Sanpan Victoria Harbour

[Meerkat]

Periodically I head down to the noon day gun to eat a sandwich for lunch and I every time there are Sanpans delivering people to the quayside... but from where?

I know there are sanpans which ferry yacht owners to their boats but they are run by the yacht club.

I am talking about the ones where the drivers look like they live on board....

Are there fixed routes? Can you travel across the harbour on them? Is there a standard fare?

My cantonese isn't up to getting past them trying to sell me a trip around the harbour (at tourist rates).

Anyone know the skinny on the Sanpans?

[beachball]

The sampans are only use in the typhoon shelter only and this do esn't allow them to go into the harbour has this is against the law.

Anybody can use the sampan it usual cost about $5 to travel to the boats well you can always travel up and down the typhoon shelter on the sampan.

Yup, that's pretty much correct. These sampans mostly operate around the typhoon shelter to bring people to their boats and back (note that only the first few rows of moorings are Yacht Club moorings, the remainder of the typhoon shelter are just standard moorings as most in Aberdeen and other places) and to take tourists around. Yacht Club members also use them outside of the operating hours of the Club sampans.
I am not entirely sure where they are allowed to go - occasionally you see one venture out of the typhoon shelter (e.g., to the petrol/diesel barges or to the small bay on the other side of the Yacht Club).

[wtbhotia]

the sampans do venture out and take people who want to fish under the Eastern Highway, under the structure you will see some guy standing there fishing and the only way he got there was by a sampan, they usually have a time set up where the sampan will come back to pick him up.

[beachball]

the sampans do venture out and take people who want to fish under the Eastern Highway, under the structure you will see some guy standing there fishing and the only way he got there was by a sampan, they usually have a time set up where the sampan will come back to pick him up.

That makes sense.

To get picked up again, best practice is to only pay after your return trip from the boat, fishing pier, etc. Provides the extra little bit of incentive for the sampan operator to come back for you. Generally not a problem, but you really don't want them to forget about you and spend a night on the boat/pier. As a back-up, make sure to have the mobile phone of the operator (and maybe a couple of others - most of them have name cards that they hand out).

[hullexile]

the sampans do venture out and take people who want to fish under the Eastern Highway, under the structure you will see some guy standing there fishing and the only way he got there was by a sampan, they usually have a time set up where the sampan will come back to pick him up.

I've always wondered how they got there, thanks for that info.