I dive in Jinshawan, and can only concur with what Tommy says. Little gem of a beach indeed.
We walked the trail above Long Dong and surprisingly no one but us was around. It was windy and cold, and really a beautiful walk. We then Headed down to Yanlia, which for a small fee, was perfect. It was like a private beach for us, coz everyone else was at the big pool they have (thankfully).
The next day we went down to Baishawan, and had fun EXCEPT when we went there last year, they had an open shower in the parking lot, which was great for eye candy but it also meant that people rinsed off the sand and left. Now They’ve made the sheltered showers into a business for a small fee of 20NTD but that has translated into looooooooooong queues coz of people taking their own sweet time, to get the ‘we never went to the beach’ look. 
[quote=“urodacus”]Um, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
The waves tend to smash you into little pieces on the rocks, as they are still moving at some speed as they hit the rock.[/quote]
No they aren’t. Well they are, but up and down, not forward. I tested the living hell out of THAT theory, not in super stormy weather but when there was a swell up. This is me…
youtube.com/watch?v=RXKBM3o1xPE
That little bit of drama spooked me a bit to be honest but yeah, I used to do that all the time. I thought it was new sport I was inventing, called it “snorkel surfing.”
In the end I had to admit that while it was doable enough an accident likely would be REALLY nasty. Like bob around dead out in the water nasty.
BTW, I don’t recommend this sport to anybody not EXTREMELY comfortable in water. I used to be. Wouldn’t do it now.
Bob, that was pretty insane…could have got you into the world’s funniest (dead) people videos…
i agree. It couldve been a China Post news item. Crazy foreigner stuck in washing machine kinda thing. Those rocks couldve cut you up into sashimi
It’s not half as crazy as it looks actually. Seriously I swam around in that spot for hours. The thing is that you have to find a place with “deep” water and a vertical face that the wave hits. If there is a bit of a rise to the bottom the wave starts moving forward over whatever is beneath it and you definitely could go for a nasty ride. Like I said I swam around at Long Dong for hours and hours weekend after weekend until I knew the bottom contours as well as I knew the rocks on the shore. Found places where it was doable after “a lot” of practice and observation. Got to the point where I could snorkel surf over big rock mounds. The other thing that makes it a lot safer than it would be otherwise is the fact that the rocks are often covered in slimy seaweed, I mean you do bump up against the rocks a bit…
Anyway, yeah, actually I feel like going again now.
Holy crap, bob. I see where your name comes from now. That makes tombstoning look like a pastime for little old ladies! 
And the weird thing about it is that I discovered that you could do it almost by accident. You got your head under the water, ooh ain’t that lovely, la dee da… and then you pick your head out of the water to blow some snot or something and realize you are right beside a cliff! That particular spot is wild because it is actually two channels converging and both of them get swells (swells from one direction, waves from the other actually) right off the ocean so you really never knew what to expect there. I took my Hi8 camera, set it on a rock and bobbed around in there for at least half an hour. You can see that the absolute FIRST thing is that you have to RELAX and go with it, kinda, make a bit of an effort to get away from the rocks as the wave retreats particularly to give yourself a bit of space and also when it is coming in. If it is the right kind of spot you aren’t being carried forward “much” but just up and down. It is the weird thing about waves, they look like they are moving forward (and they sure as heck are when their structure beneath the surface is interupted by a rising bottom) but they are not. There was a limit it to it though. There are places in long dong where the cliff falls directly into the open ocean and you could see that you were being carried up and down the cliff face a good ten feet or so sometimes, which is definitely thrilling enough, but when they got to a certain height there was no way you felt like getting too close. That’s A LOT of force there.
Anyway, that was how I used to do it. It’s not like there is a manual on the sport anywhere. If anybody else wants to try this I want to go on record as having said that I approached it VERY slowly and carefully. Became familiar with the way waves work, where the currents went, what the bottom contours were, how my body and mind responded to what is very definitely a complicated environment, etc. There are old ladies that do pretty much the same thing to collect urchins or something but of course they’ve grown up around it and have balls the size of cannon balls anyway.
I’ve seen old small “B” boberino swimming with the big waves- for a while I thought you only habitated in the ocean.
I did! I did! only habitated in the ocean. That’s what I’m trying to say.
I was at Fulong once and there was a giant rip headed out along the boulders at the southern end of the beach. Bit of a typhoon coming in. I discovered that you could ride the rip out (I am sure YOU know what I mean) and the waves back in. It was big though that day and you weren’t really sure what was going to happen as the current going out met the swells coming in. As it turned out “nothing” happened, they just sort of peaked, the current died out and there you were on the outside, just out from where the waves get that “cliff” look as they break. Anyway, I was out there all day and there was NOBODY in the water. Bunch of people watching from shore, some boats, and helicopters. Later I asked what was going on and the coast guard said that the boats and helicopters were out looking for BODIES.
The old surfers nicknamed Fu Long “Escalators” long time ago because of its easy channel near the jetty. That’s good for sea kayakers, stand up paddle boarders and people who don’t have gorilla shoulders. Ready for a swim to Turtle Island bob? I’ve paddled over there a few weeks back but didn’t land-next week I’ll take a shot of going round the island. Wear a wet suit plenty of jellies and watch out for that really hot water on the south side.
Aint that a frickin underwater volcano this “hot water” you speak of?? Sssh you could be lobstered right there !
That would make Apple Daily. Two furry-mosans in wet suits cooked at turtle.
And how far is the paddle out there? And from where?
I’ll be standing up on my paddleboard but I’ll be sure to dip a toe in the water and test it. Also the locals have told me lots of sharks are attracted to the warm water on the south side and the food there. About 18km round trip, took me 4.5 hours on a calm day from Wai Ao near Wu Shr Gang and lazing about looking at stuff and posing for pictures from the tour boats! It’ll be do-able with cloud cover, last two weeks were just too hot even with a UV protected surf hat and hydration pack.
hard core man , hard core.
Im like my fat cat. I like my exercise in small doses.
Followed by FOOD, DRINK and AIRCONDITIONING.
On topic with the thread topic, though off topic with the discussion:
Anybody know of any nice beaches down south? Around Tainan city? Aside from Golden Beach and Anping… Any little gems in the county?
Wow! You had been planning that expedition for a long time. Awesome.
Wow! You had been planning that expedition for a long time. Awesome.[/quote]
Seconded! That is a PADDLE! Is it exhausting? – Well, yeah, I know it must be exhausting. What I mean is, compared with sitting in a kayak or like that? You’re standing up all the time, right? With only one paddle?
One paddle, one bottle of water, one hat, two balls yeah…
but the mid section gets mighty windy and the open ocean waves really pitch even on a calm day so’s I hit my knees . I’ve got blown over by a few sudden gusts while standing like I was made of paper. Not as comfortable and confining as a kayak.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article … aters.html
Didnt know england has these !! Glad we dont in Taiwan.
We dont seem to have a stingray problem either, which is good.
Taiwan has poisonous lion fish but they are not aggressive. Iv swam by one. Fugu isnt dangerous unless you eat one.
Sharks seem to be largely eaten by the Taiwanese .
Went to Wai 'Ao beach yesterday and I won’t be going back.
You cannot swim without a bodyboard or surfboard between the flags, and you cannot swim outside the flags full stop (even with a board).
What a waste of a day.