Tai O - Landau Island - Hong Kong

In port from 7am - 5 pm, can 2 couples easily do a visit to Tai O and back in that amount of time? Has anyone done this on their own?

In port from 7am - 5 pm, can 2 couples easily do a visit to Tai O and back in that amount of time? Has anyone done this on their own?

Conservatively, it will take around 1.5 to 2 hours to get to Tai O (MTR to Tung Chung, then a bus to Tai O). You will also need to consider the time it takes you to get from the cruise terminal to the nearest MTR station.

Tai O is not all that big and can be easily navigated on your own in a couple of hours. It's a small fishing village with lots of houses on stilts and shops selling dried seafood.

It is doable, but you can have only 3 hours maximum there

Assuming that you can get off the ship by 7:30 am and find a shuttle or taxi to arrive at the Kowloon Bay or Diamond Hill MTR station by 8 am (mind you, if it is a weekday, it is rush hour and the trains will be jam packed), you will arrive in Tung Chung before 9 am (transfers in Prince Edward and Lai King). At Tung Chung you have to find the bus (the terminal is just outside the MTR station). If it is a fair day, you should be able to arrive in Tai O in under an hour, including waiting time. So it is 10 am.

You need to begin your return journey by 1 pm.

If there are places you want to go, Tai O should probably not be your first choice.

Also, the buses on Lantau Island are not as frequent as those on HK Island or Kowloon.

We did it on our own pre cruise, not as a port day. Bear in mind that the bus queues can be long and you may have to wait for the next one to come along (this happened to us ;)).

Sky Shield @ HK, as a whole, is pretty good on the scheme - however, I wanted to note that the estimated travel time between Tung Chung & Tai O might be too optimistic.

We've traveled this route not too long ago & I don't believe anything has changed as there are no new highways or roads to speed thru - the bus trip between Tung Chung Bus Terminal, a 5 to 10 minutes walk from the MTR station nearby (Outlet Mall as a key landmark/reference point), and, Ning Ping Village was 30+ minutes, and it's at least another 20+ minutes from NP Village to Tai O, away from Tung Chung (although it's an indirect routing).

Lantao Bus #11 schedule showing this 24 km trip with 43 stops, to be about 50 minutes on average, each way - Google Map showing 90 minutes, however. An island taxi from Tung Chung will cost more but reduce the time in half, to somewhere between 35 to 50 minutes. Depending on bus schedule, the next #11 bus might be 10 or 15 minutes away, or as much as 30+ minutes, not fun if you are on a clock - especially on the return.

There is an (infrequent) ferry service between Tai O and Tung Chung, but I am reluctant to suggest that - as you will still need to continue the journey with MTR to get back to the ship (or vice versa) ... more transfers to do.

As outlined by Sky Shield, arrival at Tai O is likely closer to 10:30 AM - which would yield 2 to 2.5 hours before heading back to Kai Tak C.T. around 1 PM (bus @ Tung Chung by 2:30PM, MTR to Kowloon Bay for 3:30PM and shuttle/taxi/PMB back to ship terminal at 3:45 to 4 PM ... depending on all abroad time for ship's sailaway, tight but doable).

This would exclude any other stops or sightseeing, except whatever scenic views from the MTR trains once it's above ground outside Kowloon heading toward Lantau/Tung Chun & coming back. Lantau remained natural & beautiful all these years, my first visit there was the summer of 1969 and again 1970 ... really old days, with whispering for urban development and a new airport then.

By public transport, starting with shuttle/bus/PMB at KT - is at least 2.5 hours and another 2.5 hours coming back. Getting around in HK is cheap and relatively inexpensive, even if doing this by taxi - purely to save time, despite the morning rush hour traffic (mostly in-bound toward Kowloon & not going toward the airport) - would cut the time to probably 60 to 75 minutes, straight to Tai O - metered taxi fare & toll, probably run around $400 to $450 HKD with tolls, driver would be happy with the run, add 10% as a good & generous tip by local standards (that's about $55 USD - split by 2 or 3 travelers ... I call that a bargain deal)

That would get you extra time to spend in Tai O - depending on what you plan to do there. On the return time, taxi to Tung Chung will save you another 30+ minutes if time is tight. Or, perhaps - even consider doing the car ride all the way back to the ship, more expensive but could be well worth it in squeezing extra time. On a day tour without hand luggage, 4 ship passengers can fit into the taxi, 3 in back and 1 in left/front seat as pax.

This goes against what I would typically & normally recommend for getting around in HK with its efficient & reliable, fast & inexpensive public transport systems.

Taxis in the city (red taxis) cannot go to Tai O. Only those based on Lantau Island are allowed. Lantau Island taxis are blue in color.

Also, Lantau Island taxis cannot go to the city.

Taxis in the city (red taxis) cannot go to Tai O. Only those based on Lantau Island are allowed. Lantau Island taxis are blue in color.

Thanks for the correction, I completely forgotten about those silly taxi rules ... and NT's green ones. Well, if OP grab a red taxi straight to HKIA/airport - trip time should be around 45 to 60 minutes; plus, another 45 minutes by switching to a blue taxi, I think they can still save 30 to 45 minutes each way vs. the multiple transfers via MTR routing (could be confusing - crossing platforms) to finally the #11 bus. I know we waited 30 minutes for the bus to take us downhill from NP360's Village terminal - and, it was too late in the day to go to Tai O (not wanting to return again via the cable car.) At midday - the ferry is out of the question.

On the return, a blue taxi to Tung Chung for MTR and train their way back to the bus for the pier, or, to the airport & get a red taxi (and, more or less - reversing the AM route) for almost door-to-door.

Finding a waiting, unoccupied taxi @ Tai O might also be a challenge, on availability ... not sure if the driver/car would idle & wait there - unless they are dropping someone else off; or, have pre-arranged to come back & pick up the passengers to go back.

Bottomline, it's doable but fairly tight - for someone with 9 or 10 hours in total while transiting thru HK, if it's important to them and a must-do, then - do it, regardless of extra expenses.

Lastly, maybe this would be a good use for booking Uber-X or Black ... estimated X fare from $350 to $450 HKD and possibly pre-arrange it as a round-trip, which the driver would probably not mind, even if s/he need to hangout for 2 or 3 hours & wait around - an easy drive & comfortable trip. Flyertalk regulars do take them from time-to-time instead of using AE for their airport runs ... Tai O would definitely be an interesting trip report worth doing on the rider experience using Uber (vs. other "ride services" in the grey area, supposingly in the shadows of HK.)