Ending 2018 with a Splash: Return to XLC

It was very last minute, but for the four day New Years weekend, I thought we ought to go somewhere
and enjoy a change of scene. I wanted to stay in Taiwan and save funds for a Lunar New Year trip
(also last minute) later in January. I'm usually securing accommodation/travel details months in advance, so it was no surprise to me that train seats were all booked.

I decided on returning to XLC, "Little Okinawa" which is a small coral island off of Kaoshiung on the
opposite end of the island. The first and only time we went, my daughter was four. When I say "we"
I mean my friend, former coworker, also from Denver. She was my daughter's kindergarten teacher.
It was an opportunity to reconnect and make some new memories.

We took a bus from Yilan to Taipei, then a bus to Taichung, where we stayed the night at my friend's
house. Since our moving to Yilan, she has opened a successful buxibam in Taichung which was impressive.

The next day we took a train to Kaohsiung and then we took an hour taxi to Dongang harbor.
There are two ferry companies that I found and I bought our tickets online a week before.

Ferry to Dong Gang Online Booking  (08) 832-5806, (08) 833-8722 fax: (08) 833-2413   

As for hotels, the whole island was sold out. Having three adults worked out as we could get a "family room "(4 queen beds) but even then I had three places to chose from and chose the cheapest. The room was fine, the location was away from the harbor but in walking distance of places to eat. They had scooters waiting for us at the ferry dock.
Family Room Price

Explore XLQ island

We pretty much took two days to hit all of these in an anticlockwise order: Vase Rock, Beauty Cave.
Seaview Pavilion, Duozaiping, Sanfu Eco Park Trail, Gebanwan (beach), Black Dwarf Cave,
Sunset Galley, SE part of island: Mouse Rock, Lighthouses, NE: Lobster Cave, ChungAu Beach,

Middle of Island: Wetland Park,山豬溝 Shanzhuguo Forest Trail, Secret Beach

The Black Dwark Cave disappointing, We stood in line for over twenty minutes and crawling
through the tiny unimpressive cave took just a few moments. I think the obese Russain gentleman in
front of us got stuck and that's why it took him so long. There ought to be some warning sign as it is a
tight squeeze in some sections.

Turtle we saw whilesnorkeling

I was planning on going scuba diving, and was in contact with one of the diving shops but the weather
was cool and I was lazy and didn't want to be cold. We went snorkeling instead via my hostel's contact.
Snorkeling with a Taiwanese company is in itself an experience. Our guy yelled at me for swimming on
my own for a closer look at a friendly turtle, as we were required to hold onto a floaty.

We went snorkeling years before in Kenting with my Taiwanese friend (and my kid's swimming teacher)
and her daughter in Kenting, and of course it was very carefree and leisurely snorkeling. I guess its a
liability for the companies, but when we returned it took them less than my shower time to have burned
me a CD with photos.

Turtles in the shallow harbor

New Year's Eve, the only thing my daughter wanted to do was fish. The owner of a fishing gear shop, was of course out fishing, and when he finally returned, we went to the most southern harbor right before sunset.

To our surprise, there were 5 large turtles just hanging out in the shallow thigh-high water. It was tempting not to jump in with them there. Obviously, my kid didn't throw her line in those particular waters. Hooking a turtle, and a protected turtle would be a horrid way to end 2018.

My friend's partner is quite the fisherwoman herself, and helped my kid many times with her line, with no luck. However, it was more fun trying, as well as a quiet, relaxing medium to ring in the new year.

Resources:

Diving /Snorkeling

小琉球綠蠵龜潛水住宿 LiouCiou Green Sea Turtle Diving Camp; Hostels

Accommodation: Home Sweet Beach Hotel TWD 9,720 including breakfast vouchers for 2 nights