Hong Kong / Shenzhen BIA GBA Tour
by Guy Nowell 6 Jun 05:25 UTC
3 June 2026
This week Asia Yacht Press (AYP) was invited on a fact-finding tour of marine facilities in the Greater Bay Area, hosted by the Shenzhen Boating Industry Association on the one side, and with the participation of the Hong Kong Boating Industry Association on the other. This was in part a response to recent announcements from the HK government that, in order to promote the 'yacht economy' of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) recreational vessels visiting China will no longer be required to provide a Customs Guarantee equal to 47% of the value of the visiting vessel, and such vessels will be granted temporary Chinese registration for the duration of the visit without adversely affecting their 'real' registration.
The 'yacht economy' and 'yacht tourism' have become very buzzy words around here since Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee included them in his 2025 policy address. Always looking for some new aspect of Hong Kong's excellence to promote, someone pointed out to the CE that recreational boating has long been a very real and substantial industry in Hong Kong, and despite having long been overlooked by organisations such as the HK Marine Department, is in fact a vibrant, valuable, and significant industry worthy of support. All of a sudden, new yacht support facilities (berths and marinas) and some re-writing of regulations to help turn Hong Kong into 'the Monaco of Asia' have very much become come the plat du jour on the Government economic development menu.
Going from Hong Kong to Macau is easy. Macau is a Special Administrative Region, formerly a Portuguese territory until 1999 when it was 'handed back' to China just as Hong Kong was in 1997. Both cities were international open ports. Going to China by sea is difficult and agonisingly bureaucratic, as anyone who has competed in the China Cup International Regatta will bear witness, although long slow CIQ queues are substantially improved by beer. Visiting China in a superyacht is an other-worldly experience in paperwork.
First stop on the tour was Nansha Marina. Up the Pearl River, some 47nm from Central and right next to the Humen Bridge, formerly the most southerly crossing of the Pearl River, and in 1858 the site of the naval battles of the Second Opium War which led to the Treaty of Tientsin and the ceding of Hong Kong to Great Britain. The marina buildings are constructed in the style of a Opium War era fort, and the staff wear period uniforms that include pith helmets. For those with exceptionally long memories, Wan Fu, the HK Hilton's party boat of the 1980s, is moored permanently in concrete at the marina's landward entrance.
We were there at the opening of the Marina in 2011, with IOC President Jaques Rogge officiating at the ceremony. The marina was (presumably) built on the basis of "build it, and they will come", and they are still waiting. The marina holds the occasional regatta in Far East 28s and J/70s, but the 350-berth space is mostly empty and there is no evidence of a marine or sailing or yachting community. The Pearl River is, after all, a silt-laden fast-flowing commercial highway that does not lend itself to yacht racing or to sightseeing. A presentation to the tour delegates (in Putonghua) seemed to be an attempt to sell units in a marina property development. This is not a destination for outbound Hong Kong boats, although it may be a point of departure for China sailors "going south".
Next on the sightseeing list was Shenzhen Airport Yacht Club, stoutly defended by razor wire, and containing three superyachts, a dozen FE 28s, and a handful of J/80s on the sea wall. All conversation stopped every couple of minutes as the marina is directly below the end of one of the Shenzhen Airport runways. Not a great destination, unless you are actually heading for the airport itself.
After an excellent lunch at the Tian An Hotel, we were swept away to Shekou Cruise Homeport, a commercial cruise terminal just a stone's throw south of the Deep Bay Bridge connecting Hong Kong and Shekou. Visiting yachts will soon be able to berth here, although your boat had better be a big one. This is a place built for commercial-sized vessels, and an adventurous 40ft sailing boat or even a 60ft motor cruiser is going to be dwarfed by the facilities. Apparently the 72m superyacht Stella Maris berthed here recently after a prolonged visit in Hong Kong, but did not stay long. It was an interesting place to visit, but there was more than one tour delegate asking, "why are we here?"
The last item on the programme was a meeting with the Shenzhen Boating Industry Association at their newly-opened office, followed by an impromptu meeting titled "Head south or head north - heading in both directions: Symposium on high-quality Development of the Yacht Industry and Exchange Visits for Free Travel in GBA" at which a number of persons gave speeches.
Most interesting of these came from the indefatigable Paul Zimmerman who pointed out that the anticipated "opening up scheme" is not restricted to marinas and cruise terminals in the Pearl River, but more importantly (and most interestingly) includes a number of islands in the archipelago immediately south of the Pearl Estuary. Sailors on the return delivery from the Hainan Race have passed through the midst of them, and we have all flown over them on final approach to HK International Airport. Some of us have even sailed round them, back when the Lemas Islands overnight races formed part of the China Sea and San Fernando Race Series, but we never visited. Zimmerman has made the effort to go and see what's there, but it a slow process. Ferry from Hong Kong to Zhuhai, and then another ferry to/from the relevant island. Some of them are closer to Hong Kong than the ones that we count as our own - Wei Ling Ding is closer to Lamma than the Soko Islands! The Greater Bay Archipelago invites adventure a great deal more than the Shenzhen Airport Marina.
Zimmerman's presentation was short, pithy, and probably contained more useful information about the incipient opening up of the GBA than any other. The relevant area is 300km end-to-end, and has 1,000km of highly indented coastline. Think: quiet places to drop anchor for the night. This is altogether a much bigger subject of interest.
Off the coast of Zhuhai, Jiangmen, and Huizhou (Daya Bay) there are literally hundreds of islands to explore, many of which are inhabited and developed. There are resorts, hotels, towns and even mooring facilities on Dong'ao, Hebao and Jiapeng Liedao - and many more including Qi'ao, Miaowan and Dachan Island. Many of these places are well-established holiday destinations already, but for obvious reasons unknown in Hong Kong.
What is needed now is an HKBIA-organised exploration of the islands that fall under the new 'opening up' scheme - and it won't be a day trip. Sign up here.
PS: Many thanks to HKBIA and SZBIA for organising. And also the sponsors who made it possible: ePropulsion, Cheoy Lee Yachts, and HK Shipyard. A good job, well done.