Since the husband is working from home, lunch breaks entail a short hike and so we decided to hike towards the Cape D’ Aguilar battery which we recently got to know about.
Difficulty: 4/10 because it’s short but this is not a hike for beginners
Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes only down to the battery and back up.
How to get there: Take the MTR to ShauKeiwan and exit at A3. There’s the bus terminus, take no. 9 bus that goes to Shek O. However you need to alight at the Cape D’Aguilar bus stop. ( Please note on Sundays the number 9 bus doesn’t always stop at Cape D’ Aguilar so check for the sign on the bus).
You need to alight at the bus stop and start walking down the Cape D’ Aguilar road to your right as you alight.
Got to see these cool solar powered refuse bins at the start of Cape D’ Aguilar road.
We kept walking on Cape D’ Aguilar road and spotted the run down battery below.
There were toilets on the way too.
We kept walking straight and didn’t turn left.
We came to these post boxes and walked past them. There were two tall fir trees and garbage bins, we walked past that too. We saw a set of steps going down immediately after that. This was the way to the battery.
This was the fun part! Totally rugged and rocky and filled with trees and branches hanging which were helpful whilst walking down the sloped path.
Luckily, there were ribbons tied so we followed the ribbon tied path 😁.
We came across abandoned ruins along the way down. That must have been part of the battery too.
The getting down bit got tougher as we had to hold on to branches above us and a rope as we neared the end.
But this climb down was absolutely worth it. The sights were awesome!
A little bit about this battery:
- 1939: Constructed as an Emergency battery by the Royal Navy which was completed in July.
- 1939: Armament: 2 x 4″ BL Naval guns.
- 1941: 2 x 4″ BL Naval guns. Destroyed by crew on withdrawal 19th December on account of Japanese invasion.
You will still see, two gun emplacements, a battery command post, searchlight emplacements, magazines, ammunition bunker, observation posts, and pillboxes. ( as mentioned on the board near the structure)
The views around the battery were fantastic too.
We decided to go back as the husband had to get home to meetings. So we headed back the same way.
We came out opposite the fir trees. We decided to walk a bit further to get a drink from one of the village residents who sell colas, coconut water, ice cream etc.
Post that, we turned back to get to the bus stop, booked an Uber and got home.
This was an exciting hike!! Not suitable for beginners but if curiosity gets the better of you, give it a try.
If you do take your dogs, I suggest you keep them on a leash as Cape D’Aguilar has a lot of vehicular traffic and there are stray village dogs along the way. Child friendly ~ if you can manage with your child and feels he/she enjoys getting their hands dirty then you can, but care must be exercised as the last 20 odd meters is not easy.
The climb down to the battery is approximately 600 meters which is not easy but absolutely worth it!
If you wish to do an easier hike try this one;
https://hongkonghikinglover.com/2018/01/27/cape-d-aguilar-easy-trail/
Do follow me on
https://www.facebook.com/honkiehiker/
for more fun hikes!
Thank you 😊.
Hi there,
I made the bad decision of trying to do this hike on a late-July morning – the bugs and overgrowth of bushes and trees were far too much for my liking! Out of curiosity, when you went in December what was the bug situation like? I was being swarmed and was a bit nervous about dangerous encounters with random wildlife. Thanks in advance!
Hi Jason, In December you won’t have the humongous spiders staring down at you. They are out mostly in summer. However, you do encounter some insects along the way but since this trail has been visited by loads of hikers now, you shouldn’t encounter anything too wild. But do be careful as there are snakes in Hong Kong. And wild boars too, though if you don’t trouble they let you be.
Thanks so much Charmaine!
Most welcome Jason 😃