eventually, everyone was running around playing with bubbles and enjoying the water and the sand.

Oh yeah, we got a big bubble maker, a really good one...

Just goofing around.

Eventually the kids settled down and played.  Here, a super busy Lola and Al:

One of my favorite pictures from that day:

I wish I had gotten a few more pictures of Teo up close - next time!

It quickly got way too hectic with washing every one down, changing, packing, finding a taxi, getting to Mui Wo for a quick lunch and racing to catch the fast ferry back to Central in time for Al and Teo to get a good nap, so I have no more pictures.  But I can assure you it was lovely, albeit exhausting, and I am so glad we got to see a different side of Hong Kong.  I can only hope we do it again soon!

Lola really wanted to ride one of these... I promised her we would next time!