Lamma Island tide times

Lamma Island sits 8 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong Island and is reached by two separate ferry routes: one from Central Pier (Pier 4) to Yung Shue Wan in the north, and one from Aberdeen (on the south side of Hong Kong Island) to Sok Kwu Wan in the south. Both crossings take approximately 25 to 30 minutes. The island is the third-largest in Hong Kong at 13.5 square kilometres, and it operates without private motor vehicles on the main residential paths. Three large power station chimneys on the island's northern coast are the most visible landmark from Hong Kong Island, but they dominate only one section of the shore; most of the island's coastline is low-key village, agricultural terrace, and scrub forest.

The tidal regime at Lamma is mixed semidiurnal, consistent with Hong Kong's main tidal system. Spring range is approximately 1.5 to 1.8 metres. The two daily high and low waters show a pronounced diurnal inequality, particularly in summer months. The island's two main bays — Yung Shue Wan in the north and Sok Kwu Wan in the south — are both sheltered from the dominant swell directions but respond differently to wind conditions: Yung Shue Wan faces northwest and is sheltered from the northeast monsoon; Sok Kwu Wan faces east-northeast and is more exposed to northeast wind waves in winter. At low water springs, the beaches on both bays expose 20 to 40 metres of additional sandflat.

Yung Shue Wan has a population that has historically included a significant expatriate community alongside Hong Kong Chinese residents, drawn by the village character, the sea views, and the relative quiet compared to Hong Kong Island. The main street from the ferry pier to the Hung Shing Ye beach (15 minutes on foot) has restaurants, small shops, and a local market. The beach at Hung Shing Ye is the main swimming beach on this side of the island.

Sok Kwu Wan is known for the long row of seafood restaurants built on stilts and platforms directly above the water on the eastern side of the bay. The restaurants — some seating over 300 — fill almost entirely with group diners on weekend evenings, arriving by hired junk or ferry from Hong Kong Island. The live seafood tanks contain prawns, crabs, grouper, and sea urchin; the cooking approach is Cantonese — steaming and braising rather than heavy seasoning. The restaurant row thins to quiet on weekdays.

The Family Walk, a 1-hour trail connecting Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, crosses the island's central ridge at approximately 140 metres. The trail is paved for most of its length and passes through open scrub with views to both sides of the island. It is the most walked trail on Lamma and the standard means of sampling both ends of the island in a single day trip. A longer route via the Lo So Shing beach adds 45 minutes.

Lamma Island Power Station — the three-chimney Lamma A and B stations on the northern coast — supplies approximately 40 percent of Hong Kong's electricity. The power station's seawater cooling intake is on the northern coast; the warm water discharge influences the local water temperature in the bay immediately adjacent. This warmer water attracts certain fish species year-round and is a known gathering point for anglers targeting the species that hold near the discharge.

Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. The local tide authority is the Hong Kong Observatory, which publishes annual tide tables for Hong Kong waters.