Harbours Of Influence

Five destinations now making a splash on the superyacht scene.

- Julia Zaltzman

HONG KONG’S VICTORIA HARBOUR is a stunning sight in the evening, especially when the city’s famed skyline is viewed from a large wooden tourist junk under three blood-red sails. But for years, yacht owners wanting to cruise the city’s harbour – and its 263 outlying islands – have been held at arm’s length. Bureaucratic red tape and a lack of infrastructure to accommodate private boats have kept Hong Kong, which boasts one of Asia’s most exciting waterfronts, stuck in yachting’s doldrums.

That changed in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, when Lantau Yacht Club became the first new marina to open in the city in more than a decade. Nearly 150 typhoon-proof wet berths, some able to accommodate vessels up to 328ft, transformed the city into a superyacht hotspot seemingly overnight. “Having berths of that size in Hong Kong is unprecedented,” says Victor Cha, executive chairman of HKR International, a major shareholder in the marina.