Houbihu Beach 後壁湖沙灘

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Houbihu Beach (aka Zhongzhou Beach or Daguang Beach) is a long coral beach between Houbihu Harbor and the No. 3 Nuclear plant in Taiwan. It features shallow water and great snorkeling. Also due to its location and lack of facilities there are usually not many people here. 

Background:
Houbihu beach was originally closed to the public until recently. Now that it has opened up, it has become a popular location for snorkeling, surfing, and using SUPs.
There are no bathrooms or showers at the beach.
​
Kenting was first settled by Chinese during the Qing Dynasty. The word Kenting comes from two words that mean cultivate (ken3 墾) and strong man (丁 ding1). During that time, a group of strong men (or Zhuang Ding 壯丁) came from Guangdong, who were basically Chinese pioneers of the area to cultivate the land, hence the area was named Kenting for them.
The area was considered to be made into a park during the Japanese occupation due to it being the only tropical location in the Japanese Empire, but was never officially created.
Kenting National Park was established in 1984 as the first national park in Taiwan after WWII.
Kenting became a major vacation spot, becoming a center for hostels and hotels for travelers. 
Kenting is considered by many to have the best beaches in Taiwan. This is because of its fine white sand and year-round warm temperatures and sunshine (it is in the tropical part of Taiwan after all). 

Hours: 24/7

Price: Free

When to go:
Summer! It's when the water is warmest and the sun is hottest. However there will be more people in summer, and there could be Typhoons. 
Spring and Fall are also good times to go, as there will be less visitors and cooler temperatures.
Winter is an okay time to go as well, it will be warmer than the rest of Taiwan and the water will still be warm enough to swim in. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: Take provincial highway 1 south to the bottom of Taiwan until it becomes provincial highway 26. After you pass Hengchun, take a right onto Longguang Road and keep left toward Houbihu Harbor. The beach is to the north of the fishing harbor. There is free parking on the side of the road. 
By Bus: Busses leave daily to Kenting from Zuoying HSR station, Kaohsiung Station, and Pingtung. Get off at the Hengchun Bus Station, and then take the 102 shuttle Bus to the Houbihu stop and walk about 15 minutes to the beach.
By Plane: There are direct shuttle busses to Kenting from Kaohsiung's Xiaogang (KHH) Airport. 

Map: Please see below:

Our Journey:

I have been to Houbihu Beach once and I did spend all day there. It was nice because of the lack of crowds and shallow water. However it was really windy and the sand is kind of rocky.

First view of the beach, notice the nuclear plant in the background.

View of the southern tip of Taiwan.

View looking directly south.

People on the beach with umbrellas.

View to the west toward Houbihu Harbor.

Hermit crabs on the beach.

Parts of the beach have very fine sand.

Other parts of the beach are just rocky coral that hurts your feet.

Another view of people playing on the beach.

View east of people playing on the beach.

Windmilles in the distance.

Another view looking south at the peninsula. 

Closeup on Dajianshishan.

Further down the beach the water is cleaner but the sand is more rocky.

Another view of the rocky sand.

But super clear water. 

Someone's garbage in the sand.

Patch of fine sand.

Clouds looming over the water.

Rain coming in from the ocean. We did get rained on for about 30 seconds.

Closer view of the rain clouds. 

​Check out more photos of the area in the photo gallery above.

We also saw an amazing sunset that day. See the photos below for a full view of what that sunset was like. 

Check out more photos of the area in the photo gallery above.

Xingshawan 星沙灣

Xingshawan is another beach nearby in Houbihu Harbor. It is really just a patch of sand inside the harbor.  You can check it out if you want.

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