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[SurfTaiwan]

Hello, I am headed to Taichung to study at Providence University in late August. I am wondering if someone could give me a head's up about the city. Tell me a little more than what 'googling' can bring.

Also can another golfer tell me about Taiwan's golfing situation?

And of course what's the surfing like in Taiwan?

Cheers! [color=darkblue][/color]

[Aristotle]

Being an island many people come to Taiwan expecting to find some nice beaches. They do exist but each has it's own problems and the corrupt occupational government is too busy filling it's pockets to fix them.

I understand that there is a beach in the Taichung area but swimming in the sea on the East side of the island is not recommended by anyone. I have never been nor will I.

Fu Long/Dai Shi (Honeymoon Bay)
There is one major beach area in the north around Fu Long/Dai Shi however with the construction of the newest nuclear power plant in the area and the way the occupational government has been cutting and skimming the budget for it, you may want to bring a radiation detector with you.

Kenting National Park
The same can be said for Kenting beach in the south where the oldest and most dangerous (numerous leaks and accidents) of Taiwan's nuclear reactors is literally a stone's throw from the only major public beach in Kenting right in the center of Taiwan's second largest national park.
Despite the numerous signs prohibiting them, watch out for jet skis. They average one to two fatalities (usually children) a week, every summer on that beach from accidents that occur when the hundreds of prohibited jet skis mix with hundreds of families trying to enjoy the only beach with facilities (showers are locked at 3:00 PM) available in Kenting National Park.
Many people get onto the leased out beach in Kenting Town by sneaking through the garbage dump at the South end of the beach then swimming across the open sewage canal to get to the heavily polluted sea in Taiwan's premiere national park area.
The other beach in Kenting that has not been leased out to local hotels and reserved for their patrons is about 200 meters of sand to accommodate over 10,000 people a day in the summer. It is packed solid and very polluted with no life guard or shower facilities.

Kenting Town itself has the typical Taiwanese city planning (none at all). There is no board walk and the thousands of people who go on the weekend are forced to walk in the traffic packed streets that have no sidewalk and risk being hit by drunk drivers who are notorious for hit and run, which is not actively prohibited on Taiwan. There were two fatalities of foreign nationals in Kenting last year both of which were a result of a drunk driver/hit and run.
If you can get past the populated areas of Kenting there are some nice secluded beach areas but you must have a vehicle to find them.


Taidong (Tai Tung)
Tai Dong has some very nice unpolluted beaches but the police in Tai Dong routinely apprehend, harass and deport non Chinese because they are "not Chinese".
Taiwan is not known for surfing but some people swear by it during the typhoon season .
If you can find a way to overlook those little distractions you may have a nice day at the beach.
There is another option. On Taiwan the locals claim that the most popular beaches for Taiwanese are in Bali, Thailand or the Philippines. If you average in the the prices for transport and hotel they may actually be cheaper. Many business people who have a Multiple Entry Visas go as a visa run.
Golf is so overpriced on Taiwan I can't even afford to cut the greens.
Welcome to Taiwan!
A.

[matchstick_man]

You'd be better off studying at the university in Ilan if surfing is your major interest. There's a golf course in Chingshuei which is not far from Providence which costs 1500NT for a round.

[Aristotle]

[matchstick_man]