Macau Trip Part 1: Go to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

[Introduction]

I traveled to Macau in mid December. I went around the World Heritage sites in Macau Peninsula in the first half and mega resorts in Cotai area in the latter half. In this article, I will write about move to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Go to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge [This article]
* Day 1: Around Lisboa (Light-up)
* Day 2: Penha Church etc.
* Day 2: Senado Square etc.
* Day 2: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Mount Fortress, St. Lazarus District etc.
* Day 2: Ruins of St. Paul’s, Senado Square etc. (Light-up)
* Day 3: Sands Cotai Central
* Day 3: The Venetian Macao
* Day 3: The Parisian Macao (Light-up)
* Day 3: Studio City Macau (Light-up)
* Day 4: City of Dreams
* Day 4: MGM Cotai, Wynn Palace
* Day 4: Galaxy Macau
* Day 4: The Venetian Macao etc. (Light-up)
* Day 5: Macau Tower
* Day 5: Return Home

[Travel Date]
2018.12.14-18

[Main Part]

It has been a while since I posted the previous article about my Osaka trip, and I will start a new series. I visited Macau in mid December.

I have been to Macau several times together with Hong Kong just as an excursion and been longing for traveling to only Macau. In Macau, it rains less and the weather is relatively stable in December. In addition, “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge” was opened this October, which has added another option to move between Hong Kong and Macau. So, I decided to visit Macau at this timing.

Move to Hong Kong International Airport with Cathay Pacific

I started the trip at Narita International Airport. To begin with, I will move to Hong Kong.

There are several options of flights to Hong Kong and I chose Cathay Pacific.

When I visited Hong Kong last year, I used Hong Kong Airlines (see the related articles: to Hong Kong, from Hong Kong). This time, I decided to use Cathay Pacific to compare it with Hong Kong Airlines.

After I checked in a luggage, I moved to the immigration. Although it was before the winter holiday season, the airport was crowded more than I expected.

I passed the immigration and moved to the departure gate.

The flight was CX509, which departed from Narita Airport at 9:00 a.m.

I got on board. The aircraft was Airbus A330 and its seat configuration for economy class was 2-4-2.

The plane started to take off without delay.

View from a window seat.

Here was the in-flight meal.

Since my destination was Macau where there were casinos, I read a novel about casino (“Tokyo Casino Paradise”).

The plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on time. Unfortunately, it was cloudy.

To recap the flight (Cathay Pacific Flight 509), although I didn’t have so expectations as I used economy class, I felt the aircraft was a little bit old (especially for its entertainment system) and the airline seemed to cut costs for its in-flight meal slightly compared with when I used Cathay six years ago. However, cabin attendants provided excellent service as always, so when I have another chance to visit Hong Kong in the future, I will use either Cathay Pacific or Hong Kong Alines rather than Japanese airlines (JAL and ANA), considering its price.

Access from Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to Macau

So far, there were mainly two ways to move from Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to Macau – (1) go to Macau by ferry from SkyPier located in HKIA without entering Hong Kong, or (2) enter Hong Kong and go to Macau by ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀) or Sheung Wan (上環). However, each option has both merits and demerits – (1) there are less ferries and there are limitations on minimum connection time, so travelers need to have some layover time at the airport (2) there are more ferries, but it takes time to move to Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀) or Sheung Wan (上環).

In the meantime, “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (港珠澳大橋)” was opened this October, which became the third option, so I decided to use it.

First, I will enter Hong Kong.

I applied for “e-Channel (e道)” to use automated gates for immigration.

Arrival lobby.

Move to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

“Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (港珠澳大橋)” is the longest sea crossing bridge with 55-kilometer long, which connects Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai. Its construction was started in 2009 and the bridge was opened in October 24, 2018.

Along with the opening of “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (港珠澳大橋)”, shuttle bus service between Hong Kong and Macau has started. At this moment, however, shuttle bus does not directly connect with Hong Kong International Airport, so travelers needs to move from the airport to “Hzmb Hong Kong Port (港珠澳大橋香港口岸)” where shuttle bus departs.

So, I went out of the building of the airport and moved to a bus terminal.

“B4” bus connects between the airport and “Hzmb Hong Kong Port (港珠澳大橋香港口岸)”. The fare is 6HKD and “Octopus Card (八達通卡)”, IC card, is available.

It took about 10 minutes to move to “Hzmb Hong Kong Port (港珠澳大橋香港口岸)”. Since shuttle bus to cross “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (港珠澳大橋)” departs from “Hzmb Hong Kong Port (港珠澳大橋香港口岸)”, several buses arrive here from urban areas in Hong Kong.

Go into the building.

It was not so crowded, as it was weekday.

First, I will go through the embarkation procedure from Hong Kong.

I passed the immigration from automated gate with “e-Channel (e道)”.

I felt how convenient “e-Channel (e道)” was.

Next, I will buy a ticket for shuttle bus. In addition to manned ticket office, there were automatic ticket vending machines and I bought a ticket from a vending machine. The fare was 65HKD.

There was also a convenience store “Circle K”. I recharged my Octopus card here for future visits to Hong Kong.

I will get out of the building and move to a bus station.

I got on board a shuttle bus. The bus in the picture below was another shuttle bus waiting for departure and it seemed shuttle buses were running frequently (- every 5 minutes at the peak time).

I started to move to Macau. Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that scenery was not photogenic at all.

There were several small islands on the way.

It took about 35 minutes and the shuttle bus reached “港珠澳大橋邊檢大樓”, the bus stop for Macau side.

I will go to immigration.

Move to Hotel Lisboa

After passing the immigration, I went out of the building.

According to the signboard, it seems hotel shuttle bus service will be available in the future, but the bus terminal was opened just recently, so access from “港珠澳大橋邊檢大樓” to city areas in Macau was still in a state of development. To be more exact, when I came to the bus terminal, there were two shuttle buses (bound for Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and Taipa Ferry Terminal) and two local buses (101X: loop bus around Macau Peninsula and 102X: bound for Macau Jockey Club in Taipa).

Since the 101X bus stopped near “Hotel Lisboa (澳門葡京酒店)” where I will stay for the first two nights, I choose to take it. The fare was 6MOP.

It took about 20 minutes and I got off at the nearest bus stop, “亞馬喇前地”.

I checked in “Hotel Lisboa (澳門葡京酒店)”.

Then, I will walk around Lisboa.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about move to Macau via Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as part of Day 1.

Regarding Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, shuttle bus does not directly connect with Hong Kong International Airport and there are less options to move to city areas after reaching Macau, so there leaves rooms for improvement at this moment. Compared with ferries, however, travelers would be able to save money and moving time. It is said direct connection from Hong Kong International Airport will be available in the future and hotel shuttle bus service will be operated in Macau. Therefore, perhaps Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge may replace ferries as a main access from Hong Kong to Macau in the future 🙂

In the next article, I will write about walking around Lisboa as part of Day 1.

[Map]

1 港珠澳大橋邊檢大樓
2 Hotel Lisboa

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