Tips for travelling from Hong Kong to Macau

If you think travelling from Hong Kong to Macau is daunting, well take heart cos it's not.

But it does involve travelling out of one country and entering another, which means immigration checkpoint comes into play and you have to fill in arrival cards. But the form is really simple and straightforward.

Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal in Kowloon

HK Arrival Card

BUYING TICKETS
Kind of like Puduraya buying bus tickets. There are many counters as well as touts. Actually I reached at 11am and could have bought the 1130am tickets but wasnt sure whether it's the correct ferry cos I didnt want to end up in Cotai so bought the 12pm ticket. PLUS I wanted to be on safe side in case the immigration procedure may take long.

TIPS:- sometimes there are promotion with credit card when you buy RETURN tickets but I didnt find out about it until I boarded the TurboJet and read it from their on-board magazine.

TURBOJET SCHEDULE

IMMIGRATION
Websites will advise you to be there early for the checkpoint but from experience at the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal in Kowloon, the whole process is real quick. Less than 5 mins esp if you do not have any luggage.

Seats are allocated manually when you check in. They put a numbered sticker on your tickets.. somehow I think the person in charge have been briefed to put tourists near window seats.

Not sure but this is my feeling cos the person took a look at us before selecting the seat numbers and coincidentally we were given window seats on both trips.

TIPS:-
1) there are shops in the HK China Ferry Terminal, including Esprit outlet, SASA etc.

2) local currency in Macau
Even though merchants accept HK currency in Macau, you must use Macau currency for local buses! So prepare in advance if you plan to take buses.

3) getting around in Macau
most hotels provide FREE shuttle buses to their hotels. To catch these shuttle buses, make sure you walk to the nearest tourist attractions.


4) concierge service
All the major hotels in Macau have excellent concierge services! Besides directions, you can even buy your return Turbojet tickets from them directly as their computers are linked online with TurboJet ticketing system. So you can be sure you wont be stranded in Macau!


5) a good tip for TurboJet is to get a LATER ticket but if reach the ferry terminal earlier, you can opt to board the EARLIER TurboJet (provided there are seats available).

For more travel tips such travelling without roaming data plan, click JL Journal