Casino port

Getting around Macao is becoming a major problem. There aren’t enough taxis. Ride hailing apps are banned. The public bus network, if you’re a visitor, can be daunting, while the LRT is restricted to a single line.

It wasn’t always this bad. Uber briefly operated here but was barred in When it shut down, it left a big gap in the market, but at least there were more regular taxis available to pick up the slack.

Then the Covid pandemic happened. Tourists stopped coming and, faced with a sharp drop in business, many operators did not renew their taxi licences. Some licences expired during the pandemic.

When travel restrictions were lifted in January, and visitors returned, the shortfall became immediately obvious. Suddenly, taxis became difficult to find, with long waits commonplace. The government is planning to put new licences up for tender this year but analysts say this may not be enough.

There is a parallel, privately run transport system in Macao however, and until the city sorts out its transport woes your best bet may be to get familiar with it. We’re talking about the sprawling network of shuttle buses run by the hotels. The coaches are comfortable, air-conditioned – and free.

Here’s a quick summary:

– All the major hotels run services to the Zhuhai Border Gate and Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. Most have services to the Taipa Ferry Terminal.

– If you want to get to Macau International Airport, there are shuttles from: Hotel Lisboa, Grand Lisboa, MGM Macau, City of Dreams, Studio City, the Venetian, the Parisian, the Londoner, Galaxy Macau, MGM Cotai, Wynn Palace, Grand Lisboa Palace and Lisboeta Macau.

– If you want to get to HZMB Macao Port, where buses depart for Hong Kong and Zhuhai, you’ll find shuttles from Ponte 16, Wynn Macau, the Londoner, Wynn Palace and Grand Lisboa Palace (the latter in the evenings only).

– To getfrom the peninsula to Cotai, hop on the shuttles that ply the routes between the Grand Lisboa, the Hotel Lisboa and the Grand Lisboa Palace. There are pick-ups at Macau Tower and the New Yaohan mall as well. You can also board a shuttle at Sands Macao for the Londoner, the Venetian and the Parisian. Wynn, Galaxy and MGM have shuttles connecting their peninsula and Cotai properties too.

– To get to Taipa Village, board any shuttle bound for Galaxy Macau (the village is walking distance from the resort). You can also get a shuttle to Taipa Village from the Grand Lisboa Palace.

– If you want to go to Coloane, shuttles depart from the Venetian’s west wing bound for the Grand Coloane Resort, which is walking distance from Hác Sá beach and the popular Fernando’s restaurant (but note that Coloane Village itself is an hour away from the resort on foot).

For fuller details, see below – and do bookmark this article, because Macao’s public transport problems are unlikely to get better any time soon.

[See more:Here’s how to get the bus from Hong Kong to Macao]

Hotel Lisboa

There is a shuttle bus between the hotel and the ZhuhaiBorder Gate every 30 minutes from am to pm, to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to 10 pm, and Taipa Ferry Terminal every 30 minutes from 10 am to 6 pm. 

You can get a shuttle service from and to the Macau Tower every 30 minutes from to pm. In addition, there are shuttle services between the hotel and Macau International Airport from am to pm, but these are by reservation only.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Grand Lisboa

Buses depart for the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from am to pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to pm, and Macau International Airport every 30 minutes from am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Ponte 16

If you’re in the Inner Harbour area, you can hop on shuttles from Ponte 16 to the Zhuhai Border Gate every 20 minutes from 10 am to 10 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to pm and to HZMB Macao Port every minutes from 10 am to 8 pm. The latter is where you can find buses that take you across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to Hong Kong or Zhuhai.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Sands Macao

There are shuttle buses betweenSands Macao and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to 10 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to pm, and Taipa Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to around half past midnight.

Shuttle buses also operate between Sands Macao and three sister properties in Cotai: the Venetian Macao (every minutes from 11 am to 9 pm) as well as the Parisian Macao and the Londoner Macao (both every minutes from 11 am to 9 pm).

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

MGM Macau

There is a shuttle bus betweenMGM Macau and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to pm, and a service every 15 minutes, from 9 am to 8 pm, between the property and the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Taipa Ferry Terminal and Macau International Airport.

The resort also operates a shuttle service from and to the Macau Tower every 15 minutes from 9 am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Wynn Macau

Hop onshuttle buses here for the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to 9 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every 15 minutes from 9 am to 9 pm and HZMB Macao Port every minutes from 10 am to 8 pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

StarWorld Hotel

Services are offered betweenStarWorld Hotel and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to pm and the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every 15 minutes from am to 11 pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

[See more:Macao’s taxi drivers say ride hailing services would jeopardise their industry]

City of Dreams

Shuttle buses operate between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from am to 9 pm and every minutes from 9 pm to pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to 10 pm, Hengqin Port every minutes from 10 am to 7 pm, as well as to Taipa Ferry Terminal and Macau International Airport (both every minutes from am to pm).

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Studio City

Board shuttle buses here for the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from am to 9 pm and every minutes from 9 pm to pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to pm, Hengqin Port every minutes from 10 am to pm, as well as Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Macau International Airport (both every minutes from am to pm).

In addition, there are services betweenStudio City andCity of Dreams as well as to Altira Macau in Taipa.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

The Venetian Macao

Shuttle buses operate between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to 10 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from 9 am to pm, Taipa Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to about half past midnight, Macau International Airport every minutes from 11 am to 9 pm and Hengqin Port every minutes from 9 am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

The Parisian Macao

Services connect the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to 10 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from 9 am to pm, Taipa Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to about half past midnight, Macau International Airport every minutes from 11 am to pm and Hengqin Port every minutes from 9 am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

The Londoner Macao

Shuttle buses run between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to 10 pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from 9 am to pm, Taipa Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to about half past midnight, Macau International Airport every minutes from 11 am to 9 pm, Hengqin Port every minutes from 9 am to pm and HZMB Macao Port every minutes from 10 am to 8 pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Galaxy Macau

Services ply between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every minutes from am to 11 pm, Taipa Ferry Terminal every minutes from 10 am to 11 pm, Macau International Airport every 20 minutes from 10 am to 9 pm and Hengqin Port every 15 minutes from 10 am to 8 pm.

There is also ashuttle bus between the property and StarWorld Hotel in NAPE every 15 minutes from 10 am to 9 pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

[See more:Accommodation in Macao that doesn’t cost a fortune]

MGM Cotai

There areshuttle buses operating every minutes from 9 am to pm between MGM Cotai and the Zhuhai Border Gate, and every 15 minutes from 9 am to 8 pm between the property and Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Macau International Airport.

Services also operate between the property and MGM Macau in NAPE, as well as Macau Tower (both every 15 minutes from 9 am to pm).

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Wynn Palace

Shuttle buses run between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate from 9 am to 9 pm, every minutes on Mondays to Thursdays, and every minutes on Fridays to Sundays. There are buses to HZMB Macao Port every minutes from 10 am to 8 pm, Hengqin Port every 20 minutes from 10 am to 6 pm, as well as Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Macau International Airport (both every minutes from 10 am to pm).

There is also ashuttle bus between the property and Wynn Macau in NAPE every minutes from am to 10 pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Grand Lisboa Palace

Shuttle buses operate between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 9 am to midnight, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal every 30 minutes from am to pm, Hengqin Port every 40 minutes from 10 am to 6 pm, as well as Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Macau International Airport (both every 20 minutes from 10 am to pm).

In addition, there is a one-wayevening shuttle service from Grand Lisboa Palace to HZMB Macao Port every 30 minutes from to pm.

You’ll find ashuttle bus every 40 minutes from noon to 8 pm, between the property andTaipa Village, which is conveniently located across the road from Galaxy Macau.

There are also shuttle buses to the Grand Lisboa every minutes from 10 am to pm, Hotel Lisboa every 30 minutes from am to 9 pm,Jai Alai Oceanus every 30 minutes from am to pm, as well as to theMacau Tower and theNew Yaohan shopping centre (both every 30 minutes from 1 to 9 pm).

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Lisboeta Macau

Services connect the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from 11 am to pm, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal and Hengqin Port (both every 60 minutes from 11 am to 8 pm), as well as Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Macau International Airport (both every 60 minutes from am to pm).

There is ashuttle between Lisboeta Macau and Wynn Palace every 10 minutes from noon to 9 pm. There is also aservice between the property and L’Arc Macau in NAPE every minutes from 11 am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

Inn Hotel

There are10 shuttle services daily (with three extra services on Sundays) from theInn Hotel in Taipa to the Zhuhai Border Gatevia theGrand Emperor Hotel in the Nam Van Lake district. However, this service is only available one way.

Altira Macau

There is ashuttle bus between the property and the Zhuhai Border Gate every minutes from am to pm. You can also getservices to City of Dreams every minutes from am to pm, as well as to Studio City every minutes from am to pm.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]

[See more: How to do Rua do Cunha like a pro]

Grand Coloane Resort

The onlyshuttle bus serving a Coloane route departs this beachfront resort every 30 minutes from 11 am to pm, and from 5 to pm. The pick-up and drop-off point is located outside the Venetian Macao’s West Wing – walking distance to Galaxy Macau and Taipa Village.

Contact: ()

Email: [email&#;protected]