The Adventurers’ Guide to Taiwan in the Autumn: Surfing, Cycling and Mountain Sports

You can enjoy outdoor activities any time in Taiwan, but Fall is arguably the best season. It is still warm.  It’s relatively dry. It doesn’t have as many thunder storms and typhoons as in the summer.  From September to December, we listed some highlights for all the adventurers.

Surfing:

Taiwan surf consistency. Photo: MSW

The autumn is probably the most consistent season for surfing. Northeast monsoon sends over consistent wind swells to the east coast of Taiwan. You can expect 4-5+ most of the time. It is not surprising to see 6-8 footers rolling in. Current is strong during the swells as usual. 

Taiwan typhoon surf  Photo: Yu A Fu

There are occasionally typhoons in September and October that help the consistency. See our summer post about typhoonsurfing. Starting from November it’s mainly the northeast monsoon that generates fun waves for experienced surfers.  

Beginners, ask around. You may still be able to find some beach with smaller waves to learn surfing.   

Taiwan Open of Surfing 2014 poster. 

If you are into the contest, Taiwan Open of Surfing, an ASP surf contest, holds in the east coast of Taiwan every October /November. 

You kinda need to know how to surf to get invited to the contest. But It’s not as hard as the official tour. Consider to compete if possible or just stop by and watch it. 

The water is still in the high 70’s. The air may drop to mid-60’s in the early morning. After the sun breaks through the clouds, it could go up to 70’s.

South eastern coast may be a concern though, if you are visiting in the late November to December. When the northeast monsoon is prevalent, the area (i.e. Pingtung county) often experiences continuous strong gales, called “down-mountain” wind. 

The maximum wind speed can go up to 40 m/s (a scale 13 on the Beaufort scale). It can cause power and water cuts, the crops lost and of course the stormy surf.  Generally speaking, east coast will be your best bet in the fall.

Mountain Sports: Canyoning, Climbing, Hiking, Nature Hot Spring Exploring

Dabajian Mountain. Photo: 老山羊

70% of Taiwan is covered with mountains. The central ridge consists of 200+ peaks over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft). 

Mountaineering is popular in Taiwan. We will have a post covering Taiwan’s mountains in details. For now, we will just talk about some basics. 

The relatively dry weather favors mountain activities. Mountaineer enthusiasts could take the advantage to challenge more difficult mountains such as Dabajian Mountain (3,490 m, 11,450 ft). The highest peak on Jade Mountain (3,952 meter, 12,966 ft) is suitable for most of the regular climbers. Jiaming Lake (3,310 meter, 10,860 ft), aka Angel’s Tear, is another stunning spot for the average climbers.

If you just want a few hours of hikes, relaxation trails are easy to be found everywhere in Taiwan. Taiwan preserves several ancient trails throughout the island. It is usually deep in the mountain with the primitive scenery. We recommend you to try one of these if you have a chance.

Taiwan autumn adventure:
Canyoning. Photo: U-outdoor 

Canyoning is another popular sports in Taiwan due to vast amount of gorges. It is best to do when the stream is not dry or flooded. Spring and fall provides a good condition.  

The east coast of Taiwan offers many challenging gorges for adventures in all kinds of levels. Canyoning is very similar to rock climbing. If you have intermediate rock climbing skills, you could probably try the intermediate canyoning routes.  

Taiwan classified the streams into 6 levels. A and B levels are easy ones, friendly to families with kids. C and D are intermediate levels, suitable for those who has some rock climbing skills. E and F are advance levels that requires experiences of climbing the water falls.  Know before you go.

Last but not least, when you are in the mountains, don’t forget to explore nature hot springs. Some of the nature hot springs take a whole day to explore. There are plenty of easy ones to access. Volcanic terrains offer this special scenery in Taiwan.  We highly recommend you to squeeze it in your itinerary. 

Cycling:

Taiwan cycling. Photo: KOM

Fall is also an exciting season for the cyclers. Taiwan hosts a series of cycling events throughout the island in October and November. 

Scenic cycle paths are a little busier than usual. These well designed cycle paths make Taiwan a paradise for cyclers. You can easily find services. And it’s safe to camp just about anywhere.

We recommend top 3 Taiwan biking routes for regular cyclers.

Round the island of Taiwan:

In 7 – 10 days, you could cycle around Taiwan across various terrains and travel experiences, big cities, small towns, lakes, mountains, rice fields and coast high way. The longer of days you plan, the better you get to taste the local cultures. A typical round the island trip is about 1000 km (622 miles). You can plan your trip according to your conditions and preference.

Cross the Island of Taiwan:

Taiwan cycling routes through Taroko. Photo: KOM

Taiwan has 3 scenic cross-island highways in the north, center and south part of Taiwan. 

Every highway crosses peaks in various mountain ranges, connecting east and west coast of Taiwan. 

Nature hot springs scattered along the highway may be the best rewards at the end of the day. Start with Central cross-island highway, then Southern and then Northern.

Northern cross-island highway (Highway 7)

·         132 km (82 mils)

·         Features: Daxi, Baling, Yilan

Central cross-island highway (Highway 8)

·         190 km (119 miles)

·         Features: Taroko Gorge, Dayuling, Guguan

Southern cross-island highway (Highway 20)

·         205 km (127 miles)

·         Features: Yakao, Siangyang, Jiaming lake, Taiting

Taiwan rice fields. Photo: 邱獻欽

East Coast of Taiwan

If you only plan to cycle for a day or two, stick to the quiet roads in the east coast of Taiwan. 

Guanshan bike routes offer gorgeous views of rice fields. East coast highway route presents beautiful coast lines and spotted aboriginal fishing villages.

It takes some time to plan your route but it’s not too difficult. Mapmyride offers good information.  Taiwan Tourism Bureau host Taiwan Cycling Festival from Oct 30, 2015 to Nov 22, 2015. There are many different leisure cycling tours available around the island during the festival. You can join one of these cycle tours that lead you to the beauty of Taiwan in a relaxing pace. Contact us for help in arrangement.

Taiwan KOM route. Source: KOM

Contest cyclers, consider to join the KOM challenge. 

KOM stands for King of Mountain. It is a unique uphill cycling race held by Taiwan Tourism Bureau. 

Taiwan’s unique terrains offer many “hells”, or “heavens” for some, in uphill cycling with the stunning scenery. 

The KOM challenge features one of the most difficult yet scenic routes. Participants are challenged to climb 3,275 meters (10,745 ft) over 105 km (65 miles) within 6.5 hours. 

Check our KOM post for more details.

There you go. If you are still wondering where you should go this fall, book your ticket to Taiwan. Plan a great outdoors vacation. Please contact us if you need assistance.  Enjoy your outdoor feast! : )

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