The Plover Cove hike is probably one of the harder hikes we’ve done, but solely for the fact it is quite long (almost 20km), and there is pretty much no shade and we did it in the middle of summer, on a hot sunny day – brutal. Plus we hadn’t done much of anything for a few months prior so we weren’t at our best fitness wise. Even so, the sun beating down on you in the middle of summer with pretty much no cover is brutal, and not very enjoyable at all.
The Plover Cover hike can be started in a few places but I highly recommend you DON’T start it at Tei Mei Tuk as there are much less public transport when finishing at Wu Kau Tang. There’s not much parking available so we took a taxi from Tai Po Market to Wu Kau Tang and proceeded to pass two fella’s who had got lost. Dickheads we thought, only to get lost ourselves before we’d even started. Actually we didn’t really get lost, just missed the turn and ended up walking an extra kilometer.
Plover Cove Hike is basically a walk around Plover Cove Reservoir. The first bit is probably the most difficult, and actually if you do this when it’s not so hot, it’d really be quite easy. Once you get up the first bit, Plover Cove hike is pretty much up and down and up and down, but not really anything challenging. Again, what made this Plover Cove Hike difficult for me was the fact I hadn’t done much exercise for a few months prior, and it was 33 degrees, with the sun beating down.
I got burnt to smithereens and spent most of the time trying to avoid the sun, which is pretty much impossible because about 95% of the 20km’s you need to hike is not covered. The views on the Plover Cover hike were ok, nice but nothing special and I probably wouldn’t consider doing this one again, unless it was cloudy and a lot cooler (like less than 25 degrees celsius). I’m sure it’d be a lot more pleasant. The last bit over the dam was particularly brutal, you’ve just hiked 20km’s, the sun is pretty much directly above you, and there is absolutely no shelter to be found. I thought I was going to fry.
There’s really not much to write home about of the Plover Cove hike, you don’t ever get that high and as mentioned, the views were so-so, but nothing so good that you’d be going back in a hurry. There’s much better hikes in Hong Kong than this, but if you’re looking for something a bit different (it’s long but not overly challenging), than give it a go, but if you insist on going in the middle of summer, bring sun screen a hat and loads of water. I went through about 3 litres and could have easily gone through more. I suspect the Plover Cove hike would be a much better option in cooler months and when the sun’s not out.
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