Mui Wo (Silvermine Bay) tide times

Mui Wo — Silvermine Bay in English — is the main town on the eastern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong's largest island and the site of the international airport. The town sits at the head of a sheltered bay on Lantau's eastern face, backed by the mountains that form Lantau's central spine. The ferry from Central Pier 6 takes 55 minutes on the ordinary service or 35 minutes on the fast ferry, making Mui Wo one of the more accessible ferry destinations from Hong Kong Island. From Mui Wo, the rest of Lantau fans out: the Lantau Trail runs in a circuit around the island, the cable car to Ngong Ping and the Big Buddha departs from Tung Chung (bus or cycle north), and the outlying beaches at Pui O and Cheung Sha are accessible by bus to the south.

The tidal regime at Mui Wo is mixed semidiurnal, with a spring range of approximately 1.5 metres. The bay is sheltered from the dominant northeast swell by the Lantau headland and by the mass of the island itself, so wave action in the bay is minimal at all tide states — wind chop from the east is the only sea condition that builds in the bay. At low water springs, the Mui Wo tidal flat at the bay head — a sandy mudflat fed by the stream draining from the Silvermine Bay valley — is exposed for 150 to 200 metres from the beach. This flat is a wader feeding ground, particularly in autumn and winter migration periods.

The Mui Wo tidal flat supports a regular assemblage of migratory waders: common sandpiper, grey plover, greater sand plover, whimbrel, and, in peak migration years, the occasional bar-tailed godwit. Pacific golden plover are present through the winter months. The flat is also used by grey heron and little egret throughout the year. The stream mouth, where freshwater meets the tidal flat, concentrates feeding activity, particularly on the ebb tide when invertebrates are exposed in the drainage channel.

Cycling is the most popular activity on Lantau for visitors using Mui Wo as a base. Bicycles are available for rental from several shops adjacent to the ferry pier — the rental fleet is basic but functional. The cycle route runs south from Mui Wo along the coastal road to Pui O and Cheung Sha, passing through lowland farmland and coastline that gives a clear view of the tide state in the bay. Cheung Sha beach — the longest on Lantau at 2 kilometres — is 7 kilometres south of Mui Wo by cycle, with a usable beach through most of the tidal range.

The Lantau Trail, Stage 1, departs from the Mui Wo ferry pier end and climbs toward Sunset Peak (869 metres). This is a full-day route that joins Stage 2 for a circuit around the southern side of the mountain — allow 6 to 8 hours for Stages 1 and 2 combined. Stage 2 passes through the Lantau South Country Park and descends to Pui O before returning to Mui Wo by bus. The Silvermine waterfall is accessible on a shorter 45-minute walk from the ferry pier via the Silvermine Bay campsite trail.

The village market near the ferry pier serves local residents and weekend visitors with fresh produce, cooked food stalls, and the small shops that supply the village's daily needs. The combination of market, beach, cycle path, and trail access makes Mui Wo a practical base for a full Lantau day without the crowds of the Ngong Ping cable car route.

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.