Hong Kong waters are clean and beautiful and the sail down from Shenzhen was a breeze, visitors on Guangdong yachts said on Friday after docking here under a new scheme that allows them to moor, go ashore and explore the city.

A ship owner surnamed Sheng travelled to the SAR on his 46-foot catamaran with four to five friends.

"In the past, we couldn't dock or moor, and we couldn't go ashore.

"But now, with the travel scheme, yachts can sail south – and we can actually dock, go ashore and spend money here," he said.

A ship master surnamed Zhou said he received about two days of training on Hong Kong water rules and berthing facilities before departure.

He believes the fast clearance and application procedures will significantly boost mainland yacht owners' willingness to come to Hong Kong.

A passenger on another yacht, Eric Wang, told RTHK he and his friends are staying in the SAR for three days.

“The journey was around two to three hours. The weather was really nice, it was a pleasure. The scenery was really nice,” he said.

Wang said his group of about 12 plans to go golfing and expects to spend several thousand Hong Kong dollars each.

“Me and my friends want to go to golfing and explore around Hong Kong where cars can't go to.

“Maybe we want to drift around Victoria Harbour to see the city views, and maybe get off the boat and do some shopping.”



Edited by Edmond Fong