Help with "A Day in Macau"

[MalibuCA]

We are planning to visit Macau for the day when we are in Hong Kong. We plan to sightsee the Macau Peninsula, Tapia Village and Coloane Village. When we finish sightseeing, we would like to see how the Chinese gamble. To do this, we plan to visit the Hotel Lisboa and the Wynn Macau, stopping at the Wynn for dinner. We will take a late ferry back to Hong Kong.

 

1) Should we try to go to COTAI to see the casinos? How do those casinos compare to the Lisboa and the Wynn? We are not planning on gambling, just on checking out the scene. In responding, please keep in mind that we are very familiar with Las Vegas.

 

2) How long does it take by taxi to get from Coloane to COTAI? Are taxis readily available?

 

3) How long does it take by taxi to get from Coloane to the center of town on the Macau Peninsula? Are taxis readily available?

 

4) Does this sound like a manageable itinerary for one (okay, very long) day in Macau?

 

I appreciate all suggestions.

 

Thanks,

Shelley :rolleyes:

[daquri]

We went by ferry to Macau after a cruise in early April. About 50 mins. to an hour for the ferry ride. When you disembark, you have to go through passport control. We took the 9:30 am ferry and when we arrived it was a madhouse! A sea of humanity all pushing & shoving in line. It took us about 45 mins. to get through passport control. After exiting the ferry terminal, there are busses lined up to take you, free of charge, to the various hotels/casinos. We took the bus to the Venetian and it took us about 15 mins. to get there. Wynn is somewhat closer to the terminal.

[ryndam]

Although not part of a cruise, we ended a 3-week land tour of China with 3 days in Hong Kong last September 2007. Having been to Hong Kong several times before, we wanted to see Macau. After researching as much available information as possible, we eventually opted for an all-day escorted tour operated by Gray Line. There are several other tour companies that offer similiar trips; they all offer about the same itinerary and cost about the same.

 

It was a very long day. Pick-up at our hotel was at 7:00am for the 8:00am hydrofoil to Macau. You go through passport control when leaving Hong Kong, and again when arriving in Macau and get to experience the dual madhouses again on the return trip. The lines and the crowds are very, very long.

 

We were glad to have the Gray Line escort on the ferry, who guided us through the crowds in Macau to a waiting, 10-passenger air-conditioned mini-van. We then shared the van with our a dedicated Gray Line guide and driver.

 

The tour visited all the major World Heritage sites in Macau, we went up the Macau Tower for some incredible views, lunch (with beer) was included, we had about a 2-hour stop at the Sands Casino (Huge! And we left with more money than we started! The casino uses Hong Kong dollars and there are ATM's everywhere).

 

The return hydrofoil left Macau at about 6:15pm and we were back at our hotel in Hong Kong in time to watch the harbor light display at 8:00pm.

 

I believe that we paid the equivalent of about US $85/each for the entire day, which included all transporation, admission fees to the various sites, lunch, snacks, bottled water, guide and driver. We tipped both the guide and driver at the end of the tour.

 

It was a complete no-hassle way to see Macau in a day. We are generally not advocates of guided tours, but in this case, I don't think that we would ever have seen as much as we did in a day without having the guide and the mini-van with us. Although traffic is not as congested as Hong Kong, it still moves quite slow (think the Las Vegas strip on a Saturday night). Having the guide escort the group through in-bound and out-bound immigration in Macau alone was worth the fee!

 

The Venetian had just opened a few days before we arrived in Macau. Our guide said the crowds were beyond belief! MGM should be open by now. It was under construction when we were there. The Venetian is really off by itself; the Sands, MGM and Lisboa are closer to each other and the major sights. We travel to Las Vegas often, too, but the Sands Casino was larger than anything that is in Las Vegas. Too bad they don't allow photography in the casinos in Macau.

 

Your travel plans may be a bit aggressive for only a one-day visit. Keep in mind, the ferry service is suspended during high seas, so make sure you leave plenty of time between your expected return and your next departure from Hong Kong. And you MUST have your passport to leave Hong Kong, enter Macau, and vice versa on the return.

[Angsa]

Macau is doable on your own, but just be very careful with your wallet.

 

Taxis are there, but are getting more and more difficult to flag one down. Traffic in Macau is also quite chaotic due to the huge number of people now working and living there.

 

The Venetian Macao is huge. You can easily spend half a day there without seeing much.