I had been staying in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a month or so and plan on staying there until around March. During this time, I decided to surprise my parents back in Hong Kong (they live there half the year)! I flew over on the 7th without them knowing, and when they opened the door to greet me my dad was in shock and my mom cried. My eyes welled up a little too, haha. It was wonderful hanging out with my parents. I headed back to Chiang Mai on January 16th, but while I was in Hong Kong I was trying to bond with family and get out of the house each day.
The other day we visited Stanley and Repulse Bay. The last time I went was with a friend, so it had been a while since going with family.
Transportation
To get to Stanley and Repulse Bay, we suggest taking a bus rather than a taxi to save money, as the bus is convenient and takes you directly there. Taking a taxi can cost at least 100 HKD, while buses may price under 10 HKD. I like sitting on these double deckers cause you can get a beautiful view of Hong Kong on a comfortable, air conditioned means of transportation. The buses to these tourist attractions are generally quite empty as well.
View from the bus:
Didn't snap the best shot but it is gorgeous when you're actually doing it.
Check the routes of 6A, 6X, 63, 65, 66 and 260 to see which bus works for you using this site.
Repulse Bay
We were actually going to go straight to Stanley, but Repulse Bay was along the way so we decided to get off the bus to check it out.
Rather than head straight to the beach, we visited the Shopping Arcade up top.
It was very nice and upscale! The shops were cute as well.
Afterwards we checked out the beach and the gorgeous beachside complex "The Pulse" that had unique restaurants and shops. The inside of it was super modern and surprisingly relaxing. Maybe less people were there as we went on a weekday, but it was quite empty and we found tons of lounging areas in the complex. I didn't really get a photo of it but it spans a long way and is a great place to check out.
Repulse Bay has a lot of expats, and unsurprisingly is super expensive to live in. We saw prices of $10,000-$20,000 in monthly rent which is insane! I guess staying beachside will always be a bit pricier. But my mom told me that many expats live there because a lot of companies will pay for their rent in that neighborhood.
Afterwards we walked around the beach:
Stanley Market
We continued taking the bus up to Stanley Market. It has a bunch of little stands and shops where you can get a pretty good deal on cool, interesting products.
The shops go on for a while. I went in a bunch of them but didn't purchase anything!
When you reach the end you'll see this gorgeous view. This is the coastal town of Stanley:
We took some pictures at the rocks:
And visited the Stanley Plaza. After traveling through Asia for so long, I was in the mood for some burgers and fries at McDonald's. So we got our grub on and took more scenic pictures at the plaza.
Conclusion
The trip was about 5 hours total so it wasn't too long. The bus ride over took about an hour each way so I was only exploring for about 3 hours. With great views, markets, beaches, and more, Stanley and Repulse Bay are great places to visit while you're in Hong Kong!
