Lantau's Trails, Falls and Campsites
The best outdoor day on Lantau does not involve a single cable car ticket, and it starts at a bus stop most day-trippers walk straight past.
The Tung O Ancient Trail
This 13 to 15 kilometer coastal footpath connects Tung Chung to Tai O the old way, on foot, past the mudflats of Tung Chung Bay and through the villages of Sha Lo Wan, San Shek Wan and Sham Wat Bay, with seaside noodle shacks along the route and the Yeung Hau Temple waiting at the Tai O end. Budget four to five hours and start early enough that you are not finishing the last stretch in the dark.
Digging for clams at Pui O
At low tide, Pui O’s dark volcanic-and-golden sand flats turn into a genuine family activity: wading in with a small trowel alongside local residents to dig for freshwater clams, while the beach’s resident herd of wild water buffalo cools off in the wetland marshes nearby. Check a tide table before heading out, since the flats that make this possible disappear again once the water comes back in.
Silvermine Waterfall, an easy win from Mui Wo
A paved, family-friendly path runs about 45 minutes from the Mui Wo ferry pier through rural villages and fruit orchards to a two-tier waterfall and swimming pool, passing the historic entrance to a 19th-century silver lead mine along the way. It is the lowest-effort outdoor activity on this list and one of the most rewarding for the time it costs.
Camping at Kau Ling Chung
Hong Kong’s most scenic coastal campsite sits in South Lantau’s country parkland, with views over the South China Sea, access to the 1902 South Boundary Stone that once marked the colonial maritime frontier, and stargazing with essentially no light pollution to compete with.
The verdict
The Tung O Ancient Trail is the outdoor activity worth building a full day around; Silvermine Waterfall is the one worth doing on a half-day whim, since it needs almost no planning to pull off well. Kau Ling Chung sits in between the two: it takes real advance planning to reach and carry a tent into, but it rewards that effort with a coastline most day-trippers never see at all.
Check the tide tables at Pui O before you go, not just the weather forecast, since a high tide erases the clamming flats regardless of how clear the sky looks that morning.
For where Kau Ling Chung fits into a longer camping trip across the island, see multi-day trips on Lantau Island .