Cheung Sha beaches, Lantau

Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣) on the south coast of Lantau Island boasts one of Hong Kong's longest beaches - stretching around 2km from east to west

Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣), Lantau Island, boasts one of Hong Kong’s longest beaches.

Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣) on the south coast of Lantau Island boasts one of Hong Kong’s longest beaches – stretching around 2km from east to west, though almost split into two by a tiny headland.

There are clusters of buildings at Lower Cheung Sha village, beside the eastern end of the beach. Here, too, there are popular restaurants in former village houses just above the high tideline.

It seems the restaurants are favoured by expats arriving by junk, but they’re also easily reached by public transport – lying little more than a hundred metres from the main road along south Lantau. (Just west of the main bus stops for Lower Cheung Sha.)

Chilling out at eastern Cheung Sha

Eat in these restaurants, and you can look out at the beach, and contemplate whether to get up to anything active, like swimming, kite surfing, or even just walking on the beach.

It seems, though, that while kids like to play on the beach, many a grown-up is content to chill out, unwind from city life. (If you visit, maybe don’t play in this pool – reportedly has some sewage from the village; some kids have had skin problems after romping here.)

Even on Sundays (and public holidays?), eastern Cheung Sha can be far quieter than beaches on Hong Kong Island, say.

 

Western Cheung Sha: Lantau’s long, lovely beach

cheungsha,lantauAnd the longer, western stretch of beach – just across the small headland from Lower Cheung Sha – is quieter still. Though the road isn’t far away, this stretch seems relatively wild; the only building beside it is a (rather ugly!) government building, housing lifeguards and some facilities for swimmers.

This building lies at the westernmost end of the beach. There’s a bus stop just above it (buses from Tung Chung or Mui Wo, bound for Tong Fuk, Tai O and Ngong Ping, can stop here) – and you can enjoy a pleasant outing by alighting here, then walking along the beach, and over the headland to Lower Cheug Sha, perhaps arriving in time for lunch.

For some reason, the government’s Lantau Developmen Taskforce has come up with an idea for a boardwalk along the beach; quite ridiculous, given this such a wonderfully unspoilt stretch of coastline, and the fine sand is magic for walking on (barefoot).

Though the road is close by at first, the beach is surprisingly peaceful.

A small stream drops to this beach.

Inland, Sunset Peak forms a fine backdrop to views from the beach; there’s also a sea sports centre just above the beach.

Lantau’s feral cattle are fond of the area, maybe lazing in the vegetation just above the tideline.

Late on a fine afternoon, you can look back along western Cheung Sha from a pavilion atop the headland. Then, it’s time to drop down to Lower Cheung Sha, perhaps to call in at one of the restaurants. A jug of sangria, maybe? Sounds good to me.

8 Comments

  1. Cheung Sha beach
    Though I ‘ve been living in Tung Chung for ten years, I never realised there is a beatiful beach in Lantau island.
    I wanna go to there!

  2. wounded buffalo at Cheung Sha

    from Lantau Buffalo Association:

    [quote]Apologies if you have already received this.
    I wonder if you can pass this around anyone who uses Upper Cheung Sha beach

    There are 2 males ( one with an injury) that are living one the beach. Because one has quite a deep wound, his injury is making him beligerent, and both buffs & get edgy if approached. They are capable of charging so please stay clear of them

    Location: Upper Cheung Sha beach, half way up
    The bushes close to area that was cleared for some construction ( I think 4 concrete bollards were put up the road-side of this area).  

    It’s quite hard to round up 2 buffs that are looking out for each other, but for now the LBA & Dr Joe are planning to try & treat the wounded one and keep an eye on them
    We will also put a warning sign up on the rock near their hang out

    Please let us know if anyone has any reports of these buffalo, the LBA hotline is; 81036312[/quote]

  3. want to get some information
    may i know is there any facilitie to stay in the night at the beach like rent tents available there for night stay in the beach

  4. Accommodation

    Do you know of any places that rent out village houses or units for the weekend?? I have been searching but havent been able to find much, except camping in tents. Thanks, Nick

  5. Accommodation in village houses

    Hmm; I'd hoped the article on Acoommodation in rural Hong Kong would be readily found by people searching for such info. Maybe have a look at it.

    For Cheung Sha and nearby, maybe check out Long Coast Seasports, and Fung Wong Holiday Bungalows in Shui Hau.

    • Rural accommodation

      Would be great to get this page about rural accommodation working again, there's a total dearth of good info about island accommodation in HK.

      [Edit – the page is still working, but I must have changed URL and not realised effect; I've edited the link above so works just now. – Martin]

    • Free access to HK beaches

      Yes; pretty much all HK beaches accessed for free.
      [I can't think of certain example where this is not true]

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