Island Junks

Junk boat trips are great. They are a real treat in Hong Kong, and a real show off point for us locals to impress our visitors. What is better that getting out on the water, having a BBQ, going for a swim in the South China Sea, ahhhh, absolute joy!
There are quite a few junk boat operators, and they all offer a similar service; a junk boat ride for a few hours, with food, drink, and some activities. Island Junks is one of the better known companies, and is quite a reasonable cost in comparison to many. However, low cost does beget low quality.
Let’s set a few things straight. The boat is fine. It is sea worthy, well set up, the crew are more than courteous, so let’s not take anything away from them. It is unfortunately the back office that is a blight on an otherwise nice company and experience.
The organiser/​manager is a little bit inflexible, and frankly rude to boot. Especially when it comes to making a good itinerary, or trying to enhance the day with special requests. There is also a crazy policy of charging for kids and persons on board. There doesn’t seem to be a definition for kids, so all kids above zero get charged a place on the boat and for food. On my last trip, there was even an attempt to charge kids for alcohol, which I quickly quashed when I mentioned the legality (or lack of) on this. On another trip, they were so badly organised, that they had forgotten the food, for two hours!
These guys are cheap compared to the other. They also have the biggest boat capacity in HK, but be warned, this is a licensing thing, it does not reflect the size of the boat! Their boats are the same size as the others, they are just allowed to put more bodies on board. Going back to cheap. Yes, they are, but you will end up paying for it in your sanity and good will. My advice, hire the boat from them, be crystal clear about number of people, and organise all of your own food. There are many companies that will cater junk boats, and have a kids cost less than that of an adult.