Day 9 - Explore Taitung, Drive to Kenting
Taitung Forest Park 臺東森林公園
Fugang Geopark 富岡地質公園(小野柳)
Haibin (Seashore) Park 海濱公園
Kenting Night Market 墾丁夜市
A full day of Taitung exploration before heading to Kenting!
We enjoyed the hot spas at the hotel before heading out, that was a nice treat! Taichung Forest Park was a beautiful place to get some exercise on the rental bikes. The kids had fun jumping on seashore rocks at Fugang Geopark. Haibin Park was a nice beach to hang out, although we didn’t have much time left by then so just did a quick stop before heading to Kenting. It’s about a 2.5-hour drive, and we wanted to get there in time to enjoy walk around the huge night market.
Taitung Forest Park 臺東森林公園
Taitung Forest Park is a nice stop for a few hours, the time it takes depends on your fitness level. We really enjoyed exploring the outdoors while getting some exercise on the bikes! The quality of these rental bikes aren’t great and some of our bikes would skip gears while riding, so choose carefully and test ride before leaving. The scenery here is quite nice, allow a few hours to explore!
Fugang Geopark 富岡地質公園(小野柳)
This was a fun stop for about an hour to 1.5 hours. We are always fans of rocky shores where we can explore by jump around the rocks. The main area of the seashore is crowded, it’s worth it to go sideways and enjoy nature away from the crowds. There are some nice paved walking paths also. A very nice, scenic seaside stop!
Haibin (Seashore) Park 海濱公園
This is a beautiful sandy beach, we would’ve enjoyed chilling here for half a day if time allowed! Since we were running out of day time and wanted to get to Kenting at a reasonable hour, we only spent about half an hour here taking pictures and walking around. Definitely a nice beach!
Voyagers tip: Cherimoyas are a specialty here, be sure to pick some up on the way to Kenting, you’ll see lots of stores selling them in the winter!
Kenting Night Market 墾丁夜市
The Kenting Night Market is well known, and it’s huge! It’s just one main street, but it’s quite long, so make sure to allocate your stomach room accordingly. There are too many dishes to mention, most of them are delicious! Two items I’d suggest staying away from: the cubed beef and the crabs (except soft-shell crabs). The beef is of low quality that’s tough and chewy, and the stir-fry crabs are messy to eat while walking around. Softshell crabs are ok as you can eat the whole thing. Everything else is worth trying if it looks good to you!
Voyagers Tips: (1) Use the restroom before you go. There are no public restrooms available unless you eat at a sit-in restaurant. We had to ask nicely to use a restaurant restroom after buying food front the stand in the front. (2) Parking is a pain around here! We parked really far, almost as far as our hotel (Howard Johnson). If you’re staying at Howard Johnson, ask their golf cart shuttle to take you to the night market, which is just down the street. If you’re staying farther, just park at the hotel and take a taxi there.