Star Ferry

If you don't like to view the harbour on the Peak, there is another choice to experience the magnificent scene of the

Victoria Harbour

. You can feel and take a closer look of the beautiful harbour and breathtaking skyscrapers on both shores on the Star Ferry, which cruises between Central on Hong Kong Island and Tsimshatsui in Kowloon. The National Geographic Traveler listed the ferry crossing as one of fifty places of a lifetime. The ferry ride is also well known as one of the world's best value-for-money tour trips.

The history of Star Ferry traces back to the year 1880 when Dorabjee Naorojee Mithaiwala, a Parsee chef from India, engaged on a new job. He began a cross harbour ferry service with his steamboat, the Morning Star, which sailed between Pedders Wharf and Tsimshatsui on a forty-minute to one-hour journey. The new service was known as the Kowloon Ferry Company. On Mondays and Fridays the service stopped for the boat’s coaling. In 1890, the company boasted four single-deck

Star Ferries

  and later on acquired a second deck. 

Businessman Sir Catchick Paul Chater bought all the boats from Kowloon Ferry and in May 1898 the Star Ferry Company, as we know today, became a public company. Its name comes from the ferries which all bore the name "Star".

Company's fleet of twelve ferries is now serving two franchised routes between Tsimshatsui and Central, and Tsimshatsui and Wanchai, and two licensed ferry routes, between Hunghom and Central and

Hunghom and Wanchai

. In addition to ferry services, Star Ferry launched the exclusive licensed Harbour Tour in Hong Kong in 2003. The one-hour journey starts in Tsimshatsui and goes on to Central, Wanchai and Hunghom before returning to Tsimshatsui, allowing you to take in a variety of harbour views at leisure. You may be moved by the majestic beauty of the scenery, day or night, the high-rise buildings of two sides of the harbour and the mountains on Hong Kong Island are truly overwhelming.