Top 10 Waterfalls in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's reputation is built on its skyline and harbour, but more than three-quarters of its land area is countryside, much of it protected as country park, and its granite hills catch a wet season heavy enough to feed a genuinely dense network of waterfalls. Local hikers have named and mapped dozens of them, many with English and Cantonese names side by side on trail signs, clustered especially around Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's highest peak, and the New Territories' eastern hills. The wet season, roughly May to September, brings the heaviest flow; the rest of the year many falls thin to a trickle or dry up between storms. All ten below are on the map.
1. Bride's Pool Waterfall (新娘潭瀑布)
In Plover Cove Country Park in the northeastern New Territories, Bride's Pool is one of Hong Kong's best-known waterfall and pool combinations, reached by an easy paved path that makes it one of the most visited spots in the park, especially on weekends. The name comes from a local legend about a bride swept away here; today it is simply a popular family excursion with a picnic area nearby.
2. Pok Fu Lam Waterfall (瀑布灣瀑布)
On Hong Kong Island's southern coast, at Waterfall Bay, a stream drops directly toward the sea in a spot noted by early European visitors, including a reference from Lord Macartney's 1793 mission, making it one of the longest-documented waterfalls in the region. Urban development has changed the surrounding coastline, but the fall and its small park remain a quiet corner of the city.
3. The Ng Tung Chai chain: Main, Middle and Bottom Falls (主瀑, 中瀑, 井底瀑)
On the northern slopes of Tai Mo Shan above Lam Tsuen, the Ng Tung Chai waterfalls form a chain of several named drops — including a Main Fall, Middle Fall and Bottom Fall — set in old-growth forest and reached by a looping trail past temple buildings and forest streams. It is widely regarded as one of the best waterfall hikes in Hong Kong, and the network of paths lets walkers link several falls in one outing.
4. Lugard Falls (盧吉飛瀑)
On Lung Fu Shan above Pok Fu Lam and the University of Hong Kong, Lugard Falls drops through forest close to the historic Lugard Road, an easy walk from the city that makes it one of the more accessible falls for anyone based on Hong Kong Island rather than in the New Territories.
5. Stone Dragon Waterfall (石龍飛瀑)
Also on the slopes near Lung Fu Shan and Pok Fu Lam Country Park, Stone Dragon Waterfall sits within the same compact network of streams and trails above the western side of Hong Kong Island, a short detour from paths connecting to Lugard Falls.
6. Tai Mo Shan Waterfall (大帽山瀑布)
On the flanks of Tai Mo Shan itself, at 957 metres Hong Kong's highest peak, a waterfall drops through the cloud-forest vegetation that clings to the upper slopes, fed by streams that gather the mountain's outsized share of rainfall. Tai Mo Shan's summit is frequently shrouded in mist and receives noticeably higher rainfall than lower-lying parts of the territory.
7. Pak Shui Wun Waterfall (白水碗瀑布)
Near Sai Kung in the eastern New Territories, Pak Shui Wun — "white water bowl" — describes a fall dropping into a rounded pool, part of the network of streams draining the granite hills of the Sai Kung peninsula, an area also known for its coastline and country parks.
8. Tai Tam Mound Waterfall (潭崗飛瀑)
In Tai Tam Country Park on Hong Kong Island, close to the historic reservoirs that once supplied the city's water, this waterfall sits within a landscape shaped as much by nineteenth and twentieth-century engineering as by nature — several of Hong Kong's reservoirs and associated stone structures are listed monuments.
9. Wong Lung Waterfall (黃龍瀑) and the Yau Lung / Joh Lung Falls (右龍瀑 / 左龍瀑)
In the hills near Route Twisk, on the western approach to Tai Mo Shan, a cluster of named falls — including Wong Lung ("yellow dragon") and the paired Yau Lung and Joh Lung falls — drops through a valley whose dragon-themed names reflect a broader pattern across the territory's hiking culture, where distinctive rock and water features are often given descriptive or mythological Cantonese names.
10. Tiger Roar Gorge Falls (虎嘯峽)
Near Route Twisk and Tai Mo Shan Country Park, a set of three named falls in Tiger Roar Gorge form a short chain along a stream popular with more adventurous hikers willing to scramble along its banks, part of the same dense cluster of trails and waterways that makes the Tai Mo Shan area Hong Kong's richest waterfall region.
Getting there without a car
Hong Kong's public transport network reaches remarkably close to most of these falls — buses and minibuses serve trailheads near Tai Mo Shan, Sai Kung, and Plover Cove, and the MTR and ferries cover much of the rest of the approach. This is part of what makes Hong Kong unusual among waterfall destinations: a visitor can leave a hotel in Central and be standing at a forest waterfall within an hour or two, using nothing but public transport.
Wet season, typhoons, and safety
Hong Kong's waterfalls are at their fullest during the wet season from May to September, when the southwest monsoon and occasional typhoons bring heavy rain to the hills. This is also when trails are most dangerous: stream levels can rise very quickly during a storm, rocks become slippery, and the Hong Kong Observatory's rainstorm and typhoon warnings should always be checked before setting out. Outside the wet season, many falls reduce to a modest flow, which suits photography and easier scrambling but means visitors chasing full flow should time a trip for after heavy rain.
Explore on the map
All ten Hong Kong waterfalls above are plotted on the interactive map, alongside dozens more recorded across the territory's country parks — use it to plan a Tai Mo Shan waterfall day, a Sai Kung coastal hike, or a short Hong Kong Island escape to Pok Fu Lam and Lung Fu Shan.