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It may be only 7 miles (11 km) directly south of Hong Kong’s busy Central district, but Cape D’Aguilar feels like another world. The wild coastline has wave-lashed rock formations and a marine life so rich that researchers have discovered 20 species “new to science” in these waters.

The long inlets and sheltered coves of this 260 hectare marine park in northern Sai Kung are made for snorkelling. Stony coral and reef fish galore.

Declared a Ramsar site (that is, a wetland of international importance) in 1995, Mai Po is one of China’s most important bird sanctuaries, with hundreds of resident and migratory species recorded, including many endangered ones. Other wildlife includes otters, civet cats, bats and numerous amphibians.

The pool is a popular picnic spot. Weekends are best avoided, but visit midweek and, with luck, you will have this glorious, wooded course of rockpools and cascades all to yourself.

Hong Kong’s countryside achieves a quiet grandeur among the empty valleys and sublime uplands of Pat Sin (“eight spirits”). Peaks range up to 639 m (2,095 ft), and the views are humbling.

This undulating ridge snakes down Hong Kong Island’s southeast corner, with plunging slopes, poetic sea views and (past Pottinger’s Gap) deep wooded valleys and beaches.

Take these steep steps up the rock from Three Fathom’s Cove, and enter an expanse of remote uplands and boulder-strewn paths, leading, in the north, to Mount Hallowes. There are exquisite views of the Tolo Channel.

This hidden valley is probably the closest Hong Kong comes to stereotypical ideas of classical Chinese landscape, with its old paddy fields, deserted villages, flowing streams and ancient woods. Magical.

The plateaus and grassy slopes of the 702-m ((2,302-ft) high Ma On Shan (“Saddle Mountain”) allow wide-screen views of mountainous country, without the insidious intrusion of city skyline in the distance. The effect is truly majestic.

On the Sai Kung Peninsula, survive the knuckle-whitening ascent of Sharp Peak (all loose rocks and narrow paths), and the land plunges down to your well-earned reward: the sparkling waves and white sand of Hong Kong’s finest beach, Tai Long Wan (see Tai Long Wan Coastline).