Another weekend, another outlying island. We got lucky with sunshine and warmer weather, so we headed out to Lamma Island, the most popular of all the outlying islands. Main attractions include: the Yung Shue Wan village, the hiking trail running the length of the island, and the Sok Kwu Wan boardwalk.
Our first priority upon getting to Lamma Island was lunch. We took an early afternoon ferry ride from the Central Ferry Pier, and were ready to chow down right away. Luckily, the ferry drops tourists off right in Yung Shue Wan which is known to be packed with small restaurants, clothing boutiques, and local artisanal shops. With almost too many options to choose from (we can be quite undecisive!), Julian and I settled on this unique, little cafe called Bookworm Cafe which specializes in healthy, organic fare. They even offer vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, so I was very pleased. I would definitely recommend it; they have nice relaxing music playing in the background, and you are surrounded by a true bookworm paradise.
After a filling lunch, we took the main Ling Kok Shan hiking trail to get from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan, the other side of the island. Along the way, we stopped at some small jewelry and trinket shops, and the hike had some moderate hills but was overall not challenging. We even took a pit stop at the Hung Shing Yeh beach, but this is not the type of beach I would want to spend the day at. We appreciated taking in the coastal scenery on the hike, and made it to Sok Kwu Wan within an hour.
The Sok Kwu Wan side caters less to the Western crowd, and primarily focuses on traditional, fresh seafood dishes. Known as the "seafood strip", these waterfront restaurants are teeming with all sorts of seafood imaginable and offer up cold beer at cheap prices to draw in tourists. Since we already ate, we did not get to try the food here but I have heard the Lamma Hilton has quite a good reputation. We ran right onto the late afternoon ferry, and headed back early because there was not much to see in Sok Kwu Wan. I would recommend spending most of your time on the Yung Shue Wan side if you do decide to make a trip to Lamma Island.