Clean Half Extreme Marathon Swim

Along the southern coastline of Hong Kong Island, open water swimmers navigate Stanley. The Clean Half Extreme Marathon Swim is an open water swimming race in the sea off Hong Kong Island, stretching across a demanding 15-kilometer course. Organized jointly by the Ocean Recovery Alliance and the Victoria Recreation Club, the event celebrates its 20th anniversary. Swimmers can enter either as solo competitors tackling the entire distance alone or as part of relay teams sharing the work in the water. The course takes participants through varied coastal conditions, demanding steady pacing as currents shift with the tides. In past editions, swimmers have encountered very choppy water, heavy winds, and powerful tidal currents driven by the full moon, which slowed finish times across the field.

Yet the marine environment can offer warm and clear conditions where you can clearly track your arms and hands with every stroke. The defining tactical challenge of the swim is an 800-meter stretch of rock wall on the Stanley Peninsula known to swimmers as 'The Wall'. In this section, swimmers can catch and ride the rolling downwind waves, surfing the ocean swell to gain momentum. At the finish on the sand, there is no formal banner or overhead tape, giving tired swimmers the freedom to cross the line anywhere along the beach.

Tai Tam Bay: deep waters and granite headlands

Tai Tam Bay forms a broad marine expanse covering approximately 8 square kilometres of open water. The bay was systematically documented in January 1843 by HMS Sulphur. Its wide entrance faces the open sea, measuring 2.2 kilometres across from Cape D'Aguilar at the eastern point to the headland of Tai Tam Tau on the west. Beneath the surface, the seabed drops away in progressive steps as the bay extends outward to the South China Sea. The shallow waters of Tai Tam Harbour maintain an average depth of around 3 metres, offering calm shallows near the inner shore. Further out into the middle reaches of the bay, the bottom deepens to 5 metres before dropping to 9 metres in the outer bay. The Stanley Peninsula stands as a high natural barrier between Tai Tam Bay and Stanley Bay. High above the waterline, the striking natural rock formation known as Rhino Rock overlooks the South China Sea.

Stanley Peninsula: pirate shelters, temples, and coastal guns

The indigenous Tanka boat-dwelling communities regularly took refuge inside Stanley Bay and Tai Tam Bay to protect their wooden vessels from devastating typhoons. The natural harbor formed by the peninsula later attracted early colonial administration, and Stanley briefly served as the capital of Hong Kong in 1841. The rugged coastline also provided refuge for more notorious maritime figures. On the western shore of the headland at Chung Hom Kok, an opening in the stone known as Cheung Po Tsai Cave sits low against the water. Local legend holds that the nineteenth-century Qing dynasty pirate chieftain Cheung Po Tsai used this hidden seaside cavern as a secret supply base and hideout.

Grade 1 waters from Turtle Cove to Chung Hom Kok

Tucked into the shoreline west of Red Hill and east of Stanley, Turtle Cove Beach is a small sandy retreat measuring approximately 73 metres in length. The Environmental Protection Department consistently rates the water quality at Turtle Cove as Grade 1. Further west within the Southern District, St. Stephen's Beach sits along the sheltered inner basin of Stanley Bay between Stanley and Chung Hom Kok. The beach also maintains a Grade 1 water quality classification, providing clear conditions along the coast. A dedicated beach building and a rebuilt pier were opened here in 1966, enhancing amenities for shoregoers and ocean swimmers.

Both St. Stephen's Beach and the 194-metre Stanley Main Beach feature perimeter shark netting. Around the headland on the western shore of Chung Hom Wan lies Chung Hom Kok Beach, spanning roughly 169 metres of sand. Swimmers looking out from the shore enjoy clear views across the water to Round Island.

Middle Bay and South Bay: bathing huts and beach culture

Beyond the race area on the south side of Hong Kong Island, the coastline bends into a sequence of tranquil coves bordered by gentle hills. South Bay features a 250-metre stretch of sand characterized by exceptionally calm sea conditions. It sits alongside neighboring Middle Bay and Repulse Bay. Swimming associations constructed bathing sheds along the coastline of Middle Bay. The Hong Kong University Alumni Association opened their own dedicated swimming pavilion at the bay in 1957. By 1962, the shore at Middle Bay held 49 bathing huts, before the Urban Council began replacing the aging sheds with permanent public changing rooms in the late 1960s. A modernized beach building was ultimately completed by the Urban Council in July 1975. Visitors and swimmers can enjoy extensive beachside amenities, including changing rooms, freshwater showers, bathing sheds, barbecue pits, and a floating safety raft moored just offshore in the calm water.