Ferry to Macau and Lantau
 

Do you believe I should reserve the ferries ahead of time ? I will be traveling in October on a Saturday.
Also, what must I expect regarding the immigration procedures between Hong Kong and Macau ? I will have a backpack.

Hi,
Are you planning on staying in Macau on a Saturday night?

I understand Macau gets very busy on Fri/Saturday nights as a lot of chinese visit Macau at the weekend and the prices of hotels can be very high.

It might be better to visit Macau midweek if possible.

Do you need a visa for Macau?

A few years ago I visited Macau for a few days. You have exit immigration at hong kong before boarding the ferry and immigration upon arrival at Macau ( took around 30 mins ). I had a small back pack and had no problems.

Coming back from Macau you have exit immigration at Macau and immigration on arrival at hong Kong.

Regards

TBS

And regarding Lantau, it is not possible to pre-book ferries, but they are very rarely full. I've never seen an ordinary ferry full, but the 09:10 fast ferry does occasionally fill up when a huge school group gets on.

Lantau ferry is like taking a train, you just pay at the pier entrance (octopus / cash) and get on.

Macau ferry, you can get a few dollars off the price by paying cash to a travel agency in the Shun Tak Centre and they may throw in some freebies too (last time I got the ferry + Macau Tower tickets for less than the ferry operator's own prices, or if the House of Dancing Water show interests you). Could also consider ferry + hotel package. You can standby for earlier ferries than the one on your ticket. Seats are allocated with stickers 10 minutes before boarding.

It depends on if that weekend will be busy or not. For example, this weekend (Oct. 6) will be a good weekend to BOOK in advance (due to the holiday).

As soon as you have a Western name and your passport is visa-free for Macau, you should be fine.

Note - Macau PSP is not as friendly as Hong Kong's ID.

If you don't book in advance and arrive at the ferry terminal for Macau the touts will race towards you and ask if you want the ferry and then take you to their ferry. Make sure you get to the ticket counter you want to go on. I can't remember the company we went with by accident but their departure times were not to our liking.

I prefer to pay a little extra and book Super Class, which I do on the Turbojet website to ensure I get the times I want.

Also check which line they are touting the discounted tickets to as the two piers, Outer Harbour and Taipa are quite a distance apart.

We had know it all visitor got on the Taipa ferry when we were doing a group day trip to old Macao.

Found that out too!