Taiwan Day 34: Seafood and Beach in Kenting

The last day of our trip was filled with fun and delicious food :) Refer to the links below for the other days.

3 Day West Taiwan Trip

Day 1

Taipei - Taichung - Sun Moon Lake - Taichung (Read here)

Day 2

Taichung - Tainan - Kaohsiung (Read here)

Day 3

Kaohsiung - Kenting - Kaohsiung - Taipei (Scroll down)

Note: Exchange rate used is CAD$1 to NT29.3

Trip Day 3

Waking up on the morning of the last day was a bit unreal because I can't believe after all the planning we were already on the last day and about to go to the very south of Taiwan. The hotel we stayed at provided complimentary breakfast. The Chinese buffet side had congee, rice and Taiwanese side dishes to make a full bento.

Breakfast buffet

Western and Chinese style breakfast

After breakfast we walked back to the Kaohsiung Train Station to place our bags in storage and walked left from the front exit toward Kaohsiung Bus where we bought round trip tickets for the 8:00am trip to Kenting. The tickets cost NT594 (CAD$20.26). It took 2.5 hours to get from Kaohsiung to Nanwan which is a bay in Kenting.

I was so glad to step off the bus to see the colourful umbrellas on the beach under the blue sky. The entire area was bustling with activity!

Nanwan (??)

Since it is a tourist area, everything costs money. The beach itself is free entry but to sit there for long you will probably need to rent one of their umbrellas because the sun's rays are strong. We paid NT500 each (CAD$17.05) to play two activities - jet ski and inflatable boat - and rent an umbrella with small chairs.

We rode the jet ski like the photo below with the driver in the front, me in the middle and Hui Chee behind me. It was a lot more fun than I expected and we went out quite far! There was one time where we were riding on top of the wave and another time when the driver turned so fast that we were almost 90 degrees with the water.

Via Google

The other activity was an inflatable boat like the one pictured below pulled by a jet ski. Hui Chee and I rode both in the standing and sitting position. I couldn't stand for long because my arms were not strong enough to hold on for long periods of time without slipping and I definitely did not want to fall.

Image source here

When we got out of the water to the beach it was already past noon and we went to rinse off. There was no public washroom at the beach but stores across the street had shower stalls available for a price. I paid NT20 to have a cold water shower and to use the change room.

The public buses were infrequent there, so we had to wait half an hour before the bus to Houbihu (???) arrived. I wore my Canada shirt today and while at the bus stop these two Caucasian women asked if I was Canadian and I said yes! Turns out they are from Toronto and we chatted for awhile until their bus came. One of them has been living in Taiwan for 2.5 years already.

Houbihu was beautiful as well but in a different way than Nanwan. This area isn't crowded with people playing water activities. Instead it is a beach harbour with many seafood outlets.

Houbihu Map

Houbihu

The large building next to the harbour was where the seafood outlets were selling delicious food! We read about the inexpensive seafood online and knew we had to come.

A bag of fried baby crabs was NT50 (CAD$1.71) which would usually cost NT150 (CAD$5.12) for a smaller portion at the nightmarket. They were fried so crisp that the shell was edible, too.

Fried baby crab

Other fried seafood

The two restaurants near the doorway had line ups extending out the door so we went to the restaurant in the middle with the shorter line up. We ordered three dishes including a plate of 30 sashimi pieces, clams and sea snails. This plate of fresh sashimi only cost us NT150 (CAD$5.12) and was delicious! The other two dishes were equally fresh and in total Hui Chee and I paid NT300  (CAD$10.23) for one of our best meals in Taiwan.

Assorted sashimi

Clams

Pepper sea snails

Since the public bus system here wasn't great, we had to wait half an hour for the bus back to Nanwan in order to take the Kaohsiung Bus back to Kaohsiung. While waiting was when I realized that I got sunburnt! Being outdoors for a few short hours was enough to burn with its strong rays. That is why renting the umbrella was necessary or else I would have burnt more.

Anywho, the Kaohsiung Bus took us back to the Kaohsiung Station in 2.5 hours and we rushed to get our bags from storage before taking the 7:30pm King Bus that took us back to Taipei. It was a 5 hour long ride and cost NT530 (CAD$18.08) for a one way ticket.The ride was actually quite comfortable with big seats and a steady driver.

Such a fun-filled three days with scenery, fun and eats! Although we didn't stop for long in each place, we were able to go from the north of Taiwan (Taipei) to the south (Kenting) in three days on a healthy budget.

Read Day 1 and 2 for the other places we visited in West Taiwan.

3 Day West Taiwan Trip

Day 1

Taipei - Taichung - Sun Moon Lake - Taichung (Read here)

Day 2

Taichung - Tainan - Kaohsiung (Read here)

Take care,