Yes, there can be rip currents at Dawulan, but they are super infrequent. The times they usually occur are when we get typhoon swells and the waves roll in around the small boat harbor and then suck back out.
But again, this is only during big time stormy seas due to winter swells or summer typhoon disturbances.
Here’s what the rip looks like when it rarely appears. The waves fire in toward the top and swirl back around and along the boat harbor jetty.
Here’s my opinion as to one of main reasons people drown on the beaches in Taiwan.
Unprofessional, improperly trained, complacent and inattentive life guards.
In California, Hawaii, Australia, lifeguards are professionals who are always alert and scanning the beaches with binoculars and anticipating trouble. They are extremely physically fit, well trained and well-equipped with tall chairs, radios, rescue skis, paddle boards, etc. They take their jobs extremely seriously.
Not in Taiwan. They hang out chatting, staring at their phones, playing cards, drinking alcohol, making alcohol and snack runs on their quads, riding around on their quads for fun and smoking cigs. Lifeguards in Taiwan behave nothing like in Cali, Hawaii or Australia.
Most times the sea rescues are performed by local surfers who notice the trouble and save the victims and get them to shore before any lifeguards even know what happened. I’ve been involved in many cases like this.
Anyway, I’ve got too many stories to tell about this issue.