The Hong Kong to Macau ferry is an absolute shit show and just one of many, many reasons not to go to Macau and stay in Hong Kong. As you may have guessed already, this is not going to be pretty! Let’s start with the positive (singular), the Hong Kong to Macau ferry is only an hour, but even that is not really true, because by the time you buy your tickets, cue up and get through immigration, then get off and get to the hotel, it’s basically more nearer to 3-4 hrs from Hong Kong to Macau.
The actual Hong Kong to Macau ferry ride is not that bad (more on that in a minute), but when you show up at the Hong Kong to Macau ferry terminal, more often than not you are going to be faced with about 100,000 mainland Chinese screaming and yelling like there’s a fire in the building. If you have a HKID, you can avoid the long immigration cues and go through the electronic exit points. If you don’t, god help you. Actually to be fair, getting out of Hong Kong is usually okay, it’s getting back in that can take a long time (like over and hour).
When the Hong Kong to Macau ferry leaves, there’s a mass rush to get on, akin to the running of the bulls. Don’t trip over, because it’s unlikely anybody will stop to help you. You’ll need to adapt the attitude “every man for himself” and charge right through everybody yourself. On the ferry itself things settle down, unless there is the slightest bit of chop in the sea, in which case many people will be sea sick and the wretching, hawking and spitting, not to mention the actual chundering, will have you reaching for the stick bag yourself.
When you get off, the lines at immigration aren’t too bad. Basically what I’m trying to say here is that you need to think twice if you’re thinking about going to Macau. If you decide you absolutely must see the most tacky place in the world, and you’re taking the Hong Kong to Macau ferry, then think about getting the VIP tickets, which are not that much more, but a bit more civilised. You can also get a private room but they’re quite a bit more.
On the way back from Macau to Hong Kong, for some reason it doesn’t seem to be so bad, until you get to immigration in Hong Kong, and see the lines. I guess it’s a matter of luck, to be fair again, I’ve gone over to Macau and not had it that bad and not waited more than a few minutes, but I’ve also gone over when I’d have rather been in the titanic, than experience the Hong Kong to Macau ferry. The things is, a lot of the mainland Chinese tourists travel in groups, so if happen to catch 4 or 5 of them together, things can get rather unpleasant.
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