Living in Taipei it’s so easy to get sucked into city life and forget that you are living on an Island!
But the beach isn’t as far away as it seems and once again public transportation in this country amazes – with super cheap, fast convenient access to some great spots on the coast. And if you are here between May & early July don’t miss the Fulong Beach Sand Sculpture competition! I seriously don’t know why people don’t make a bigger deal about this thing – but no one mentioned it to us I just happened to read about it online and I’m SO glad we did. It’s one of my top 5 favorite things we’ve done in Taiwan so far.
A Saturday Outing
This Saturday (June 6, 2017) Josh and I showed up at Taipei Main station at 7:15 in the morning, bought seats for the 7:30 train for less then $5 ($130NT) per person and were in Fulong by 8:40. And there we were! Transported to a bustling beach town filled with stands hawking sunglasses, swimsuits & sunscreen, girls handing out free Jim Beam Whiskey sours and friendly broken English speakers trying to convince us to rent tandem electric bikes (which next time we’ve definitely need to do!)
A few more minutes walking and we were at the beach! But not just any beach. It’s a long stretch of beautiful golden sand, stretching out like a sandbar between the ocean water. And from early May – early July it’s filled with enormous fantastical sand sculptures!
And of course, yes there are crowds of people there- but that’s because it’s amazing! You aren’t going here to peacefully commune with nature – you go here to stare in amazement at human feats of creativity and art. If you can go on a weekday do it, but either way just go. Really – the pictures say it all.
A Cautionary Tale
I loved getting to see the sand sculptures and intend to go back here every year that we are here. But next time I will be more prepared! Despite weather forecasts to the contrary it was SCORCHING hot that day – even at 9 am! And being more like a sandbar then a classic beach means there is no line of palm trees you can walk back to and lay under. Unless you want to pay to sit under a tent, there is no shade period.
We did have sunscreen praise God. We each drank a bottle of water while were out there. And afterwards we found a great little shop with lots of fans and cold mangua bing (Mango Shaved Ice), which totally hit the spot! But even still, I ended with heat exhaustion so bad I was throwing up on the side of the road later, having to cut our day short. So take it from me, do as the locals do! Bring an umbrella for shade! And of course also bring sunscreen and hydrate before during and after your beach venture.
The Mango Bing place is straight down the street from the train station, across the intersection on the left hand corner.
Travel Details:
From Taipei main station you can take a bus or a train to Fulong. (read this forum for super detailed info) From the train station in Fulong walk strait down the road, through the large intersection and down the block. Take a left onto the nice paved bike trail. From there you will begin seeing signs for Fulong beach just another minute away. Fulong beach is a private beach so you do have to pay a big $3 ($100NT) to get in. The beach opens at 8am.
After your time there we suggest taking a bus from the Fulong Visitor center to explore more. The bus route from Fulong will take you to Long Dong (known for snorkeling & diving spots), Shifen Waterfall, and Jiufen (the town that inspired Spirited Away’s animation). The final stop is Riufen. From there you can take a half hour train ride back to Taipei.