My wife & I are planning a trip to Taiwan this year to visit her family and do a little traveling around. We’ll be in the Keelung area for couple of days exploring the north coast. I’ve seen some great photos from Yehliu at sunrise but it sounds like they are only open 8AM-5PM. Can anyone confirm if you can get in there prior to sunrise or after 5PM? If we can’t we’ll just find a spot along the Wanli coast, Waimushan, or Peace Island for our sunrise/sunset shots. We’ll have two sunrise and one sunset photo opportunities there, so I want them to be good.
The last couple of times I’ve been there have been around sunrise - the gates are open and there’s nobody there. My last visit was a year ago, so things may have changed. It’s nice until the public address system starts up its inane broadcasts at 8am and all the noisy PRC tourists shuffle in. If you’re standing in the right point at the right time of year the sun rises behind Jilong Island and creates quite an impressive halo effect.
I have to say though that I have very rarely seen a good sunrise on the north coast, whether from Yeliu or further along the coast - it seems when I go there’s almost always low-level cloud getting in the way. I did catch a spectacular one at Bítóujiǎo 鼻頭角 once.
Thanks for the info Taffy! I’d like to get in there and get out before all the throngs of tourists show up (yeah, I’m technically a tourist too). Then I might swing by late in the day and see what the sunset situation looks like. I’ve rarely seen great weather there too in the past, but I am hoping for some luck! With only a limited amount of time up there, I’ll have to be happy with the shots I can get.
[quote=“ShaoPang”]Then I might swing by late in the day and see what the sunset situation looks like.[/quote]If you want to get a sunset over the water then you need to be able to see open sea to the west - Yeliu is out as you’ve got Jinshan just across the bay to the west. A better spot might be Fùguìjiǎo 富貴角 or somewhere in Sanzhi. Hope you get some good shots!
In terms of getting good sunrise pictures, late summer (August or so) is the best time. You’ve got to be there friggin’ early though. You’ll get some color in the sky starting around 4:30AM or so. I have no idea about Yeliu per se, but there are plenty of places along the coast there like Waimushan which are right off the road.
Thanks for mentioning Fuguijiao. We had been there nearly 7 years ago but I totally forgot about that place. I am definitely putting that on the itinerary.
We are locked in to late December/early Jan. I know we are really early to start planning but it’s fun for us. When we’ve been in Taiwan that time of year the weather has never been great but I am hoping for at least one decent day on the north coast. Our plan is to watch the fireworks at Tapei 101 on New Year’s Eve, then drive up to Keelung in the middle of the night and wait for sunrise on the coast. Then we’ll get into Yehliu early and be out of there before it gets crowded. I figure the tourists will roll in a little late on New Year’s Day. After the day there & the night in Keelung, we have another sunrise opportunity before heading around the coast towards Yilan, then Hualien, then Taroko, then Qingjing, and finally back to Taichung by the end of the week.
Sunrise at Shitiping. Very nice.