Green Island, Kending, and Little Liuqiu

[Natalie0310]

Hello All!!

One of my friends and I are going on summer vacation to Green Island, Little Liuqiu and Kending and would love to know of great places people have stayed and what is good to do and what we should miss.
We are staying a night in Taipei on the way there and on the way back so any recommendations on what to do and where to go there would be great!
We want to stop in at Taroko Gorge on the way down, maybe spend a night. Is it easy to navigate alone or would it be better to go with a tour?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[StevenCrook]

You haven't said how many days in total you have -- it sounds like a very rushed tour. A single night in Taipei on the way there and another on the way back won't give you any real time to see anything in the capital. Taroko Gorge deserves more than a night (if trails etc are open - check the national park website for info).
I'd spend two nights on Green Island, three in the Kending area and one or two on Little Liuqiu. I'm afraid I can't recommend any particular places to stay as I don't know your budget, and all the places I've stayed at have been quite decent but not awesome.

In my experience, the best thing to do on Little Liuqiu is a tidal zone ecotour, something I wrote about: http://crooksteven.blogspot.tw/2011/06/ ... el-in.html

[oneeyedqueen]

I agree that things sound a bit rushed. My Taiwanese friends took care of booking a little home-stay sort of situation when we went to Xiao LiuQiu, so unfortunately I don't know how to get in contact with them. It's a really tiny island, and we saw basically everything in about 48 hours, with lots of time for loafing around. Be warned that most of the shoreline there is rather rocky, but the tide pooling is pretty fun. I really recommend touring around by scooter at night! If it gives you more time to explore other places, you can make do with just an overnight on Xiao LiuQiu.

Definitely spend more time in Taipei and Taroko if at all possible!

[StevenCrook]

I agree that things sound a bit rushed. My Taiwanese friends took care of booking a little home-stay sort of situation when we went to Xiao LiuQiu, so unfortunately I don't know how to get in contact with them. It's a really tiny island, and we saw basically everything in about 48 hours, with lots of time for loafing around. Be warned that most of the shoreline there is rather rocky, but the tide pooling is pretty fun.

It seems exploring the tidal zone has become way too popular. Just the other day, Pingdong County Government announced plans to limit the number of visitors to the most popular tidal platform because the ecosystem has been seriously damaged.