From November 2026 to the Lunar New Year of 2027, the High Island kaito keeps a short calendar: Saturdays and Sundays, plus the general holidays of Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December 2026, Friday 1 January 2027, and Saturday 6, Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 February 2027. November 2026 has no public holiday, so on its weekdays there is no boat at all. Tsui Wah Ferry Service runs the route, numbered SKW 8 by the Transport Department, from Sai Kung Public Pier to Kau Sai Village and Leung Shuen Wan on High Island.
Each service day has four rotations. Boats leave Sai Kung at 09:30, 11:30, 14:30 and 16:30, call at Kau Sai Village, which they leave for High Island at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00, and start back from High Island at 10:30, 12:30, 15:30 and 17:30. Only two of those returns, the 12:30 and the 15:30, have a printed time at Kau Sai Village: 13:00 and 16:00.
Every boarding costs up to HK$65, the maximum the Transport Department's table allows, and Tsui Wah charges children the same as adults. Get off at Kau Sai or High Island and you pay again when you get back on.
HK$65 every time you step aboard
The Transport Department sets HK$65 as the maximum fare per single journey, the same for adults and children, and Tsui Wah's own card prints HK$65 as its single-trip price, also with no child reduction. A return trip is two journeys and two payments.
The rule that matters for a day out is the re-boarding one. If you step off at Kau Sai Village or at Leung Shuen Wan and later get on again, you pay a new single fare, so a stop at Kau Sai on the way out followed by a ride to High Island and back to Sai Kung means three fares, not one.
| Adult or child, maximum per single journey | HK$65 |
Fare in the Transport Department's kaito table and on Tsui Wah's timetable card · checked 30 October 2026 Transport Department – kaito fare table, SKW 8 · 2026-10-30
Three piers, two of them on islands
SKW 8 has three boarding points in the Transport Department's table: Sai Kung Public Pier, Kau Sai Village Pier and Leung Shuen Wan Pier. The pins show the two ends; Kau Sai Village Pier lies between them, on Kau Sai Chau.
Sai Kung Public Pier
Another licensed kaito, the Monday-to-Saturday boat to the Dawn Island pier on Fo Tau Fan Chau, also boards here, so check you are joining Tsui Wah's High Island sailing.
Leung Shuen Wan Pier, High Island
The outer end of the route. Its departures at 10:30, 12:30, 15:30 and 17:30 are the only return times printed for all four rotations.
From Sai Kung town to Kau Sai Chau and High Island
The kaito leaves the Sai Kung town waterfront, crosses to Kau Sai Village on Kau Sai Chau and continues east to Leung Shuen Wan on High Island; all three piers are in Sai Kung District. Neither source gives a crossing time or a distance, and the line on the map only joins the two end piers.
Before the 09:30 leaves Sai Kung
- Octopus or the fare box
Tsui Wah's ferry page says it takes Octopus or cash dropped in a box, without giving change. Carry enough for every boarding you plan.
- Pay again after getting off
Leaving the boat at Kau Sai Village or Leung Shuen Wan ends that journey; the next boarding is a new fare.
- Last boat back: 17:30
The 17:30 from High Island is the final return. Tsui Wah's card shows it finishing at Sai Kung Pier at 18:30; the Transport Department gives no arrival times, so treat that as a guide.
- Bulky items by arrangement
There is no published freight price for this route: the Transport Department lists freight as negotiable.
- Access not described
No source describes boarding arrangements for wheelchair users at these piers or on these boats. Ring 2272 2022 before travelling.
- Weather and Signal No. 8
The Government's position is that ferries generally stop under Typhoon Signal No. 8. Tsui Wah publishes no separate bad-weather rules for this route, and the table here is the schedule, not a record of the day's sailings.
Reading the arrows on the official table
The Transport Department's version of the timetable uses arrows instead of a return column. In the second and third rows a left-pointing arrow carries a time in the Kau Sai Village column, 1.00 pm and 4.00 pm, showing the boats back from High Island calling there; in the first and fourth rows the arrow stands alone. Tsui Wah's card says the same thing another way, marking only the 12:30 and 15:30 from High Island as via Kau Sai Village and leaving a dash in its Kau Sai return column for the other two.
The route is one of the kaitos named on the Government's $2 Scheme list, last updated in October 2024. Tsui Wah's other kaito here, Wong Shek to Tap Mun, runs every day with a weekday and a weekend fare.
Vessels licensed for SKW 8
Sai Kung, Kau Sai and High Island by kaito: questions
Does the High Island kaito sail on a Tuesday?
Only on a Tuesday that is a general holiday; the next one is 9 February 2027. Otherwise there is no service from Monday to Friday.
Will it run on Christmas Day?
Yes. Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026 and counts as a general holiday, so the four rotations of the weekend list apply, weather permitting.
Can I stop at Kau Sai Village and continue to High Island on a later boat?
Yes, but the second boarding is a new fare of up to HK$65. The Transport Department requires a separate single fare every time you board.
Which return boats pick up at Kau Sai Village?
The 12:30 and 15:30 from High Island, at 13:00 and 16:00. No Kau Sai time is published for the 10:30 or the 17:30.
What time do I get back to Sai Kung on the last boat?
The last boat leaves High Island at 17:30. Tsui Wah's card shows it reaching Sai Kung Pier at 18:30, a figure the Transport Department does not publish.
Is there a cheaper ticket for children?
No. Tsui Wah's card states the same price for adults and children.
Does the $2 Scheme apply?
Yes, the route is a designated kaito. Above HK$10 the scheme switches to 80 per cent off, so a JoyYou Card holder pays one fifth of the adult fare, taken from the card.