First-timer’s guide to surfing in Taiwan

Typhoon surf. Photo 邱獻欽

In the shadow of Indo and Australia, Taiwan’s surf is still lesser known to the western surfers. Surf adventurers can still find plenty of secret spots.

General conditions

Surf Consistency

During the typhoon season in the summer, Taiwan sees 15-20 feet waves from time to time. But the swell window is not too easy to predict weeks in advance as typhoon often changes its direction. Outside of the typhoon window, it’s pretty flat in the summer. Summer is good for surfers that can book the ticket a week in advance or your layover to Bali. See our adventure's guide to Taiwan in the summer. 

Fall is the most consistent season in Taiwan. You can probably expect 4-6 feet on an average day with a fair to good condition. If you live far away and need to plan your trip ahead of time, book it during the fall.

Crowd

One of the best advantages about Taiwan is a relatively low crowd compared to Indo and Australia, especially in advanced spots with hollow, barreling waves. As long as it’s under the radar, a “satisfying” “average wave per surfer” can be guaranteed.

However no secrets can be kept forever. Surfing has become more and more popular in the past decade. It will be interesting to see the change in the future.

Surf Quality

There are many.. many… many… point breaks with reef or rock bottoms in the east coast of Taiwan.

Typhoon surf in the fall. Photo 邱獻欽

How to plan your first surf trip in Taiwan

A minimum of 5 days is a must if you are planning to surf or just visit places outside of the capital city, Taipei.

Advanced surfers

You are probably looking for consistent over head or DOH double overhead+ swells on a surf trip. It’s probably best to make Taiwan your layover stop to Indo or Australia. United States surfers often need to find a layover to Indo. 

You can opt in a 5 day layover in Taiwan before or after your Indo trip… Stopping by before your “main” surf trip can warm you up and help you adjust the jet lag.  Stopping by after your “main” surf trip allows a total relaxation, fun dessert surf trip in Taiwan. Either way is good.

Intermediate surfers

If you are most comfortable in a 4-6 ft condition, not so sure about DOH or 2-foot waves, you will have a lot of fun surfing in Taiwan. The light crowds and perfect waves will also help you step up your game. It’s an excellent place for a surfing boot camp.

Beginners

Thanks to the recent trend, there are more and more surfing schools in Taiwan. Any summer day without a typhoon is good for beginners. You can find surfing schools throughout the island. Pick a location first according to your itinerary. Then pick a local surf shop.

Surf's WAY up. Photo: Yu A Fu

Guide or no guide

Booking a surf / adventure tour is highly recommended, especially if you are visiting Taiwan for less than 10 days and you want to do as much as you can. Reasons being

     A. You need a car

Forget about the public transportations. You need a car or scooters to go to surf spots. Michael Massa of the Inertia agrees too.

A tip from Michael Massa in an article on The Inertia : Finding Friends (and Waves) on a Solo Surf Trip to Taiwan

      B. There is so much to do

Exploring process is fun but it takes time. It’s basically a time and money trade off decision. With a tour, you will be able to focus on fun things and not to worry about logistics. You can surf and explore until you are exhausted and sleep in the car on the way back. Airport to east coast takes about 6-7 hours on the road. You rather sleep or drive?!

      C.  It’s affordable

Taiwan is still under the tourism radar. The tourist price is still close to the Taiwan living standard. A lot of customized tours offer transportation/driver, accommodation, SURF PHOTOGRAPHY and in-between surf tours with a bargain price at about $160 - $200 per person per night. If you compare it with the rental car and gas price, these tours actually offer a great value of convenience.  It’s worth considering. 

Beginners, you probably don’t need a surf guide if you are not planning on a surf boot camp trip. However, if you are planning on some outdoor activities, booking an adventure tour will save you a lot of time, efforts and money.

Board rental

It is easy and inexpensive to rent a board. But if you are picky, you don’t have too many options.

Taiwan surf spots. MSW

Spots

Here is the point… surf spots! Taiwan is still under radar for most of the surfers outside of Asia. There are still many secret spots along the coast, providing anything from hollow fast barrels to trestles-like peelers. 

Magic Seaweed and Surfline have information about well surfed, classic spots. It is still worth surfing them because the crowds are probably still lighter than a lot of your home spots. For instance, SoCal.

These are good spots to test water too. If you are backpacking with limited time, it’s not a bad idea to pick one of these spots and stick around. If you have time to explore or if you travel with tour, you will likely find out many secret spots with no one around.

Most of classic point breaks are in the east coast of Taiwan. Try your luck there.

Besides surfing

There are lots of fun things to do around those good surf spots in the east coast. Nature hot spring exploring, visiting indigenous tribes, tea tasting, canyoning, rafting, fishing, camping, biking, scuba diving … and of course, trying out local food. You could do a typical surf, eat, and sleep trip. But you will be missing out. You should try them all if you have time. And again, booking a tour would really help pack all these activities in your short stay. But you will have fun either way.

As under the radar as it is, Taiwan surf trip is fun and full of surprise. If you are explorer type of surfer, you should check it out sooner than later. Drop us a line if you need more information.

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