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Weather & observations

Diving & snorkelling

What the law says about swimming, snorkelling and diving in the marine parks and the marine reserve, the signals dive boats must show, and what government surveys report about the corals. Harbour lists no dive sites and never says where or when it is safe to go in.

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Marine parks and the marine reserve

The Marine Parks and Marine Reserves Regulation (Cap. 476A) does not ban swimming or diving in a marine park. These rules apply to everyone in the park:

  • Injuring, removing or taking any animal or plant is prohibited, apart from permitted fishing (s. 3); collecting marine life needs a permit for education or research (s. 15B).
  • Stony corals, true corals and black corals are protected species (Schedule 2). Damaging shoreline features on beaches, mudflats, cliffs or the seabed is prohibited (s. 8).
  • No spear guns: having one in a marine park or the reserve is prohibited (s. 4, Schedule 3).
  • Boats may moor or anchor only at mooring buoys or sites provided by AFCD, or under a permit (s. 11).
  • Power-driven vessels may go no faster than 10 knots (s. 10).
  • Any activity for, or incidental to, a business needs a permit (s. 15(c)).
  • AFCD may prohibit or restrict entry to all or part of a marine park or the reserve by notices posted on site or in the Gazette (s. 16).

Swimming, diving and boating are prohibited in a marine reserve (Cap. 476A, s. 6), and the permits the regulation provides for do not cover them (s. 17(2)).

The marine park rules listed here also apply in the reserve.

Corals: dated survey results

Hong Kong has over 80 species of stony corals, more than the whole Caribbean Sea (government statements, November 2024 and June 2026); Hoi Ha Wan and Tung Ping Chau marine parks are best known for their coral communities.

Reef Check 2024 recorded coral cover from 12.8% to 75.1% across 33 sites, the highest at Coral Beach, Hoi Ha Wan; 11 sites exceeded 50%.

Reef Check: coral cover at the surveyed sites, by year
YearLowest to highest siteSites above 50%
20169.3% – 82.8%19
201711.4% – 83.5%20
201813.0% – 78.1%17
201910.0% – 82.5%15
202013.8% – 83.8%19
202110.4% – 82.9%15
20228.8% – 74.3%15
202312.8% – 74.3%10
202412.8% – 75.1%11

Figures end with 2024, the latest year whose Reef Check results Harbour has from a government press release.

Large-scale coral bleaching occurred in 2022 and again in 2024; in July 2024 water at a Tung Ping Chau coral community was about 2 °C warmer than a year earlier.

Reef Check recorded bleached corals at 13 sites in 2022 and at six sites in 2023.

Snorkelling at Sharp Island

Sharp Island’s coastal areas are not designated as a marine park or marine reserve, so the marine park regulation does not apply there (government press release, 29 April 2026). AFCD’s advice for the area:

Do not damage, disturb, feed or collect marine life, keep off the corals when entering and leaving the water, and use coral-friendly routes where they are marked (AFCD, 2026).

Boats supporting divers

The collision regulations apply to all vessels in Hong Kong waters (Cap. 313, s. 10). A vessel engaged in diving operations that is too small to show all the signals of Rule 27(d) must show three all-round lights in a vertical line, red, white and red, and a rigid replica of the International Code flag “A” at least 1 m high. The exemption for vessels under 12 m does not apply to diving operations (Cap. 369N, Rule 27(e) and (g)).

Before you go

Harbour gives no diving, medical or weather advice. Read the Government’s diving tips and check the Observatory’s forecasts and warnings before going in the water.

Not covered here: dive or snorkel sites, depths, currents, water clarity, sea conditions, and the rules for other waters.

Harbour’s summary in its own words, not the legal text and not legal advice. It covers only the marine parks, the marine reserve and the signals for dive boats, and says nothing about other waters.

Copyright in Hong Kong legislation belongs to the HKSAR Government. Read the current text on Hong Kong e-Legislation:

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