Macau Travel Guide

(also spelled Macao, in Cantonese, Àomén in Mandarin is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Located across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, until 1999 Macau was an overseas territory of Portugal. The world’s most densely populated place to live, Macau is best known as Asia’s largest destination for gambling taking in even more revenue than Las Vegas.

Macau Travel Guide

(also spelled Macao, ??, Ou3 Mun4 in Cantonese, Àomén in Mandarin is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Located across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong, until 1999 Macau was an overseas territory of Portugal. The world’s most densely populated place to live, Macau is best known as Asia’s largest destination for gambling taking in even more revenue than Las Vegas.

How to get to Macau?

Getting there by AIR

There are three main airlines that fly regularly to Macau: Cebu Pacific (www.cebupacificair.com), Philippine Airlines (www.philippineairlines.com), and Air Macau. There are also announcements that Zest Air, SeAir, and Spirit of Manila Airlines will also be flying to Macau.

IMMIGRATION CONCERNS and GETTING THERE BY FERRY
Philippine passport holders need NO visa to enter macau for thirty days. Likewise, you can also get to Macau via ferry. Three ferries ply the HKG-MFM route: from HKG side are Turbojet and Cotaijet (uses the Taipa Temporary Terminal), and from Tsim Sha Tsui side is New World First Ferry. Note that the Turbojet ferries reach Macau faster at almost 1 hour while NWFF ferries reach Macau for 1 hour and 15 minutes. It is highly recommended for you to purchase a 1-way ticket to Macau and then get your return ticket from HKG to MNL, lalo na if you are planning to visit HKG after visiting Macau (or vice versa). I have done this for like 8x already and there are no immigration issues. Just present your return ticket to Manila should the immigration officer ask for it as a proof of your onward/return ticket.

Getting to Macau from Hong Kong:

From Kowloon (Mongkok/Tsim Sha Tsui)

Ride the NWFF Ferry in the HK China Ferry Terminal near Harbour City along 33 Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui

Chinese Name: ?????? or ????

http://www.nwff.com.hk/english/sched…=25&line=macau

This ferry does not have a 24-hour service.

From HK Island (Causeway Bay/Central/Wanchai/North Point)

Ride the Turbojet in Shuntak Center in Sheung Wan

Chinese Name: ????

http://www.turbojet.com.hk/eng/schedule/prd.html

This ferry service is 24-hours.

From the HK International Airport (Skypier)

http://skypier.org/Schedule.html

Things You Need To Know

HOTELS and HOSTELS
^^For hotels, we highly recommend Hotel Metropole and Hotel Sintra. There are also people here who stayed at Metropark and Hotel Ko Wah. I have stayed in Hotel East Asia but to be safe (since meron nagcomment na pangit daw dun hehehe), try Metropole or Sintra first. Recently, a lot of hotels have been discovered by Macau addicts such as Best Western Sun Sun, Best Western Taipa, Casa Real. Try to backread the first thread to be updated with the hotels that Macau addicts have tried.

For hostel, I can only think of Augusters lodge although not recommended if you have council of elders with you since asa 3rd floor sila and they dont have lift so you gotta haul all your luggages to get to the hostel.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE
If you have PHP with you, DO NOT exchange these PHP at the money changer at the ARRIVAL section of the Macau International Airport. The rate here is like 1 MOP=Php 30! The usual forex should be somewhere like 1 MOP=PHP 5.5! If you need to pay for the bus and taxi, try to buy Hong Kong Dollars here in Manila prior to your trip as HKD are also accepted in Macau (but MOP is NOT accepted in HKG).

If you have USD with you, the rate of USD to MOP at the airport forex is ok. It’s the forex rate of the PHP to MOP which is very disadvantageous since it is a major ripoff. Many forex counters are readily available at the Senado Square in Macau/San Ma Lo area.

GETTING AROUND MACAU

If there is one place where you can really travel on a tight budget, it has to be macau! You can check out the free shuttle services of the major casinos! If you want to visit The Venetian, all you gotta do is to catch the free shuttle service at the Macau Ferry Terminal. There are also free shuttles to the most casinos in the Macau island so you can actually explore Macau without budgeting for transpo. The trick here is to know the casino nearest your planned destination. For example, if you need to go to the Macau Ferry Terminal, you need to catch the free shuttle terminal to the sands since this is just across the ferry terminal and facing the Fishermans Wharf.

MUST SEE PLACES IN MACAU

This is by no means exhaustive but below are the spots that should not be missed:

1. Ruins of St Paul at San Ma Lo
2. The Venetian Hotel
3. Fisherman’s Wharf
4. The Macau Tower
5. Inner shops at San Ma Lo (for shopping hehehe)
6. Ama Temple
7. Pasteleria Kei Kou (for the beef jerky and tapa); located all over Macau
8. Sun Yat Sen Memorial
9. Camoes Garden/Guia Lighthouse
10. Bridges of Macau, especially at night

MACAU BUSES 101

You will survive Macau by taking these two buses: AP-1 (from the Airport to Macau Ferry Terminal) and Bus #3. For AP-1, the fare is MOP 3.3 per head. You will drop the exact fare in the box beside the driver as soon as you get in. Note that you will not get any change so please prepare exact amount.

Bus #3 is the bus from the Macau Ferry Terminal to San Ma Lo. Fare is MOP 2.5 per head. Follow the same procedure in taking the AP-1 bus.

Note that the buses have designated stops. A tip: count the number of stops according to the list so that you will know if your stop will be the next.

CABS IN MACAU

Cabs are readily available in Macau. Note however that there is surcharge from the Airport to Macau, and a surcharge again for every # of luggages placed in the compartment. The usual fare from the airport to san ma lo is roughly MOP 60-70. If you are travelling with 5 pax, please look for the cabs with the #5 prominently marked at the left side of the cab. this means that this cab can take as many as 5 pax.

Credit to rap_sd6 of pinoyexchange