Does anyone here have contach details for Fulong beach?
If anyone have been there, I’d like to hear their impressions.
I used to like Fulong, but the last time I went they had shrunken the swimming area to a ridiculously small, shallow bit of water, and the crowds on weekends make it tough to have a good time there.
Holger… BLEUUUUUUURRGH! Bugge… OOPS, SORRY JEFF! … Cast Fulong into the fiery pits of Hades (Can I say Hades?).
Holger, you seem to have your head screwed on properly and you also seem to be someone who likes hiking and therefore probably doesn’t care much for crowds, so you should consider taking my advice, especially if you have your own transport.
Just drive back up the coast between Fulong and Taipei and stop off at any number of likely-looking spots.
You want rocky shoreline with deep water? Park your bike, put on your mask and slip straight into 15 feet of clear blue? OK, you know the common tourist pics of those big weathered sandstone rock formations (not Yehliu, the other ones that you drive right past)?
There’s some nice easy snorkeling there and not usually many (or any) people.
You want a sandy beach? There are loads of tiny coves all up and down that stretch of coast. Some have been “developed” (meaning “exploited”) but others are not. You just have to explore.
No transport? Just stay on the train to Tashi (a few stops past Fulong). Black sand, sometimes has a little surf (a very little, although enough to support a surf shop), but positively quiet compared to Fulong.
Also has the advantage that you can have a nice steep hike up to Eagle Rock (I think its called) which is a mountain right behind the village. You walk inland at the top end of the beach up a stream bed, climb up the hill and along a ridge to the rock for a stupendous view, and descend on a trail that comes out at the other end of the beach. Takes about 2-3 hours, but WATCH OUT FOR THE GIANT SPIDERS!
The ONLY time Fulong is cool is if you drive out there at night after the pub, pass out on the beach and wake up as the sun comes up. Its usually quiet at that time and can actually be pretty nice until the crowds arrive.
Unfortunately Daxi has become quite the hotspot amongst the foreign community here and is now VERY popular. Do as Sandman says and simply explore. The east coast of Taiwan is pretty darn spectacular.
I second Daxi. 3q, Daxi popular? Most of the times I’ve been there there’ve been like a dozen people on the beach and maybe a dozen more surfing. Compare that to Fulong. Go to Daxi midweek and you might well be the only one there.
Bri
Thanks for the advice. I’ll follow it. Daxi is said to be OK, but all my colleagues go surfing there…
What I am loking for is a place, where I can safely bring my wife & children for a weekend by the sea. But renting a room somewhere not too expensive and go explore could be great.
Yes, Sandman, I am still hot on some hiking. Haen’t done so much since I climbed Mount Yushan in December , so bette get going before I get totally out of shape.
who on earth can go to daxi mid-week!?!?! as holger said he has a wife and children and colleagues, thus implying he works. so i imagine the mid-week jaunt would be out for him.
and yes i find daxi crowded now. when i first visited this lovely place 2 years ago, there were VERY few people there. now it is full on weekends.
that said it is a lovely place and very family friendly. buy one of those little tents and set up.
also someone once mentioned a nice beach near tamshui - no seriously - white sand beach i do believe. apparently as a good a beach as you can find in any built up area.
Baishawan (white sand bay) is not exactly NEAR Damshui. It’s on the very Nth coast. You could drive from Taipei up to Damshui and keep driving or just go right over Yangmingshan. I’ve heard it’s not as good as Daxi. Another nice beach, although I haven’t been in Summer, is Jinshan. Drive Nth along the coast from Jilong, or again, straight over Yangmingshan.
Bri
Fulong is nice compared to the other beaches along the NE Coast. You can surf, windsurf, waveski and dive there.
Dashi is nice for surfing, but we have found it a little busy over weekends and a friend nearly stepped in a syringe a while ago. Unfortunately Dashi has become the spot for some unwelcome elements, but you’ll find them everywhere. It used to be nice camping there, but the bunker is very dirty and full of waste (both human and non).
There’s a nice beach just past Dashi called Waio which is clean and good for swimming. Further down the coast, it get’s a bit rocky.
Hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Fulong is a great beach! I like to ride out
there on the train, only an hour or so… But
when you get off the train, just walk up
the road past the main beach entrance… You will
see a boardwalk along the right side of the
highway. Follow it for less than a kilometer
and then you will find the entrance to the
campground. Pay less than 100 to get in and
walk to the left; soon you will see the sidewalk leading north to the beach. Find the fork
that leads to the lovely footbridge and cross
over to the other side of the lagoon… There
you will find a trail that goes right up to
the beach; the trail goes through lovely
pines and wild pink wistaria flowers – a truly
beautiful spot! And when you get to the beach,
just pitch your umbrella ( a must for the
summer ) and you can go swimming naked if you
want to… Most of the people will be crowded
by the “official beach area,” about a kilometer
back to the right… Since the beach is at
least 3 kilometres long, you can swim anywhere
along it – just watch out for the lifeguards,
who sometimes patrol in a boat… You just
have to know how to swim to get away with it…
Also, the beach is a great walk along to
the next village… There are some beautiful
rock formations in the middle; most people
never bother to walk over there, but it only
takes an hour there and back… If you camp
on the beach, I suggest you do it during a
full moon: the sea is silver and everything
glows…
I suggest that campers take the afternoon
train, about 3 o’clock. You get to
the beach by 5 and set up, it’s already cooling
off… Stay up all night, smoke your grass
and drink your beer, make love to your
girlfriend, whatever… Then, get up early and
do your swimming between 7:00 and 2:00… Go
home before you get sunburned…
Taiwan is so weird. On the weekend, the coast
road is jammed with cars full of city folk
driving around the coast… But NOBODY bothers
to get out of their car to walk on the beautiful
beach!
david
P.S. If there are any curious girls or women
who would like to go camping with me, please drop
me a line…
I have been to Fulong beach a couple of times,actually the first beach i have ever been to. The only problem we had were the guards. They fear you might drown so might not let you swim to far (like 50m )
All the other mentioned places sound great!
The weather is getting nicer and its time for a tan!
What - they go and get you if you swim out more than 50m?
Depends on how concientous they are, Rian. Also whether or not they are allowed to have jetskis.
Sometimes they’ll just sit in their high chairs and blow their whistles, other times they really will come after you on jetskis.
Its not such a problem at Fulong, as the beach is long enough that you can just move well away from the roped-off area, but at some of the smaller beaches it can be a bit of a problem.
I’ve never seen what they do to repeat offenders – I don’t see how they can effectively kick you off the beach and I can’t imagine they’d manage to get a cop to come arrest you. Could be an interesting experiment or even the start of a new local sport – lifeguard provoking.
OOPS, SORRY JEFF! My last post looks as if it contains no profanity, but in fact it has several anagrams of really filthy words. I’ll leave you to figure out which ones.
As I said in my first message: it is more
of an adventure and a very pretty walk to
reach the beach via the campground route…
However, if you insist upon entering via
the main entrance, just walk up the beach
a kilometer and set up your umbrella…
All you need to do is bring some water and
sandwiches and if you are adventurous a
tent… If you walk up there, the beach
gets very wide and you can put your towels
or whatever up along the back of the beach
among the wistaria flowers! It would be
a great place to shoot spreads of bikini-clad
Taiwanese beauties – if only I could persuade
you babes to wear one…! I hope that Rockgirl
gets up the courage to ask me for a date!
I know how to go camping, and I can show you
how the sea can keep you cool in mid-summer!
The secret is not to forget the sunblock and
to have no fear of nature… How about it
Rockgirl – a night of moon-glow and intimate
converse under the starry heavens?
Hello,
I went to FuLong for a bike trip two months ago. You can check out my website shown as below,
http://www.funintaiwan.com/taipeicounty/title/fulong.htm
You will get a better idea of what it’s like from the many photos I took there.
Enjoy it!
Hsin
Thanks everybody. I’ll check the place out soon.
Nice pictures, Hsin.
Went to Fulong today with the wife and kiddies, The “official” beach that you reached via the concrete arched bridge is completely gone because of ther last typhoons!. The beach near the temple to the north is roped off and we had locals come out and say "Please don’t swim - it encourages locals to swim and they drown :loco:
What is the logic here? My wife is a qualified lifesaver, my kids can swim, I can swim, there were no waves and it was hot!
Can anyone explain the logic behind the “lemming-like drowning propensity of the Taiwanese”? Why doesn’t it apply to driving?
This has happened to us a couple of times too… :fume:
Last time I just ignored them and plunged in anyway. The bottom by the temple can’t be over 3 feet deep all the way to the little harbor entrance, but there is a deep channel right along the far right tetrapod side that goes down to about 12 feet pretty quickly.
I find that if you ask they’ll say no, but if you hop in they might let you slide. I don’t like to flout authority, but after spending 2 hours driving and then be denied such a placid, perfect kid playing beach is really frustrating.
Were you able to finally get into the water?
We swam. A Taiwanese with foreign partner did too! It really spoils the day. 