The Eastern side of Hong Kong is (at least to my mind) a LOT more attractive than the Western side.
It’s mountainous, with lots of forestation and a spectacular coastline: lots of inlets, including some pretty big caves, lots of little islands and beautiful bays.
Although you can get to Saikung easily via public land transport (taxi, bus or mini-bus), a great day out is to hire a Junk from Central and sail to Saikung. Once you arrive you can disembark, let the Junk captain know what time you want to be picked up, and explore the restaurants and shops.
Saikung is primarily a residential town. There are no major businesses there – just local businesses serving the local community.
But there are lots of antique shops and lots of restaurants – and not just seafood restaurants. The number of ex-pats who live in Saikung has created a market for international cuisine, so you can get many different types of food there.
But if you’re just visiting from outside of Hong Kong, then it seems a shame not to enjoy the local speciality: selecting your own freshly caught seafood from the tanks and having them cook it to your specification.
I can tell you – it’s wonderful. And if you’re not a seafood expert then let the restaurant owners make their suggestions.
If you prefer, you can walk along the coastline, on a paved walkway, to the New Beach Resort hotel (about a 20 minute walk) where you can set up a Barbeque or get a drink and some food under the covered verandah.
The views are beautiful, and you can watch people windsurfing from the water sports centre next door.
Saikung is one of my favourite places in Hong Kong – somewhere I definitely plan to live once I no longer need to do a regular commute to clients’ offices on HK Island 
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Here are some pictures. Click on the thumbnail to get a bigger picture and then click again on the bigger picture to get a decent sized one. If you use any of these pictures please be sure to attribute them to www.best-familyvacations.com.
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- Some of the scenery when you sail to Saikung from Central
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- Selling the daily catch
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- More fishermen (and women) selling their daily catch
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- Residences overlooking the harbour
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- Looking out to sea from the waterfront
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- Looking across to Saikung Pier from the waterfront
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- The ferry pier
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- The waterfront is behind me here
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- Looking out to sea from the waterfront
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- Choosing your dinner from the tanks outside each restaurant
Cheers,
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