Living on Park island (Ma Wan)

[Abraham Chung]

I am considering to move from mid-levels to Park Island. I know the rent is low, quality of apartments and facilities are high and most important it's a dog friendly place but since the latest threads on this forum about Park Island are pretty outdated i would like to get some fresh updates and hope someone can help me with these questions:

- whats the current situation with transport? Is the ferry still running 24h a day? Are taxi's still allowed at night?

- Is Park & Shop still the only groceries store? What has the island to offer nowadays in terms of restaurants etc? Is there a bar yet?

- Is there still a beach area's where u can bring your dog to swim and run around freely? What about the area on the other side of the bridge, is that accessible to go for a hike with your dog?

- Can my girlfriend use facilities such as swimming pool and squash court when she is with me? Or can facilities only be used by residents? If so, is it possible to get my gf a club card to use the facilities even we don't live together?

Any other information is much appreciated as well!

[Claire ex-ax]

Don't know about the rest of the questions but the main beach on Ma Wan is a government-gazetted one and dogs are not allowed on it. The other (smaller) coves are okay but some appear to have strong riptides.

[Hokuto]

- whats the current situation with transport? Is the ferry still running 24h a day? Are taxi's still allowed at night?

As I recall, taxis are permitted to go to the island past 11 PM.

The bus and ferry schedule can be found on the Park Island Transport website. There is no longer a Ma Wan-Central ferry overnight; it has been replaced by a bus service. (Perhaps this means fewer cases of regurgitation on the ferry?)

- Is Park & Shop still the only groceries store? What has the island to offer nowadays in terms of restaurants etc? Is there a bar yet?

Aside from P&S, there are little shops with vegetables and some canned goods in Tin Liu Village. Still not many restaurants there -- mostly Cantonese fare, along with a Japanese restaurant.

When we lived there, in addition to P&S (which is a *lot* better now than we were there), we would go to Taste at Kwai Fang (20-25 min bus) and Tsing Yi (15-20 min bus), and City Super in IFC near the Central pier (as I had to pass it to get to the pier).

- Is there still a beach area's where u can bring your dog to swim and run around freely? What about the area on the other side of the bridge, is that accessible to go for a hike with your dog?

Tung Wan beach is not accessible to dogs, but the northern beach (by the shrine) is not blocked off, so people would bring them there sometimes.

- Can my girlfriend use facilities such as swimming pool and squash court when she is with me? Or can facilities only be used by residents? If so, is it possible to get my gf a club card to use the facilities even we don't live together?

When we were there, there was an entry fee for non-members.


You may also wish to reference:
Park Island Living
Park Island Restaurants and Bars
Taxi in Park Island

[BenderBends]

- whats the current situation with transport? Is the ferry still running 24h a day? Are taxi's still allowed at night?

transport SUCKS.
the ferry does not run 24hrs anymore. instead they have a bus that takes over the late night/early morning transits from central. the buses to/from Tsing Yi are always packed to the teeth. other then that, no complaints other then not being able to go to/from the island urgently when needed.

- Is Park & Shop still the only groceries store? What has the island to offer nowadays in terms of restaurants etc? Is there a bar yet?

PnS is still the only grocer, and it is a very crappy grocer indeed. its too small, has very poor selection for meats, fish, vegetables, fruits. these items are either always out of stock, or really bad looking. also it is mandatory to wait on the 3 open checkout lines for a minimum of 15 -20 mins before they can pay. also, dont expect them to help you bag properly, instead they just throw all the goods at end of the angled tabletop, and you are left to fend for yourself while they start checking out next customer. Seriously though...why make angled tables to pack goods in????

as for restaurants...there are currently 3 goods ones, and the rest are all sub sub sub par. you can enjoy Cafe Roma (italian), and some Thai place, and some indian place opening soon looks promising. Other then that it is all really bad chinese food.

- Is there still a beach area's where u can bring your dog to swim and run around freely? What about the area on the other side of the bridge, is that accessible to go for a hike with your dog?

there is a small beach front to the left of ferries where humans can NOT swim. this area i see people with dogs running around, so i assume its ok. i do not think they allow dogs in the main swimming area of the beach.

you can hike around the island, but only in the limited sections they allow, such as the cemetery, the ma wan park (what a joke), and the old village. as for the rest of the island, it is off limits.

- Can my girlfriend use facilities such as swimming pool and squash court when she is with me? Or can facilities only be used by residents? If so, is it possible to get my gf a club card to use the facilities even we don't live together?

anyone can use the facilities, but non residents pay more then residents. not sure of other arrangements for club cards or what not.



lastly...my recommendation is to stay far far away from PI. it sucks here. theres limited food selections, even when you want to cook yourself you will find most often needing to go to Central (city super) or Tsing Yi (Taste). Cafe Roma and the Thai place have been the only decent ordering, but Thai doesnt deliver on weekends (wtf???) and the prices for both seem a bit high for the quality, although it is best pizza other then Dukes in Central.

my beggest dissappointment with PI is the crowds. we moved here thinking it would be a quiet nice cozy place to spread out and relax with green surroundings. boy were we wrong. they keep adding more and more buildings, and blocking off more and more green areas. in addition they made the Ma Wan Park and Noah Arc attractions to bring tourists to a residential island. wtf were they thinking? all it did was made the quiet island into a loud, overcrowded place with ZERO shops and craptastic food. and the Arc....a big zoo filled with FAKE animals...im failing to see the point of it all. and the Ma Wan Park claimed to preserve nature by tearing down all the trees to make a crappy walkway around a perfectly walkable incline on a grass hill, that leads to one of the WORST possible look out points ever planned in the history of park planning.

but...to each their own...enjoy

[Abraham Chung]

thanks for the feedback. Looking at the threads from 3, 4 years ago most PI residents seem to be raving about the place but i guess a lot of things have changed.. How long does it takes from central to PI by bus? Until what time the ferry is still running? Midnight?

[BenderBends]

thanks for the feedback. Looking at the threads from 3, 4 years ago most PI residents seem to be raving about the place but i guess a lot of things have changed.. How long does it takes from central to PI by bus? Until what time the ferry is still running? Midnight?

it mentions all that on the website for pitcl.com
i think its like 40 mins for the bus...but i could be wrong.

it has changed for me. I saw PI as a great opportunity to make a low cost luxory residential island. something that actually had a park (open grass area) for people to hang out and relax on, or play with their dogs, or a nice section of the back of island to go hiking and fishing.

instead, developers and PI committee have taken it in a very wrong direction. some people i know who bought on PI are always complaining that their flat cost has not changed in the past 8 years. bad investment, and terrible island.

[Abraham Chung]

oh yes, the Arc. i've heard about it. Epic fail..

[Hokuto]

thanks for the feedback. Looking at the threads from 3, 4 years ago most PI residents seem to be raving about the place but i guess a lot of things have changed..

I liked it enough. We'd still be there were the location more convenient to my husband's job. I'd probably miss the great food of Kowloon, but there's always Tsuen Wan.

How long does it takes from central to PI by bus? Until what time the ferry is still running? Midnight?

Check the ferry schedule.

[BenderBends]

I liked it enough. We'd still be there were the location more convenient to my husband's job. I'd probably miss the great food of Kowloon, but there's always Tsuen Wan.

Check the ferry schedule.

im missing your suggestion about Tsuen Wan?

[Hokuto]

There are restaurants with yummy food there, and it's a reasonable trip from Ma Wan.