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China ChinaIsland

Lantau Island

150 km² rising to 934 m out of the South China Sea.

When to go

Lantau Island seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
San Tung Chung HangTung ChungDiscovery BayMui Wo Kau TsuenPui ONgong PingTai O
N 2 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

150km²

Area

123km

Coastline

934m

Highest point

Lantau Peak

105,526

People

29°C

Warmest sea

August

2km

To the mainland

When to go to Lantau Island

Best for the beach from October to November.

The sea is warmest in August (29 °C) and coolest in February (19 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from April to November.

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Largest island in Hong Kong

Lantau Island is an island in China. It covers 150 km², with 123 km of coastline. Its highest point, Lantau Peak, rises to 934 m. About 105,526 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 2 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 6 km in a straight line
  • FerriesDiscovery Bay - Mui Wo, Cheung Chau - Sea Ranch (Private), Mui Wo - Chi Ma Wan (Inter Islands), Tuen Mun - Tung Chung - Sha Lo Wan - Tai O
  • 2 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From October to Novemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Lantau Island.

  • 54beachesPui O Beach, Tai Pak Beach, Silvermine Bay Beach and 51 more
  • 43viewpointsStanding Rock, Silver Waterfall lookout, Kau Ling Chung View Compass and 40 more
  • 1lighthousesFan Lau Light House
  • 14ferry terminalsDiscovery Bay Pier, Kaito Pier, Silvermine Bay Ferry Pier and 11 more
  • 3marinasA Dock, F Dock, Discovery Bay Marina Club
  • 89named peaksLantau Peak, Sunset Peak, Lo Han Tower and 86 more
  • 84waterfallsWong Lung Waterfall, Joh Lung Waterfall, Lung Mei Waterfall and 81 more
  • 3castles and fortsTung Chung Battery, Tung Chung Fort
  • 4ruins and archaeological sitesRock Carving at Shek Pik, Lime Kilns (c. Tang Dynasty), Fan Lau Fort and 1 more
  • 24waymarked walking routesNgong Ping 360 Rescue Trail, Nei Lak Shan Country Trail, Lo Fu Tau Country Trail and 21 more
  • 20campsitesMan Cheung Po Campsite, Tsin Yue Wan Campsite, Nga Ying Kok Campsite and 17 more
  • 19hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 143restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Lantau Island in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Lantau Island, each with its own numbers.

  • 1beachCoastya
  • 1lakeLakeyas
  • Largest lake

    0.82km²

    Shek Pik Reservoir

    according to Lakeyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    28.7°C

    Tai Ho Wan

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

1 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Tai Ho Wancove28.7°C

Open Coastya ↗

1 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

  1. Shek Pik Reservoir0.82km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 186 m above the sea. 62 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 24 %0–50 m
  • 38 %50–200 m
  • 32 %200–500 m
  • 6 %500–1,000 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Lantau Island150 km²
Malta247 km²
Santorini76 km²

10 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • San Tung Chung Hang116,000 people
  • Tung Chung114,100 people
  • Discovery Bay19,336 people
  • Mui Wo Kau Tsuen5,485 people
  • Pui O5,001 people
  • Ngong Ping5,001 people
  • Tai O3,300 people
  • Lau Fau Shan2,230 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)192023252829303030282521
Night low (°C)131518212527272726231914
Sea (°C)191920232628292928272420
Rain (mm)352969109231288197234173562921
Wet days4610131822212116654
Sun h/day3.83.02.42.84.34.76.55.85.55.95.24.7
Wind (km/h)171716161516161415161718

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+1.1+0.2+1.0−0.1+1.2+0.4+0.6+0.2+0.8−0.8−1.2−0.8
2021−1.9+0.8+1.3+1.1+2.0+1.2+1.0−1.0+0.8+1.2+1.0+1.2
2022+0.8−0.9+0.2+0.6−0.3−0.4+0.6+1.1+1.2+0.9+0.3+0.1
2023−0.5+0.7+0.9+0.8+0.3+1.0+1.6+1.2−0.4+0.8+1.3+1.3
2024+0.8+0.7+0.5+1.9−0.2+0.1+1.3+0.3+1.1+1.2+0.7−0.2
2025−1.2−1.7−0.8−0.3+0.8+0.2+0.6+0.3+0.8+1.6+0.3+0.8

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Lantau Peak, Hongkong
Ngchikit · Public domain
HK Lantau Island Taxi
WiNG · CC BY-SA 3.0
Hiking at Lantau Island at April 2023
Pauloleong2002 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lantau Island (2043283216)
Rob Young from United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q502379) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit