Discovery Bay Plaza

I came for the weekend market and I was quite disappointed. The market was a lacklustre — even the Hong Kong East Market was better (and that one was bad enough already in my opinion compared to the real weekend markets overseas.)
There isn’t much to do in Discovery Bay. The beach was man-​made and the restaurants are catered for Westerners. Not to mention getting in and out of Discovery Bay is expensive.

Discovery Bay is what I like to call a bubble community. The general rules of Hong Kong are not applicable to this ever-​growing town, the people in there slightly different (DBers!), and the lifestyle is, in my experience, a more adventurous one. When I say adventurous I mean in terms of outdoor activities, not swingers! Located on Lantau island Discovery Bay, or Disco Bay as I like to call it, is but a 25 minutes ferry ride from Central. And well worth the visit.
The centre of DB is by and large the Plaza. They tried to rebrand it as the Piazza to bring in more tourist but the locals didn’t pick it up. «You’re going to the Piazza, where’s that? Some village in Italy?“It’s surrounded by restaurants, shops and supermarkets. Dotted around the plaza are two sections of benches and tables where housewives sit all day long with their dogs tucked under one arm and a smoothie in the other. There’s always a 711 insight (4 within the space of three hundred meters!) so buying a drink and sitting on the edge of the plaza is a cheap, relaxed thing that many people do, me included. If you get bored of sitting around there are plenty of quality restaurants within a 5 minutes walk, a beach a little further and a recreational club house nearby as well.
The reason why I love the plaza is because this is where I grew up. It’s where I played Catch, football, it’s where I terrorized the adults, and it’s where I, to do this day, sit, have an ice-​cream and watch the world repeat itself with the new generation of wildlings. I like to tell myself I was never that wild but my memory doesn’t go back more than a month so I wouldn’t know.

Discovery Bay is an expat enclave on Lantau Island a 30 minute ferry ride from Central. Usually referred to as DB, the area is popular with pilots and flight attendants (being close to the airport), but the abbreviation is equally applicable to ‘dogs and babies’, both fairly accurate descriptors of the area’s demographic.
The social hub of DB is the plaza.
Surrounded by shops, restaurants and cafes, its a family friendly space for friends to meet and kids to ride their scooters (I’m not joking, keep your eyes open or you’ll be run over). The International supermarket in the plaza stocks a very broad range of expat products (including many you won’t find anywhere else) and, in keeping with the family friendly theme, a huge baby section.
The beach is small, but popular, and the marina club has some great facilities (including a gorgeous pool).
There are no cars in DB, residents drive golf carts which add to the resort feel of the place.