For those interested in taking the ferry link service from Shenzhen to the Hong Kong Airport, here is some information you may find helpful:

1) The Sekhou ferry terminal is located in the far southwest of Shenzen about 30 minutes by taxi from the downtown business district and an hour from Lohu train station district, ignoring heavy traffic (taxi: RMB 50/100, respectively).

2) First step upon arrival at the ferry counter is to buy a ferry ticket. One way = RMB 260. Cash only. The ferry essentially runs every hour on the half hour during the prime business day: 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, etc.

3) Then, you can actually check in for your flight/get boarding pass and check your bag. Minimum check in time = 30 minutes before scheduled departure time, so if you intend to use this service, allow about 40 minutes before your planned ferry departure time (allowing for 5-10 minutes for ferry ticketing). Note: they don’t not have priority baggage tags, so if you want your bag(s) to have priority tags, you need to either just check them in to the Hong Kong airport and reclaim them (about a 20 minute estimate wait in Hong Kong), or take them with you on and off the ferry.

4) Then, 20-25 minutes before scheduled departure time, they open the queue for China Immigration Inspection and the ferry boarding waiting. They supposedly close this queue @ 15 minutes before ferry departure.

5) There is no air conditioning in the ferry terminal waiting area (and it can get stuffy), and limited seating; although there is a restaurant which may have both.

6) Once they open up access to immigration and the boarding area, you wait in a small line, present your ferry ticket, and take yourself and your bags up about 30 stairs to the second level, where you fill out a HK Immigration form and wait a few minutes, depending on the line, to go through passport control, then x-ray’ your bags, and then you are free to proceed to the outdoor, upper deck boarding area. There are many seats in this area which has a covered roof, and while there is no AC, there is a slight breeze, as you are on the water. Note: the same immigration and boarding procedure occurs simultaneously for Shenzhen to Macau ferry which departs at the same time. I am not sure why they don’t stagger the departures, so the queues for passengers from both ferries are not combined.

7) About 7 minutes before departure, ferry boarding begins. You wait in a small line, depending on how many people are taking the ferry and whether you were standing at the front of the boarding area, proceed down about 25 stairs and a ramp, and board the ferry. The ferry is nicely air conditioned and has a capacity of about 150 people in 3-6-3 configuration….there are no better or worse seats, except if the ferry is full, and you are a late boarder and sandwiched in the middle. I took a 3:30pm ferry and there were about 50-55 people. The ferry closed its doors at 3:43 and then idled for another 5-6 mins, while it they showed a safety video. This ferry actually left the pier at 3:49, 19 mins late, most of the delay seem due to waiting on about 25+ stragglers who boarded between 3:30 and 3:43 (it almost seemed like there were two waves of boarding, with a few people in between, and I think some of the late-comers were part of a group). There ferry offers limited food service for sale onboard, such as soft drinks, beer, noodles, and chip-like things. Once departed, the ferry takes about 30 minutes to the HKG airport. There is no smoking on board and no opportunity to exit the ferry and sit or stand outside as the ferry crosses the bay (bummr).

8) Upon arrival, you proceed up a long winding ramp to the sky pier terminal which includes the airline transfer desk and airport security. By the time I got to security it was 4:30. There was no line or wait for check in/boarding pass, and they had the proper priority luggage tags, and even changed my seat assignment for me, printed out a new “official boarding pass” and lounge invite. When you get to this terminal, you are now inside passport control, like a transiting air passenger (just a different area, unique to ferry passengers), but you still have to go thru airport security. It me about an hour to get to airport security, after the scheduled ferry departure time (but that includes 20 minutes of ferry departure delay, which I presume might not be typical. Amazingly, I was the only person in line for security….so that took 1 minute (had I been in the back of the pack exiting the ferry, it might have take a while…there were two security xray machines operating.

9) After security, you proceed down an escalator and onto a tram and this tram takes you to the real terminal. You exit the tram in the basement of T1 and proceed up two escalators, and voila, you are deposited at the center of the front terminal, just before gates 20/21. I could also have boarded another tram which would have taken me to gates 33-80. For me, it was now 4:45, but the process post-arrival was probably unusually quick as I was at the front end of the de-boarding the ferry (hint: leave you bag by the ferry door and sit towards the back of the ferry).

10) So, allowing 30 minutes taxi to the airport, 40 minutes for pre-ferry departure formalities, 20 minutes of ferry delay, 30 minutes for the ferry ride itself, and 15 minutes of re-checking, security, and tram, it was 135 minutes from Shenzhen center city to the departure gates.

11) So, which is the narrowest this time could be? Assuming you are willing to carry your bags on the ferry, and assuming no ferry delay, the trip could possibly be cut down to 30 minutes taxi from center city to ferry + 20-30 minutes pre-ferry formalities (buy ticket, immigration, boarding) + 30 minutes ferry + 15 minutes to gates = 115 minutes. Maybe you can shave off 10 -15 minutes with a super fast taxi to the ferry (no traffic), rushing thru the ferry terminal formalities and being the last one to board the ferry), but that’s about it.

I hope this is helpful for others attempting to plan their time/trip to the airport from Shenzhen.