Fastest - Airport Express train to HK station, then walk or taxi over. The walk is about half a mile. First train 5:54a. HK$100 for the train. 24 minutes. Add 10 minutes walk or a few minutes on the taxi.

Or just take taxi. About HK$300. ~35 minutes.

Cheaper alternative is Cityflyer bus A11. HK$40. About 40 minutes. First bus at 6:10a. No point getting to Ferry Terminal too early, as the 15-min frequencies only start at 7a. The sailing before 7a is at 6a.

BTW, first Turbojet service from HKIA to Macau is at 10:00a (which goes to Taipa over the bridge). Regular service to Macau starts at 11:00a.

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

What you should be doing (and what I believe rkkwan is alluding to above) is taking a ferry directly from HKIA to Macau Airport. You don’t need to go into Hong Kong proper to then get a ferry to Macau. (That would be backtracking in the first place, as you will pass HKIA again on your way out to Macau). The other advantage is that you don’t have to go through Hong Kong Immigration; you will go right from the plane to the ferry. Your checked bags go automatically too, you collect them in Macau. All in all, this is usually faster and easier than trekking through HK Immigration, going into Hong Kong with your bags, and then getting a ferry from there. See http://www.turbojet.com.hk/eng/airport/passenger.htmliting

But with a 5 am arrival time, it is a bit of a toos-up as to whether watiting at HKIA for 5 hours for the first ferry at 10 am is better than going into Hong Kong to get the 8:15 am ferry (which you could make, assuming no long lines at Immigration and no significant wait for your bags.) Take a look at

You probably are seeing two times because the 8:15 departure is from Hong Kong Island ferry terminal, and the 10 am departure is from HKIA itself. (Actually, on the Turbojet site, I see that ferries start running at 7 am and depart every 15 minutes.)

If you wait at HKIA, there are plenty of restaurants there, and day lounges where you can pay to take a shower, etc.

thanks rkkwan and cicerone for your replies. After flying for about 15 hours, I think I would be quite eager to get to my destination rather than waiting around at the airport for 5 hours. I've read somewhere that there are different coloured taxis and one has to be sure to get the right one since they are desginated to stop only at certain points...is this true? Also, does the cityflyer bus go directly to the macau ferry terminal or does it make stops along the way? thanks!

For taxi to the city, you need to take the red one.

The Cityflyer A11 has two immediate stops before the Macau Ferry Terminal, at the transit stops before the Tsing Ma Bridge and before the Western Cross Harbor Tunnel. The very first stop after it gets to the city IS the Macau Ferry Terminal. Cannot get more convenient than that.

http://www.nwstbus.com.hk/routes/routeinfo.aspx?intLangID=1&searchtype=1&routenumber=a11&route=A11&routetype=D&company=5&exactMatch=yes

You want a red cab, either to Hong Kong Island if you want the Macau Ferry Termnial, or to Kowloon/Tsim Sha Tsui for the China Ferry Terminal (see below). The different coloured taxis go to different areas of Hong Kong, but don’t worry; there is zero chance you will get in the wrong one. In the first place, at the airport they are assigned to different waiting areas. There are dispatchers at each area as well, and this is a further backstop against getting in the wrong cab. Finally, if by some very odd chance you got in a blue Lantau cab and told him your address on Hong Kong Island, he would just tell you to get out of the cab. He can’t take you there. This is something that the guidebooks seem to want to make into a big deal, but really it is just not possible to take the wrong cab. The drivers won’t let you. (The only place this is theoretically possible is with red cabs once you are ON Hong Kong Island or in TST, but I won’t go into that as it won’t happen to you coming from the airport.)

One more way to consider going is to take the Airport Express train to the Kowloon Station (25 minutes), then hop a taxi to the China Ferry Terminal in Kowloon/Tsim Sha Tsui (3 minutes or so, just under HK$20) and take the New World First Ferry to Macau. There are ferries about every half hour starting at 7 am. I think you would be able to make a 7:30 am ferry, and with some hustle, even the 7 am. See http://www.nwff.com.hk/eng/ for info.

This would be marginally faster than going to the Macau Ferry Terminal on Hong Kong Island proper by taxi, and IMO better than walking with luggage from the Hong Kong Airport Express station to the Macau Ferry Pier (it’s bloody hot in August, even if the walkway is covered, and not something I would want to do with a suitcase. It could also be poring with rain and bloody hot.) Personally, as a first-timer to Hong Kong, I think it will take you quite a while to figure out the walk, as you have to up and through a mall and then out along a very long pedestrian walkway, and signage is not good. And not a whole lot of people around at 6:30 am or so.

I know very little about the bus options. I am not a fan of buses when I have luggage. Otherwise the bus system here is great, although this will probably be your slowest option from the airport.