The best things to do in Hong Kong on a rainy day

Cure cabin fever on a rainy day with some intense jumping action. Ryze, Hong Kong Island’s biggest trampoline park, is lined with trampolines from wall to wall, plus there are foam pits and rope swings allowing the daring to unleash their inner ninja. All visitors have to sign a liability waiver but once you’re in, you can bounce, flip and jump to tremendous heights all to your heart’s content. It’s a surprisingly decent exercise workout, too. Starts at $150 for one hour.

Even if the weather’s gloomy you can still easily experience summer vibes in Sai Kung. The Tikitiki Bowling Bar boasts some serious tropical decor —we’re talking palm trees, wood furniture, Polynesian decorations, the works — and features 10 bowling lanes that are as much a disco as a bowling alley, plus an indoor and outdoor bar, and a live music lounge. Sip on delicious exotic cocktails served in coconut shells and adorable tiki mugs while you hit the lanes with your mates. $300 per hour.

Put your shooting skills to the test and get the heart pumping with a game of laser tag at Lasermads, Hong Kong’s newest lasertag joint in Causeway Bay. Step into a futuristic maze and battle it out with teammates to eliminate your opponents in this high-tech game of tag, which comes with the added bonus of teambuilding and the plain ol’ satisfaction of shooting someone. Walk out feeling like a rebel fighter in Star Wars. $118 per game.

If lasertag isn’t painful or satisfying enough, paintballing is the answer. Pop over to Paintball Headquarters in Kowloon Bay for the best indoor paintballing experience in the city. Equipped with safety gear and specially designed paintball guns, maneuver past obstacles, partitions and oil barrels in the 10,000sq ft arena in a hardcore version of hide-and-seek. There’s light, sound and smoke effects as you unload and seek to splatter frenemies in bright colours. Who needs Halo or Doom when you can experience the thrill for real? $280 per person (includes rental gear and 100 paintballs).

Taking bubble football (or soccer to certain heathens out there) to a whole other level, Crossfire Arena offers competitors glow-in-the-dark bubble suits to bump about in when playing on their indoor pitch. Learn drills and strategies that will immediately go out the window as teams waddle across the pitch trying to score before inevitably getting knocked to the floor. Aside from bubble football, Crossfire has a whole host of other fun neon-themed games including archery tag, dodgeball and neon sabres — lightsabre duels, anyone? $225 per person.

The perfect way to kill some time indoors with your buddies, Causeway Bay’s Breeze features three standard-size pool tables and convertible beer pong tables. This is the only place in town where there are live cam services installed to capture all your best shots throughout your game. And yes, Breeze lets you rewatch all the footage so you can admire all those sweet shots. Fuel up on beer on tap, customised cocktails and a range of pub bites.

Escape the rain at Hong Kong’s first miniature golf club, Strokes. The 8,000 sq ft venue comes with two nine-hole mini golf courses designed with bright pastel colours and retro Californian aesthetics. Put your putting skills to the test by overcoming 360-degree loop-the-loops, bridges, ball jumps, tunnels, winding passages and ramps. You can literally stay at Strokes all day thanks to its restaurant that whips up healthy and low-carb dishes throughout the day and the bar that serves cocktails concocted by mixologist Frankie Fong.

Afternoon tea is a popular pastime for Hongkongers come rain or shine. While we love a good HK-style dong lai cha on a hot day, when the rain’s coming down nothing beats the classic traditional English tea set at the Peninsula. The five-star hotel is an easy walk from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station and you can get inside barely getting wet on the way. So sit back, enjoy a nice cuppa and some gorgeous baked scones as you take in the splendor of the Peninsula lobby. Tea set $388 for one, $688 for two.

Hoverboards may be so last season, but Azzita Hoverland has ingeniously created an indoor track for people to race around in. Doubling up as a hoverboard retailer and repair center, Azzita’s 5,000 sq ft indoor playground in Kwun Tong allows patrons to zip along the twisty and winding track on electronic balancing boards. It costs $119 per hour on a weekday and 139 on a weekend. Take it step further and hop on a hover mat, a type of go-kart powered by a hoverboard. Though they’re a lot pricier and asks for $99 for a 10 ride.  A smaller venue just opened up in Repulse Bay, perfect for private parties. 

Ever since the rise of powerful gaming consoles, arcade centres have been slowly disappearing from Hong Kong streets. One of the few retro-style arcades that still remains is Game Centre, a short walk away from the IFC on Jubilee Street. You can find a range of classic series like Street Fighter and Gundam, and pretty decent prices for driving games and shooters. Plus, when the weather’s got you down you can’t go wrong with a round of Taiko Drum Master. Most games cost $2-per-credit and you can exchange your notes for coins at the counter. Relive those childhood after-school sessions!