Getting around Hong Kong: Octopus, MTR, minibuses and ferries

Forget Opal and myki. In Hong Kong one card pays for the train, the ferry, the tram, your coffee and the 7-Eleven, and it has done so since before most Aussie cities had tap-on.

The short version

• Get Octopus on your phone in your first week. Mobile Octopus has a HK$50 refundable deposit and a HK$3,000 stored value limit [1].
• Top-ups by card need a Hong Kong-issued card, so link it to your new local bank account or use FPS [1].
• Green minibuses run fixed routes and fares; red minibuses set their own routes and prices [2].
• Ferries to Cheung Chau, Lamma, Lantau and Discovery Bay are a big part of life here. The Star Ferry across the harbour still costs a few dollars [3].
• From 1 April 2026 every taxi must accept at least two kinds of electronic payment [4].

Octopus: set it up properly in week one

Octopus is a stored-value card, not a credit card. You load money on, then tap it on MTR gates, buses, minibuses, trams, ferries and at a long list of shops. It works like a hybrid of your Opal card and a PayWave card that doesn't need a bank behind it.

Phone or plastic?

Most new arrivals now go straight to their phone. Octopus works in Apple Wallet on an iPhone 8 or later and on Apple Watch Series 3 or later, and there are versions for Android, Samsung and Huawei phones [1][5]. You can add an adult Octopus from the iPhone Wallet app, or use the Octopus App for other card types [1].

Already bought a plastic one at the airport? You can transfer it into your phone through the Octopus App. The remaining value, the deposit and most services move across [1]. On-loan adult cards and personalised cards can be transferred; some designated types cannot [1].

Topping up from an Australian bank account

This is where Aussies get stuck. Octopus says only Hong Kong-issued American Express, Mastercard, UnionPay or Visa cards are accepted for card top-ups in the app [1]. Your Commonwealth Bank or ANZ card will not do it.

Until your local account is open, use cash. You can add value with notes at MTR stations, convenience stores and supermarkets. Once you have a Hong Kong bank account, you have three better options [1][6]:

1. FPS top-ups, the Faster Payment System, from your bank account through the Octopus App.
2. Automatic Add Value Service via FPS, which reloads from your bank account without a credit card.
3. Automatic Add Value Service via credit card. When your balance runs short, the card reloads by HK$150, HK$250, HK$500 or HK$1,000, charged to your Hong Kong credit card [6]. There is no fee for a first-time application [6].

Set up auto-reload. Running out of value at a minibus with a queue behind you is a rite of passage you can skip.

The fare subsidy

The Hong Kong Government runs the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, which gives back part of your monthly public transport spending once it passes a set level. Collection opens on the 16th of each month for the previous month, and you tap your Octopus at the app, an MTR subsidy collection point, a convenience store or a ferry pier to collect it [7]. Each month's subsidy has to be collected within three months [7]. Check the scheme website for the current threshold, because it has changed over the years.

The MTR, buses and trams

The MTR is the backbone. It is fast, clean, air-conditioned and runs on a frequency that would make a Sydney Trains commuter weep. Tap in and tap out with Octopus. Fares depend on distance.

Buses fill the gaps the MTR misses, especially on the Southside of Hong Kong Island (Repulse Bay, Stanley, Aberdeen) and in the New Territories. Tap on when you board; you do not tap off. Exact change matters if you pay cash, because drivers give no change.

Trams ("ding dings") run along the north shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan. Board at the back, pay when you get off at the front. They are slow, cheap and one of the best ways to see the city.

MTR fares are reviewed every year, so we have not listed them here. The MTR Mobile app and the fare tables in every station show the current price for your trip.

Minibuses: green, red and how to get off

Public light buses carry no more than 19 seated passengers [2]. They are the best-kept secret of Hong Kong transport and the most confusing for newcomers.

Green minibuses go where the big buses do not: up to the Mid-Levels, into villages in Sai Kung, to hiking trailheads. Red ones run longer cross-territory routes, often late at night.

Getting off is the hard part. There is often no bell. You call out to the driver as your stop approaches. "Yau lok, m goi" (getting off here, please) works, and so does a clear "Next stop, please!" in English on many routes. Our guide to learning Cantonese in Hong Kong has more phrases like this.

Ferries: the best commute in Hong Kong

Ten operators run 21 regular licensed ferry services to the outlying islands and across the harbour, carrying about 39 million passengers in 2024 [8]. Most outlying island ferries leave from the Central Ferry Piers.

Weekend and public holiday fares are higher, roughly HK$25 to HK$48 on the Cheung Chau run depending on class and speed [3]. Lamma, Peng Chau and Discovery Bay services run from neighbouring piers. Use the government's HKeMobility route planner to check times [8].

If you are tempted by island life on Lamma or in Discovery Bay, check the last ferry home before you sign a lease. Missing it after a Friday in Central is a story every islander tells once.

Typhoon signals and black rain can suspend ferries and other services, and Smartraveller warns that transport closes during severe weather [9].

Taxis

Hong Kong taxis are cheap by Australian standards and colour-coded by where they can go [4]:

• Red (urban): about 15,250 taxis that operate across most of Hong Kong, except Tung Chung Road and south Lantau.
• Green (New Territories): about 2,838 taxis, mainly in the north-east and north-west New Territories.
• Blue (Lantau): about 75 taxis, only on Lantau and Chek Lap Kok.

All three can serve the airport, Disneyland and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge port [4]. From 1 April 2026 drivers must accept at least two electronic payment methods, one QR code and one non-QR [4]. Look for the stickers on the windows. Smartraveller still recommends carrying cash, insisting on the meter and noting the driver's licence number if something goes wrong [9].

Tunnel tolls and luggage charges are added to the meter, and cross-harbour trips cost more. Check the Transport Department fare table for current rates [4].

The airport and flights home

Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok is on Lantau. The Airport Express is the quickest way in, running to Kowloon and Hong Kong stations; buy tickets at the MTR or online, or tap your Octopus. The cheaper option is the "A" route airport buses, which serve most districts.

Cathay Pacific and Qantas both fly direct between Hong Kong and several Australian cities, and Hong Kong is a common stop on the way to Europe. Before you book, put your Hong Kong address in your Smartraveller subscription and make sure your passport has plenty of validity. Our guide to renewing your Australian passport overseas explains how to do it through the Australian Consulate-General in Wan Chai [9].

Your first week, in order

1. At the airport: buy an Octopus or add one to your phone with cash value.
2. Day 2 or 3: download the Octopus App, MTR Mobile and HKeMobility.
3. Once your bank account is open: set up FPS or auto-reload.
4. First weekend: take the Star Ferry, then a ferry to Cheung Chau or Lamma.
5. On the 16th: check whether you have a fare subsidy waiting.

Need a hand with routes to a particular suburb? Join Cooee Hong Kong, our Facebook group for Australians in Hong Kong, and ask which minibus the locals take.

Sources

1. Octopus on iPhone and Apple Watch – Octopus Cards Limited
2. Minibuses – Transport Department
3. Service details of franchised and licensed ferry services – Transport Department
4. Taxi – Transport Department
5. Octopus on mobile – Octopus Cards Limited
6. Automatic Add Value Service – Octopus Cards Limited
7. Public Transport Fare Subsidy collection – Octopus Cards Limited
8. Ferries – Transport Department
9. Hong Kong travel advice – Smartraveller

Keep reading

• Driving in Hong Kong: getting a local licence on your Aussie one
• Renting in Hong Kong as an Australian
• Cost of living in Hong Kong vs Sydney and Melbourne
• Renewing your Australian passport overseas