Hong Kong currently has around 8 main marinas that are capable of mooring big yachts and provide sensible related services. There are also large mooring spaces that are provided by the government for pleasure yachts in Hong Kong as well. These are called in Hong Kong as Typhoon shelters.
Hong Kong’s first boat club is believed to be started by group of oarsmen in 1849. This was soon after the British arrived in Hong Kong in 1842. in 1894 the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club was started. The Yacht club was mainly for British officers who recognized yachting as a leisure activity.
Hong Kong’s first typhoon shelter was built in 1883, after a typhoon in 1874 devastated Hong Kong and Macau, causing 2000 injuries and 5000 deaths. The shipping vessels and fishing boats that were moored on the waters were completely destroyed by this typhoon, causing the government to build these shelters to protect all the vessels and maintain Hong Kong’s reputation as a safe shipping port. In later years more shelters were built all around the city creating space for mooring commercial and private vessels.
The world war II causing the Japanese occupation over Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945 had done quite a bit of damage to Hong Kong’s population, trade and economy. But in 1950s and 1960s people from China started coming to Hong Kong to escape civil unrest. They set up factories and businesses that turned Hong Kong into a manufacturing hub. As the wealth started to grow the boating industry in Hong Kong also started to grow. in 1967 another boat club was founded in the Aberdeen area which is in the southern part of Hong Kong. After 1972 when the justice system and anti corruption in Hong Kong improved the city started attracting foreign investment and the city soon became a financial hub. Hong Kong today is a key city for boating in Asia and has around 12,000 leisure boats registered. Hong Kong is a small city with a total area of only 1,104 sq kilometers and a population of 7.2 million people. Hong Kong is referred to as a boating capital of Asia because there are many professional services related to pleasure boating, the infrastructure is also well organized and people are experienced in owning and using pleasure boats. There are thousands of boat crew and captains that are employed in this industry and also there are 250 islands around Hong Kong which never makes it a boring place for boating.
Credit should also be given to the cities marina clubs and yacht clubs which provide professional services in Hong Kong for berthing large boats, to providing all sorts of complicated maintenance services for their members. The marina clubs apart from providing mooring services for private yachts also provide normal club services and known to be reputed lifestyle clubs that are enjoyed by the people in the city.
Here is a list of some marina clubs of Hong Kong .
Marina Club located in Sai Kung, Che Keng Tuk.
Marina Club located in Clearwater Bay.