orchid island Taiwan，Four Days and Three Nights Itinerary Summary.
Table of Contents
Pre-trip Preparation
Orchid Island Taiwan scenic spots are distributed all over the island, and it is not always possible to realize to go just like you said, for example, in winter, the boat may stop because of the monsoon, so it is important to prepare before traveling, and this time I spent 4 days and 3 nights to visit this beautiful land ~ the following points are very recommended to prepare early, so that the quality of travel is more quality and smoother Oh.
- Find out if there is a time you want to go: for example, during the flying fish season, or in winter if you want fewer people (but you may not be able to come back in winter).
- Find the places you want to visit first: Although you can get to most of the sights by riding around the Orchid Island Ring Road, there are some nice places you might miss without noticing!
- Buy boat or airplane tickets first: there is a limited quota of airplane tickets for foreign travelers, so if you want to take a flight, you must buy them first, while boat tickets may not be bought out, just buy them first and you won’t have to worry about it!
- Book your accommodation first: In the main island, I sometimes book on the same day, but when it’s crowded in the outlying islands, it’s probably safer to book first.
- Train tickets to the ferry terminal: generally speaking, I drive to the island by myself, while I choose to take the train to Taitung in Orchid Island, mainly because I want to make the whole trip a little easier, so to take the train remember to buy a train ticket first!
- Personal sun protection: hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and thin jackets are all very useful in Orchid Island!
- Cash: There are 7-11 and post offices on the island where you can withdraw cash, but the owner of the B&B said that if there are a lot of tourists, there are times when the cash is gone…. However, it is advisable to have some cash on you.
- Underwater activity equipment: If you want to have underwater activities, you can prepare the related items first, you can ask the boss of the trip you bought what you need to prepare to bring over.
KKDAY Ticket Information
Transportation Links:
Event Links:
- Night Ecotour
- Underground House Guide
- Plywood Boat Experience
- SUP Vertical Single Paddle Experience
- One-on-One Diving Experience
- Floating Shallow Activity
- 3 Days 2 Nights Package
Little Tianliang B&B(蘭嶼小天亮民宿)
The first stop after arriving at Orchid Island in mid-June was the B&B where we were going to stay for three days. We chose Dongqing Bay because it was convenient for us to catch up with the sunrise, and the enthusiastic owner and the owner’s wife introduced us to this piece of land at the beginning, and even mentioned that the crooked power line poles in the picture were blown by a typhoon (Typhoon Kodachi), which is why the island was doing the undergrounding of the power lines at that time.
If you want to experience local ingredients, you can basically have a home-cooked meal at the B&B. I remember having soup made with antler moss, local millet porridge, and local sweet potato soup – all of which were very good, and I really felt the warmth of the B&B after staying there for three days!
Sunrise on Mt(乳頭山日出)
The next morning, I rode my motorcycle for a few minutes and arrived at the trailhead of Nipple Hill. The entrance is marked with a sign that says “Danger Do Not Enter”, and I didn’t intend to come here to watch the sunrise before the trip, but on the first day, the owner of the restaurant mentioned that this place is open to the public, and that there are warnings because of its age and disrepair, just like in the photo.
The entrance to the summit was very fast, I remembered that I could reach it in 10 minutes or so, but I didn’t see it just when I was showing my head, but the rain cloud in front of me was very special, and I could clearly see that it was raining heavily on the surface of the sea.
The only companion of the same trip, there was another companion who was going to come to Lanyu together, but I can only say that it is too bad, next time we will come together to experience the coziness of this place.
Below Nipple Hill is the Lover’s Cave, and the view of the sea from this angle is also very beautiful.
Dongqing Bay lit up by the morning light is another bright spot, warm colors make people feel that everything has just begun ~ in the mountains in addition to the sound of the wind blowing, nothing can be heard, extraordinarily clean, but in fact, at this time there are already a lot of people in the activities in Dongqing Bay!
lovers’ cave(情人洞)
The entrance is at the same place as Nipple Hill, and after climbing Bay Hill, I came to walk through Lover’s Cave, which is also a good spot to watch the sunrise, with relatively few people in the morning, as most of the sunrise watchers are concentrated on the beach of Dongqing Bay, watching the sunrise and the combined view of the Panga Boat ~ I picked a day to go and take pictures there later on.
The Lover’s Cave Trail in the morning was backlit all the way, and it was only on the return trip that I added or subtracted a few photos. The pavilion is really easy to see on the island.
At that time, it was the breeding season of land crabs, and we came across one in the morning walkway, which was active at night, probably because it was too early in the day to hide.
And lots of wood-climbing lizards.
Tung Ching Wan(東清灣)
This is one of my favorite photos of the trip! Because of the thick clouds on the morning of the third day, I decided to stay in bed and wake up late. This is a picture of a plywood boat and the sunrise in Dongqing Bay on the morning of the fourth day of the return trip ~ although I was still a little late and the sun had already left the sea, the plywood boat under the backlight was really nice.
The owner of a famous hotel said that the feathers on the island were made of chicken feathers. I did not see any chickens running in the streets on the island, but I heard very loud cries of chickens in the early morning.
Dongqing Bay is crowded in the morning. There is the only 7-11 here, which is one of the reasons why I chose to stay here, but in the end, I didn’t spend much money there, but my partner bought kimchi twice and brought it back to the hostel to eat.
The only night market, Dongqing Night Market, is open every day and is one of the reasons why I chose to stay in Dongqing Bay. I should say that I chose this place for three reasons.
- see the sunrise
- There’s 7-11.
- There’s a night market.
As a result, I could only make good use of the first reason. I didn’t really have much to eat at the night market, and since I was so full from dinner, I only ordered a grilled flying fish egg for the three nights.
The main reason for the lively evening in Dongqing Bay was that I happened to meet a local boat tossing ceremony, and the owner of the B&B was among them (Mr. Zhang, the fourth person in green from the left)! The owner said that the boat tossing ceremony would only be held after the production of the large 10-person boat, and that the last boat tossing ceremony had been held ten years ago, and that the boat tossing ceremony was only held in Dongqing Tribe, and it would be very difficult to see it in the future. The owner said that the number of young people who could do the boat tossing ceremony was decreasing, and that this would probably be the last time for it to be held.
With the combined efforts of many people, it was really effortless to throw up a board boat with ten people sitting on it, and the setting sun behind the mountain was particularly impressive!
Those days also happened to be full moon days, and the boss said that those days were a good time to watch the moonrise, the so-called moonrise is the picture of the moon rising from the sea in the evening, just like the sunrise, so I stayed here for four days and three nights, and I really liked the pace here!
When there is enough light, the color of the water in Tung Ching Wan is gradual, with milky white, light blue, and dark blue – very beautiful.
basement(地下屋)
In order to protect themselves from typhoons and monsoons, the early inhabitants developed underground houses. Each family’s underground house consists of three elements, the first is the “main house” at the bottom of the photo below , which is the living place, and the second is the “pavilion” at the upper left corner , which is the resting place for the summer . The second is the ” Pavilion ” in the upper left corner, which is the place to live, because the underground house is very stuffy in the summer, so the local people choose the pavilion next to it as their summer resting place, and the third one is the “Work House”, which is the place to work as the name suggests.
Before entering the main house, we were warned by the narrator that it would be very stuffy inside, and it was, even with the fans on! But I still think it’s worthwhile to listen to the former underground house culture, because only the Wild Silver Tribe still has a complete underground house complex, while the other tribes have almost been demolished.
In the old days, the more trophies there were, the better the family was. The narrator said that in the old days, when the tribes fought, the shallow rule was that they could only attack through the front door, and the back door was for the escape of the people in the house, so if they attacked through the back door, it was an unfair victory.
In addition to the pavilion, another outdoor resting place is the chaise lounge, this chaise lounge in the tradition will only have two, and then slowly, some families will increase the number of, so that more people can sit here to rest, mainly at night time can look at the stars, generally speaking, is according to the seniority to sit, if there are two chairs, then the seniority of the largest two people can sit, and chairs can only be used in the definition of the stone to make, I I went up and sat on it myself and found it quite comfortable!
A small pig near the underground house.
weather station(氣象站)
In the afternoon of the first day, before going to the green grasslands, walking on the island in the middle of the cross will pass the turnoff entrance to the meteorological station, this turnoff up to the meteorological station can be reached, the owner of the B&B does not recommend cycling up, said it is very steep and very easy to fall down, it is recommended that the motorcycle parked at the turnoff entrance to go up with the walk, and most of the tourists also walk up with the walk, the road is not too long, just think of it as a walk!
Like the lighthouse, the station is inaccessible, but you can walk around the grassy area and take photos, but if you get too close to the station, a sensor will warn you.
The view was good, mainly to the south of Orchid Island. Unfortunately, the first afternoon was full of clouds and there was not much light, I wanted to take advantage of the night to take pictures of the starry sky, or to find another day when the weather was good to take a picture, but the other places were also very beautiful, so I couldn’t spare any more time…. I also wanted to take pictures of the starry sky at night, or on another day when the weather was good, but I couldn’t spare any more time because other places were so beautiful….!
grasslands(青青草原)
The first day and the third day of the evening have run to the green grassland to watch the sunset, the first day on the surface of the sea thick clouds did not see the expected golden prairie, looking at the crowds of people wondering if there is no clouds will be how the scenery, in fact, the heart already have a plan to come back again, I do not know partners will not want to come to the same place twice? We rented a motorcycle for each of us, so that we could do separate activities, and we did go our own way many times later.
After the sun set on the first day, I thought there was no more games, and my partner said to wait and see the sky’s sunset, but it turned out to be a pink sunset, which was really very beautiful, and I thought it didn’t matter if there were no photos of the golden grassland, the pink sunset would be enough!
When the third day we passed near the green grasslands, partner asked me if I want to go again to walk the green grasslands, of course, I immediately agreed, I was afraid that he did not want to go again, I want to go on their own, more than five o’clock in time to observe the clouds, basically the light is determined to be better than the first day of the very much better, I and my partner in the grassland trails at the exit of the clearing to find a piece of land, hide up to rest (to avoid the sun), and so on the light to warm up some of before continuing to go down! We waited for the light to warm up some more before continuing down the trail.
It was about time for me to start my journey. The straight trail and the backlighting of the sunset made me very happy with the time I had captured – if I had to choose my two favorite photos, it would be this one and the sunrise on the plywood boat.
The golden color is of course an exaggeration, but compared to noon, the color is really bright, the grassland waves dancing with the wind can only be experienced on the spot, there is a lot of film but it can’t replace the feeling of the scene, if you say which attraction in Orchid Island must be visited, then the green grassland must be one of the choices.
The sea caves on the left hand side are great with the sunset.
Most of the people are waiting until the sun is completely down before slowly leaving, to come here is no need to hurry, and do not even have to dare to eat, anyway, there is a place in the restaurant to eat, no place to change a room, we are in such a mood to spend those days.
Twin Lion Rock(雙獅岩)
Dongqing Bay can be reached quickly by walking a little to the north, and it really looks like two lions, but other rocky spots may not be enough for me, and I can’t relate them to the name.
Fishers on the reef wall, this is also the daily life of the local people, I still remember that the next night, the owner of the bed and breakfast specially prepared cannonball sashimi for us to eat, his son caught the fresh fish in the morning! One big fish was enough to make a big pot of fish soup and a huge plate of sashimi, and many people couldn’t finish it all together.
The reason I stayed here until I got sunburnt was the intertidal creatures. I went to observe the small puddles one by one to see if there were any special fishes and shrimps, and about two hours passed like this, many crabs moving among the reefs and eels with many patterns could be seen, and the most popular was the school of small fishes, which could be seen in almost every puddle!
The visibility of the water along the shore is really good and it is easy to spot the creatures moving under the water.
Five Concaves(五孔洞)
Located in the northwest corner of the five holes in the highway next to the island, this is also in my plan to see, but when I passed by, in fact, I did not know that this is the five holes, and partners cycling past the cave found, want to say can go in for a walk, in the doubt when we found that there are other tourists come out, so we feel relieved to go in, after all, afraid of mistakenly enter the island’s private domain or forbidden land.
Wukong Cave used to be a forbidden place, but now it is a sacred place for prayers of the people in the region, and tourists are allowed to enter the cave. This photo shows the other entrance and exit next to the cave, which is just a few minutes’ hike away, with water dripping down from the cave, and some of the ground is slippery, so please be careful when walking on it.
When I was taking pictures, my partner complained that the motorcycles were blocking the view, but two of them were parked by us…. Originally, we were afraid that the two entrances and exits would be a bit far away from each other on the roundabout road, so we wanted to go back the way we came, but after riding away, we realized that they were just next to each other.
The grassland next to Wukong Cave can be said to be the holy land of goats. The first day I didn’t see any goats all day long, and I wondered why I didn’t meet half of them since there weren’t many of them on the island. However, on the second to fourth days, we saw goats in this grassland.
Sheep walking towards the beach.
They really enjoy jumping on the rock wall.
Lantau Lighthouse(蘭嶼燈塔)
There are two lighthouses in Orchid Island, the old and the new. The photo below is of the new lighthouse on the hill, I rode here by myself on the morning of the third day, my partner went snorkeling, while I followed the recommendation of the owner of the bed and breakfast to come to the new lighthouse, the lighthouse is not allowed for outsiders to enter, so I just watched it from afar.
The road to the new lighthouse is near the northwest corner, just ride in from the turnoff for the Beltway. At the time, I was distracted by the construction on the side of the road, and I didn’t have a cell phone holder for my bike, so I rode back and forth about three times before I found the turnoff…. The left side of the photo below has an upward fork in the road, so that’s it!
The entire section of the coastal highway is under construction, I was going to say whether to remove the triangle cone in the photo, but then I thought, this is the most realistic record of the moment, so let’s just leave it, and it’s not ugly to put it neatly.
Overlooking the greenery and the sea below, the simple images are mesmerizing, but it’s a shame that you can’t enjoy them for a long time because of the occasional passing of elephant locomotives along the small roads.
In the relative height of the outlook, Kaiyuan Harbor can still be seen very clearly, I myself think close to the Orchid Island lighthouse near the high point are good places to enjoy the scenery, just to pay attention to the other passers-by, I think this is one of the must-visit attractions!
Next to the Kaiyuan harbor is the old Lanyu Lighthouse, you need to fill up the gas tank of the motorcycle on the way back and then return it, behind the gas station is the old lighthouse, my partner took the plane on the way back while I took the boat, I didn’t have enough time to go over there and walk around, so I helped my partner to take a few pictures from afar.
Tank Rock(坦克岩)
Tank Rock is also one of the must-see attractions, although the scenery is not as spectacular as the green grasslands, but it is right next to the highway, stop the car and walk a few steps can be completed why not come.
Rocks, ocean, grass, I think this is a wonderful combination, generally speaking, most of the rocks, ocean, sand, here is in the northwest corner of Orchid Island, basically can see the sunset, because the number of days to come is too small, all the sunset time to the green grass, otherwise the sunset here should also be good, the time to take this photo impression is about 3:00 ~ 4:00 pm, the sea has a little bit of refraction! The color of light is already a little bit refracted on the surface of the sea.
When you go inside, you will be surrounded by rocks, and your view will be focused on the beautiful scenery in front of you.
Airports(飛機場)
On the first day, I passed by the airport, and the runway on the beach attracted my attention, so I decided to find a day to photograph the takeoff and landing of the aircraft, and on the third day, I came here in the afternoon and waited for a while, and I took a video of the takeoff with my camera, and the picture is only of the takeoff on the runway, so you can imagine it by yourself~!
Night View of Collared Scops Owl(夜觀蘭嶼角鴞)
In Orchid Island, the Orchid hornbill is a nocturnal raptor that frequents the island, and the male bird’s call is “doo doo woo” (I forgot the female bird), so I have to listen to the sound of the bird all night long to identify the location. The owner of the B&B said that you can see it all over the island, and that there is no specific area, and if you buy a tour from the locals, you will be basically taken to the Yongxing Farm to watch it at night. KKDay can also help you to purchase a tour by yourself.
We were leading a tour for a couple, and the two of us would take turns to go in front and behind each other. On the way back, this gecko flew up to my side, and I found it on my own. When the tour guide’s wife took a picture of the light, he whispered to me that the gecko is the embodiment of evil in their traditional definition of the word, but nowadays there are not so many superstitions. (Later, the owner of the B&B also said that the gecko is also a gecko in their area.)
Pavilion Culture（涼亭文化）
Before coming to Orchid Island, I saw many internet videos about the pavilion culture. The traditional underground houses of the local people are very stuffy, so they have their own pavilions next to them, and there are pavilions next to the highway and the seashore of the island, which is really cool under the pavilions during the scorching hot summer, and the main reason is that there is a constant sea breeze blowing, so as long as you don’t get sunburned, it’s still very cool.
Some of the pavilions on the island are private, so you have to pay special attention to them, and this one in the photo is the one with the best view in my opinion! You can see Dongqing Bay, Nipple Hill and Beauty Cave. I came here at noon on two occasions, in the morning and in the afternoon, the sun was shining, so I chose to go to the pavilion at noon to take a rest, and in order to ensure the cleanliness of the island, slippers are required in every pavilion!
On the left hand side of the gazebo is the Beauty Cave.
On the right hand side of the pavilion is Dongqing Bay, this pavilion is just a little bit above Dongqing Bay, located between Dongqing Bay and Nipple Hill, the same can be reached in a few minutes by motorcycle.
Orchid Island Heritage Museum（蘭嶼文物館）
There are cultural tours and second-hand goods for sale. Unfortunately, I came too late and they were ready to close, so I didn’t follow the tours. I used to just like to look at the scenery and didn’t bother to learn about the cultural stories, but gradually I found it interesting to listen to those stories. I went in and strolled around for a few minutes and then they were ready to close, so I’ll plan a time to come back and listen to the tours next time I’m in Orchid Island!
It’s like an aqueduct（像水渠一樣）
The road around the island passes between huge rocks, and clockwise you can see the sunset at sunset, so there are many people taking pictures here, but it is a road after all, and there is no space for pedestrians, so you have to pay special attention to the passing of vehicles!
In the far away open space to shoot just the cave, I think it is full of like an elephant’s head, and the elephant’s back area in the upward, is the Orchid Island lighthouse, shoot these photos of the shooting point, has been away from the turnoff to the lighthouse is not far away, if you want to go to the lighthouse, you can slow down the speed here slowly look for it.
Three-day meals
The last day of the B&B after breakfast did not have to eat outside, so meals counted three days, some forget to take pictures did not post them, I’m not a gourmet ~ are google map randomly pick higher evaluation, have to eat most of them think it’s still good Oh! If you come here to eat, you can first call the phone to ask to see if there is a store, often I google it above to find it, and then go to the scene there is no store…. This is actually something I knew from doing my homework before I left, but I still didn’t call and ask first, I just wanted to say that if it’s not open, just look around the neighborhood.
Kashida Cooler Ice Manufacturing Co（莯田涼品冰品制造所）:
Want to eat Orchid Island taro ice before coming to this store, but also queued up for more than ten minutes to get a seat, ordered taro + other fillings to eat a combination of ice, sitting outside you can see the Dongqing Bay, the location is really good ~ if you only want to eat taro ice, very recommended in the west coast of the Wenwen taro ice, cycling through the eat right away to go, did not take pictures, but it is really very good!
Tung Ching 33（東清33號）:
A very famous breakfast store on the Internet, mainly outdoor pavilion can see the sea view of Dongqing Bay, I chose to eat at noon ~ because the sun at noon in the overhead, outdoor pavilion is not the sun, there is a sea breeze blowing is also very cool, the meal is mainly egg cakes, crispy crust is not bad, can not snatch the first row of the seascape to sit in the back is also good ~
Mermaids and cats（人魚和貓）:
This place is delicious and the owner is very passionate! After the first night, if I can’t think of anything to eat, I’ll come back for a second time. It’s mainly a simple meal, I ordered the stir-fried lamb simple meal, and it’s hard for me to eat all of it by myself because I have a small appetite.
Island Burger（島旦嶼漢堡）:
I’m not really interested in American burgers, but the owner of the B&B recommended it, so I came here to try it! It’s not bad, but the fries are dry, but that’s the way it should be. If you like burgers, you can come here and try it, it’s not a crowded place.
Sea scrapped the cafeteria（海廢食堂）:
Flying fish rice is delicious, I ordered it when I saw the word “flying fish”, I was going to say whether there would be fish spines or not, but I was worried about it.
Eleven Neighborhood Bar（十一鄰Bar）:
There is a good place to chat with your friends in the evening, and I saw the long sought after fried flying fish here, so I ordered one to eat~!
Islander Ice Dogs（島民冰狗店）:
When I was riding my motorcycle on the island, I saw an ice store and wanted to go in to have a look. I ordered a mango smoothie and ate it, but I didn’t take any pictures of the food because I thought the main point was to eat the ice while looking at the sea view from the window, and I realized that everyone was sitting facing out the window!
Taiwan car rental
（high speed railway station pick up the car）
