Tantalizing Taiwan

1 of 15

SITUATED on the tropic of cancer at similar latitude to Hawaii, Taiwan is a gem in the rough, hidden in plain sight. Surrounded by raucous neighbors - China, the most populous nation on earth to the west; Japan, beautiful but crowded, and somewhat colder to the north and the politically unstable and regularly storm ravaged Philippines to the south. It's an often overlooked tropical island, complete with laid back attitudes, boardshort water, warm weather and plenty of surf. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan

"I was expecting waist to chest high, fun ripable waves," Says Taylor Jensen, "like a Bali beachbreak was what I was thinking. But I definitely didn't expect to show up and get solid standup barrels - it was a good surprise. "The culture I found interesting, the best way I can describe it as Japan meets Mexico, I mean the writing makes no sense whatsoever but the waves were warm, good and uncrowded. All the temples were rad too, it was cool to check those out, as well as driving quads, shooting shotguns, doing some sightseeing stuff - it was an awesome trip, never a dull moment." © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

Taiwan possesses two distinct seasons -- winter, October to March where storms off Japan provide swell linked with systems ridging across China to deliver swell to the east coast (the same storms that push west swells to Hawaii) and summer, (April to September) when typhoons (averaging 19 per season) and intense low pressure swells roll to the lower east and the south coasts. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

Throughout Asia a common occurrence is the mistranslation of phrases, shop names and public notices. In the literal sense I suppose they're correct... kind of. But it's always a funny thing to see -- here are some top Taiwanese examples I've seen around the place. Happy Joy Smile Wedding Shop - A Bridal Boutique. Secret Garden of Your Charming Smile - A Dentist. Delicious Breakfast Is Always In Beauty Castle - Breakfast-food Shop Travel of the love story meets the soft love in the snow-white world. Tight dependence this instantaneous eternal - Printed on a box of white tissues. And my favourite, posted in the elevator of a friend's apartment block. The club swimming pool will go to from November first next year to close the pause to open the usage on March 31th. ...And I swear I haven't changed a word of this. But on the flip side can you imagine trying to translate anything into Chinese? © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

From monks in caves to binlang (or betel, Taiwain's second largest agricultural commodity) chewing grandpa's and skateboard stoked groms there are interesting locals and locales within betel-nut hucking distance at every turn. A travel story may seem a little mundane without rebel insurrections and life threatening injuries it's nice to know some places on the planet can offer fun surf in a safe, but very interesting, environment. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

"I expected Taiwan to be tropical with a few waves, the reality was piping rights, draining beachbreaks and point waves says Darren Eudaly. At least I got the tropical bit right. "The place is gorgeous. The people are really nice and the warm climate and tropical water are ridiculously good. The waves were pretty fast, not really any burgers, I was stoked on that, plus there were waves on every coast, east, south and west - we surfed somewhere different almost everyday." © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

"I found the cultural shift just plain weird - people burning pots of money, the fake paper money they offer to the gods, I really didn't expect that, but it was cool to see. Similar I thought to the offerings the Balinese make every morning. "In Taiwan burning incense, praying to the gods and burning money is their way of linking themselves to that higher power. A bit of a culture shock, you definitely won't find me burning any money in front of my house." Then again, with the way the American dollar is plummeting in value, he won't have to. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

Wingnut's take on Taiwan well was, "The East Coast has some amazing surf setups... cobblestone points and rivermouths offering endless varieties of surf plus the warm water makes it all good!" © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

Among the rice paddies and fish farms hugging the coast are small towns and communities with the people doing what most small towns all over Asia seem to do; either working flat out at 110 miles an hour; delivering things, collecting scrap metal, working in the paddies knee deep in mud or inversely, kicking back in the shade and doing sweet FA. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

There's no sexism when it comes to rural work, the load is spread pretty evenly. Another thing both sexes have in common is beetlenut chewing. You can be young and zipping through town on a scooter at warp speed, an oldie being overtaken by a cripple snail while in a motorized wheelchair, or someone tilling a field - at some point during the day it's highly likely for any of these folks that a beetlenut or ten (aka Binlang) will be masticated to within an inch of it's bright red, fibrous life. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

As surfers most of us live to surf and to some degree at least if you scratch the salt encrusted skin of a surfer - even one in a suit - the stoke is there. If you love to explore the world, Taiwan is indeed a tantalizing option. © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com

As I'm pretty biased I think the last words are best left to Worldprosurfers.com editor Jimmy O'Keefe... "I spent a month in Taiwan and it didn't get under 4'. Every morning was Groundhog Day. Please Lord, not again, not another day of surfing a different un-crowded point, reef or beachbreak. Not another day of eating sashimi fresh off a fishing boat for $4.00 a plate, not another freakin' day of sitting under palm trees - in hysterics at how bizarrely incredible this place is, not another day of meeting the friendliest locals this side of Fiji. I am still traumatized by the experience. I thoroughly recommend you don't go, you'll never be able to adjust to the misery of Western life ever again." © 2013 Moonwalkerphotos/SurfTaiwan.com