By Star Ferry--A trip across Victoria Harbour on one of the white-and-green ferries of the Star Ferry Company is one of the most celebrated rides in the world. Carrying passengers back and forth between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon ever since 1898, these boats have come to symbolize Hong Kong itself and are almost always featured in travel articles on Hong Kong Island. They all incorporate the word "star" in their names, for example, Twinkling Star or Meridien Star.
The Star Ferry is very easy to ride. Simply drop your coins into a slot on the ancient-looking turnstile, follow the crowd in front of you down the ramp, walk over the gangway, and find a seat on one of the polished wooden benches. A whistle will blow, a man in a sailor uniform will haul up the gangway, and you're off, dodging fishing boats, tugboats, and barges as you make your way across the harbor. Businesspeople who live in Hong Kong are easy to spot--they're usually buried behind their newspapers; visitors, on the other hand, tend to crowd around the railing, cameras in hand.
The whole trip is much too short, about 7 minutes total from loading pier to unloading dock, with the ride across the harbor taking about 5 minutes. But that 5-minute ride is one of the best in the world, and it's also one of the cheapest. It costs only HK$1.70 (US20¢) for ordinary (second) class; if you really want to splurge, it's only HK$2.20 (US30¢) for first class. First class is located on the upper deck, and it has its own entryway and gangway (follow the signs in the ferry concourse); if it's raining or cold, first class is preferable because there are glass windows in the bow. Otherwise I find ordinary class much more colorful and entertaining because it's the one the locals use and the view of the harbor is often better.
Star Ferries ply the waters daily from 6:30am to 11:30pm between Hong Kong Island's Central District and the tip of Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui. Ferries depart every 3 to 5 minutes, except for early in the morning or late at night, when they leave every 10 minutes.
By Other Ferries--Besides the Star Ferry, there are also many ferries to other parts of the city. Ferries from the Central District, for example, also go back and forth to Kowloon's Hung Hom from 7am to 7pm for HK$5.30 (US70¢), convenient if you want to catch the train to China at KCR Kowloon-Canton Railway Station. There's also hover-ferry service between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui East (near the Shangri-La Hotel), running at 20-minute intervals and costing HK$5.70 (US75¢). From Wan Chai, there's also ferry service to Tsim Sha Tsui, running from 7:30am to 11pm and costing HK$2.20 (US30¢), and to Hung Hom, available from 7am to 7pm and costing HK$5.30 (US70¢).
In addition to ferries crossing the harbor between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, a large fleet serves the many outlying islands and the northern part of the mainland. If you want to go to one of the outlying islands, you'll find that most of these ferries depart from the Outlying Islands Ferry Piers stretching west of the Star Ferry terminus in Central. Operated by the Hong Kong & Yaumati Ferry Company Ltd. (HKF), these boats vary in size; some even have outdoor deck areas in first class. The latest schedules and fares are available from the Hong Kong Tourist Board (HKTB). One thing to keep in mind is that on the weekends the ferries are unbelievably crowded with locals who want to escape the city. And on weekends the fares are higher, so it's best to travel on a weekday. Even so, the most you'll ever pay for a ferry, even on deluxe class on a weekend, is HK$31 (US$4). You can use the Octopus card on most ferries.
