Shekou Kreuzfahrt-Hafentour

The Shekou Cruise Homeport is Shenzhen's principal cruise terminal and the operating base for sightseeing cruises across the Pearl River estuary. The terminal sits at the southwestern tip of the Nanshan peninsula, within easy reach of the Shekou ferry connection to Hong Kong and Macau, and serves as a gateway to the wider Greater Bay Area maritime experience.

The flagship product of the homeport is the Greater Bay Area No. 1, a hybrid diesel-electric sightseeing vessel that entered service in August 2020 as Shenzhen's first high-end integrated bay cruise ship. The vessel was designed to combine sightseeing, dining, entertainment, and technology-focused experiences in a single multi-deck platform, with a viewing deck, a small exhibition area, an atrium, a technology shop, and a theatre-style space among its facilities.

Two principal routes operate from the homeport. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge route runs out into the Lingdingyang channel, taking passengers past and under the fifty-five-kilometre sea bridge that connects the three major cities of the Greater Bay Area. The Shenzhen Bay route traces the southern coastline of Shenzhen, with views across the bay to the Mai Po marshes and the northern New Territories of Hong Kong.

The night cruise on the Shenzhen Bay route is particularly recommended, offering a panorama of the illuminated skyline from the central Pearl River Delta. Onboard programming includes light commentary on the bridge engineering, the ecology of the bay, and the economic development of the Greater Bay Area.

For international travellers, the Shekou cruise offers one of the most efficient single ways to grasp the geography of the Greater Bay Area — the position of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Macau relative to one another becomes far clearer from the water than from any land-based viewpoint.