Author: Roni Shwartz
Source: ezinearticles.com

Macau is just across the bay from Hong Kong and many visitors to Asia’s International city spend at least one or two days of their holiday in this fascinating city, where old Chinese temples are neighboring European baroque churches and glitzy casinos, and where Portuguese lifestyle coexists alongside Chinese traditions. This article will show you the best ways of getting from Hong Kong to Macau and back.

As you may already know, ferry is what more than 95% of the passengers on this line are using. There is also a helicopter service, but it’s very expensive and honestly speaking, won’t save you that much time. So why not leave the chopper for the time-conscious businessmen?

Ferries leave from two major terminals in Hong Kong (Other than the airport’s Sky Pier, which is irrelevant to this article): Namely Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, and HK China Ferry Terminal, in Tsim sha Tsui, on the Kowloon side.

They operate 24/7 and arrive at the Main ferry terminal in Macau, which is a fairly convenient spot to start your Macau journey from (Unless you only want to come for a night of gambling, which in this case you can take the CotaiJet, directly to Macau’s flashy casino strip).

1) The bright red Turbojet is a quick ferry that covers the way to Macau in slightly less than an hour. It departs every fifteen minutes during the day, and every thirty minutes at night, and leaves from Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal at Sheung wan/Central, on the island.

The terminal building can easily be accessed by foot from Central MTR Station, as well as from the Star Ferry Pier or from the Airport Express Station. Single trip costs approximately HK$ 140 at the time of writing, and slightly more than this over the weekends.

2) If you wish to travel from Kowloon’s side, First Ferry Macau departs from Tsim Sha Tsui every thirty minutes, from 7 am till midnight. Travel time is also around one hour and the price range is similar to that of Turbojet

3) Those of you who are only interested in a night of gambling, good food and entertainment at Cotai Strip and the Venetian, can take advantage of the new CotaiJet service which takes passengers to Taipa Island’s Temporary Ferry Terminal in Macau (from where a free coach will take you to Cotai Strip itself).

CotaiJet leaves from Tsim sha Tsui’s HK China Ferry Terminal, every thirty minutes (every one hour at night), between 7 am and 1am. Traveling time is, again, one hour, and the basic ticket costs HK$ 134 one way at the time of writing.

From Macau, CotaiJet ferries depart every thirty minutes (every one hour at night, and every two hours late at night.), between 7:30 am to 5am, which means you can party the night away in the Venetian and make it back to Hong Kong, just in time for breakfast.

And before I conclude this article, here are a few important points you should note:

To know more about Hong Kong and Macau, including recommended restaurants and nightspots, shopping tips, hotel recommendations and some great suggestions for do-it-yourself trips, visit the Hong Kong Travel Guide at Metropolasia.com – The ultimate online-guide for travel, dining and lifestyle in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.

Roni Shwartz is a certified travel consultant and an expert to the cities of Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. He writes for http://www.metropolasia.com/