How easy is it to get to the beach from Taipei? Which beach areas are the nicest in terms of cleanliness? I’m used to U.S. beaches on the east coast that have little stores that sell fruit drinks, beach clothing and various paraphenalia. Are beach towns like this in Taiwan, with a boardwalk, etc.? Or are they basically desolate villages where you need to bring food and drinks of your own?
Also, I have read somewhere that beach areas are accessible from Taipei by train? Is this so, and this is the case what trains specifically? I am planning to live in Taipei City in a couple more months and would like to rely on public transportaion to get around. However, if a scooter becomes a necessity to get out and about then so be it.
Also, is the beach on acceptable to visit during the summer months…specifically the northern beach areas closest to Taipei?
Thanks in advance for any and all knowlege you Taiwan vets may provide!
There’s a great little beach a few miles before Fulong on the North Coast road. I can’t remember the name, but it lies opposite a 7-11.
I get there by scooter and from Taipei it can take about 1hour and 15-30 minutes.
A bus does stop there, but I haven’t got a clue about that.
It’s quite clean and on weekdays there are only a handful of people there.
Well as far as the east coast goes Fu Long is one of the nicest beaches. Accessible by train (it’s a 10 minute walk from the train station) waves aren’t great but the sand is nice. You can get food, drinks etc. No boardwalk or Coney Island hotdogs.
South of there to Tou Cheng most beaches are black sand, littered-strewn, rocky, dog-shit covered areas of Taiwanese local environmentalism. Used commercial fishing gear lay washed up everywhere, lots of carcasses of rotting, stinking fly-covered puffer fish. I’ve seen syringes on the sand, tires, used fireworks and other mountains of garbage that scream,
“We are Taiwanese and we were here!”
Crowded on the weekend.
Weekdays there are local divers scrapping the last remaining bits of lower sea life off the rocks and selling it as seafood to hoards of loud tight-fisted Mainland Chinese tourists in large, slow, smoke-blowing tour buses that frequently go plunging off the poorly maintained and crowded mountain roads. Loads of fun on a scooter on the weekends!
Great post, Bubba. I guess Waiao still isn’t ready for prime time yet.
OP, Baishawan is a nice beach, and is about 30 minutes from the end of the MRT line in Danshui by bus. But Fulong is just over an hour by train, or the same by car if you live in the southern part of the city. So you have two nice beaches you can reach within abotu 90 minutes from downtown.
Though Taiwan is a tropical country it is important to know that it has few swimmable beaches, and no not because of garbage (though Bubba exaggerates not one iota). The island is volcanic in origin which means there is no continental shelf. The deep blue sea with all its ferocious currents can literally be a few metres offshore. So, lots of beaches, but few you can swim at.
[quote=“european”]There’s a great little beach a few miles before Fulong on the North Coast road. I can’t remember the name, but it lies opposite a 7-11.
I get there by scooter and from Taipei it can take about 1hour and 15-30 minutes.
A bus does stop there, but I haven’t got a clue about that.
It’s quite clean and on weekdays there are only a handful of people there.[/quote]
Sounds like GINSHAWAN. Gold sand bay. Just a few miles from Fulung. And theres a store (and small hotel) across the street sellling BEER, ICECREAM, etc.
Free beach use too. Not much in the way of facilities though. Sometimes got a lot of jellyfish, but its a safe beach as far as undertow goes. A bus stops there from TAipei and also from Keelung.
Thanks for the cool replies, guys. It sounds as though some beaches can be reached by public trasnsport, which is reassuring. I just need to figure out which beaches are the most clean and that I can figure out how to get to! All these beach names are unfamiliar to me at this point.
I plan to spend virtually all my time in Taipei City, 'cause I’m a city guy. I like the action, and New York City is where I’m from. However, I know that every now and then when the weather is warm I’ll probably want to hit the beach. Hopefully I can get a day off during the week to go when it isn’t crowded and I can go and just relax. I don’t actually swim or surf, so those things are not important to me. I just LOVE to walk a long the beach in early morning hours and stick my toes in some warm water!
Do any of you really feel a scooter is a necessity in Taiwan? :s
It sounds as though some beaches can be reached by public trasnsport, which is reassuring. I just need to figure out which beaches are the most clean and that I can figure out how to get to! All these beach names are unfamiliar to me at this point.