We had booked an early TurboJet ferry from Hong Kong to Macau.. The ferry terminal is a quick 5-10 minute walk from the hotel…and since we had already booked our tickets online, we just had to collect the boarding passes from the counter before heading for Immigration. The process was quick and smooth. We waited for roughly 15 minutes to board the ferry before beginning our journey to Macau. The journey was quite smooth except if you experience sea sickness. The travel time was ’bout 1 hour. There is wifi service onboard the boats however the signal strength is very weak to unavailable at times. I would strongly recommend booking the tickets on their website and the fleet they operate is also better than Cotai jet.  The ferry runs almost round the clock at 15-30 minute intervals. We had booked the ferry for leaving around 9:15am and we were at Macau by around 10:30 after finishing the immigration.  Indians get a 30 day visa on arrival at no cost in Macau.

Once you exit immigration, You will find the Tourist information desk to your right. I would recommend dropping by to collect the tourist maps and also get directions on bus routes and any other questions answered before heading out. The staff were very courteous and will help you plan a decent itinerary for the day. Since we were doing only a day trip, we only wanted to cover few of the key areas around planned for our day accordingly. There are free shuttles from the ferry terminal to all of the casinos if you are more interested in gambling. The shuttles run round the clock.  We decided to take the bus first to finish the local tourist circuit. The buses are quite efficient and accept both HK dollars and Macanese Pataca. However no return change is offered if you pay using HK dollars. So i would recommend carrying some loose change if you plan to travel by bus. Almost all vendors accepted HK dollars so we never had the need to buy local currency. one of the challenges we faced was with the language. It was extremely hard to get by while in Macau. The locals we met spoke almost very little to no English However if you are familiar with Portuguese then it should not be a problem. All of our travel in Macau was using the local city bus or by foot. This was very convenient and we didn’t have to spend much on the taxis.

The tourist attractions are spread across the two sides of Macau.. The northern side has all of the attractions and the southern Taipa has most of the Casinos such as the City of Dreams, Hard Rock and the world famous Venetian Macau. First stop on our list was the A-Ma temple which is one of the oldest Taoist temples in Macau. We then visited the famous Senado Squaue or the Senate Square before heading towards the Ruins of St. Paul. We also did a quick stop at the St.Dominics Church and its museum where they detailed the restoration activities conducted.. It was lovely experience. At the Ruins of St.Paul, There is nothing much to see except for the front structure however what we felt exciting was the walk up to the ruins itself. Lined with several eateries selling a wide assortment of sweets and savouries. We particularly were excited trying out the Portuguese egg tart.. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.. The taste was absolutely delicious and it just melted in our mouth.  After a hearty filling of the pastries, we explored the places around the ruins.. visited the crypt at the back and also the nearby Monte fort and Macao museum located next to the Ruins.

We then took a bus from Senado Square to the Venetian Macau. After exploring one of the largest casinos, we decided to head towards the City of Dreams where we had booked a show called the “House of Dancing Water“.. Since we had an hour to kill before the show, we tried our hand at a few games of Baccarat and Slot at the Casino.. While we failed to win any money, we managed to ensure we didn’t lose any either.. So it was a no loss no gain situation… Maybe lady luck wasn’t on our side. The House of Dancing waters is definitely a must see performance in Macau.. The tickets are expensive but it’s definitely worth the price. The show is magical, mystical and will blow your mind away. It turned out to be much more than what we imagined it to be. There were acrobatics, stunts, humour, bikes, jumps from extremely high platforms, romance, action… Almost an identical variant of a bollywood movie but truly magical. We would definitely visit again. I would recommend this as a must do activity in Macau.

After the House of Dancing waters show, we headed to the Venetian for a game of Roulette and we realized it was definitely not a good day to gamble.. again a no loss, no gain situation, we gave up and decided to look for the famous gondolas inside the Venetian. We searched the entire lower ground area for the canal and the gondola only to be told that its actually on level 3.. we wasted precious time searching for it, that by the time we reached there, we didn’t have enough time to actually take a ride. Instead we used it as a good photo op and then headed back to the ferry terminal for our journey back to Hong Kong. This time we decided to take the free shuttle from outside the Venetian to return. The shuttle ride was roughly 20 minutes to the ferry.  I would recommend not to get carried away and always keep track of time while at Macau.. The casinos are usually enchanted 😉 and have a tendency to keep you lured in with all the glitz and glamour.

Macau is an incredibly small place and has a lot to offer. We made the mistake of taking advice from a few friends who said, a day in Macau is all it takes however there were a lot of places we missed… The Macau Tower, Grand Prix Museum, More time in the Casinos, the Canidrome , etc… Well there will be definitely another trip to Macau soon.

The ferry terminals don’t have any duty free shops so it’s better to buy what you need from the city, mostly souvenirs, etc.. Else pick them up at Temple street or Ladies market in Hong Kong. The ferry ride on the way back was less exciting since we were tired after a long day and we slept most part of the journey. We reached Hong Kong around mid night and walked back to our hotel.. Aah !!  the convenience of staying close 😉  

Day 4 was going to more relaxing and rest. We hadn’t really managed to get good rest from the time we landed at Hong Kong. We decided to sleep in late and then head out only around noon to cover the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery, the famous Ladies Market & Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and Avenue of Stars.

Read about our Day 4 experience (Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery, Ladies Market, Tsim Sha Tsui, Avenue of Stars, Lan Kwai Fong, Soho, Mid Levels Escalators)  or skip to another day using the links at the end of this page.

Jump to :

• Home
• Day 1 – Lantau Island, Tian Tan Buddha, Ngong Ping360, Victoria Peak, Peak Tram, Temple Street Night Market 
• Day 2 – Ocean Park, Aqua Luna Cruise, Ozone – Highest Bar in the world
• Day 4 – Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery, Ladies Market, Tsim Sha Tsui, Avenue of Stars, Lan Kwai Fong, Soho, Mid Levels Escalators
• Day 5 – Disney Land

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