It is true that Taiwan has surf all around the island, but if there is a place worth emphasizing that is Kenting National Park, in Taiwan’s southernmost tip. Blessed with tropical temperatures and warm water year around there are waves 365 days/year in at least one of the several beaches the park has.
It is best if you have your own transportation, but we didn’t and renting a scooter was out of question because of costs, so we stuck to Nan Wan beach (reachable by bus from Kenting) and Kenting beach.
There are no boards to be rented in Kenting village so we spent the first day walking around and enjoying the friendly atmosphere and great food market. The following day I rented a surfboard at Fu Tong Surf rentals in Nan Wan beach (another beach in Kenting National Park), owned by an amercian expat who lives there with is family and has recently started a Taiwan surf mag. The main area of the beach is too crowded for my taste, but on the western end there is nobody and that is where the well known Nan Wan right breaks. I surfed for 6 hours straight, sharing the waves with only 3 or 4 more surfers at most, and enjoyed the session as I hadn’t in months. I was back the following day for more and although I surfed for 7 hours the surf was not as consistent.
On the 3rd day there was a typhoon alert and the weather was somewhat lousy but not too bad. I chose not to rent a board that day (save money) but did find a spectacular wave that apparently is seldom surfed despite being a break over a sand bar. The spot is right in front of the Chateau Beach Resort- no words are needed to describe it: just check out the video.
We had four great days in Kenting which should be part of any Taiwan itinerary, but accommodation is not cheap (we found it at 900NT/night) and neither was the board rental (for our trip budget) so we had to leave.Perhaps planing ahead and checking sites like Expedia would have helped. I will wrap up this post saying that Taiwan has some of the best surf conditions I have found around the world: easily accessible, consistent good waves, no crowds, warm water and a great scenery. Don’t miss it if you can!
Do you surf? Have you surfed in Taiwan? Did you know it has fantastic waves? Not only that, but the people are super nice. Knowing this, would you consider doing a surf trip there?
Hi,
Do you know the name and website of the Tawainese surfing magazine and is it still published?
Thanks for the tip on a great surf spot!
Hi Sue. Unfortunately I don’t remember. But I can point you where the editor in chief is- get back to me and I’ll tell you where you can find him 🙂
Hi,
Thanks for getting back with me! Yes, I would like to know how to contact the editor – in – chief.
Thanks,
Sue
Hi Sue
Just got back today. In Kenting, make your way to Nanwan Beach. Once there, walk along the sidewalk that overlooks the beach towards the western side of the beach, where the rocks are, which is where the surf break is too. Right before the rocks begin, look to your right, on the opposite side of the road you should find a surf shop, Mike being the owner. Now I was there 3 years ago, I assume he’s still there, and he was starting up the SUP magazine at the time, was planning on releasing 3 or 4 issues per year. I have not been able to find anything on it with Google, nor the surf shop, but I hope it’s still there. Hope this helps, let me know if you find him!
One should go Kenting on the first week of April where they have this festival called “Spring Scream” and it is really fun.
Cheers
Thanks for the tip!
I didn’t know you can surf in Taiwan – nice video 🙂
A place still to be discovered by masses…shhhhh
Thanks for sharing. It has been a few years since i have been down there. so beautiful. Used to be a great pizza place there?
Mike
http://www.1000fights.com
Wouldn’t be able to say, I only ate at the street market. Did you surf too?
Interesting, I don’t know if I would have consider Taiwann an option. Thanks for the great info.
There is another beautiful place of Taiwan called Hua Lian on the east side , which is a nice surfing and holiday destination as well.
accommodation is not cheap (found it at 900NT/night). this is too much
no i think ther are crowds and they appricate you using such blatant internet advertising to make a buck! Better if surfers get the true spirit of surfing and find out by themselves.
I make no money from speaking about the places I visit, fyi.