Typhoon Krathon was the first Typhoon to make landfall in western Taiwan in over 38 years. So far it has caused at least two deaths in Taiwan, injured hundreds, dumped over a meter of rain in the mountains of Taitung, and caused work and school to close for four days in some areas. In this blog, I will detail some of the major events and overall situation in Taiwan during the Typhoon, as well as my own experience during this typhoon and past typhoons in Taiwan.
Table of Contents

• Basic Summary of the Typhoon 台風凱米大概的狀況
• My Experience in Taipei 我在台北的經驗
• Impact Around Taiwan 台灣其他地區的影響
• Safety Precautions During a Typhoon 颱風天安全措施
• Conclusion 結論

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Basic Summary of the Typhoon 台風凱米大概的狀況Typhoon Krathon became the second super typhoon to hit Kaohsiung in 47 years, following Typhoon Selma in 1977. It is also the first recorded tropical cyclone to make landfall in Kaohsiung in October. Notably, this is the first moderate typhoon to make landfall on Taiwan’s west coast in 38 years, since Typhoon Wayne in 1986. However, due to its slow movement and the intake of too much dry air, the typhoon weakened from a strong typhoon to a moderate typhoon, and eventually to a mild typhoon.
Typhoon Krathon was the 18th storm of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season and began forming as a tropical depression on September 26th, strengthened to a Category-4 Super Typhoon, and finally made landfall in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on October 3rd, 2024. Its highest winds reached 240 km/h. When it made landfall in Xiaogand District of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, it was a category 1 Typhoon (winds between 74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h). As of the time of writing, the typhoon has caused over 2 fatalities in Taiwan and 400 injuries. A total of 176,506 households lost electricity. All domestic flights and hundreds of international flights in Taiwan were canceled for a time. Most mountain villages in Taiwan were evacuated. Flooding occurred in Kaohsiung, Keelung, and Taitung. As of the time of writing, Taimali District of Taitung received the most rain, with over 1500mm of rain (5 feet) over four days. Keelung also set a daily rain record of over 373 mm in one day.

Tropical Depression Igme, the number 19 tropical cyclone of the 2024 Pacific Typhoon Season, lasted for an especially long time and dumped rain onto Northern and Southern Taiwan, causing flooding in many places. In this blog, we will share some memories of this storm and its impact on Taiwan.
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Table of Contents

• Storm Formation and Path
• My Experience
• Rainfall Totals
• Radar Track and Rainfall Totals
• Meme
• Videos of the Storm and Flooding
• Safety Precautions During a Typhoon
• Conclusion

Storm Formation and PathTropical Depression Igme became a depression on September 20th and was upgraded to a tropical depression on September 21st. On September 22nd, it strengthened to a tropical storm.

See the full article here: https://taiwantravelblog.com/remembering-tropical-depression-19-17w-igme-2024/  

Typhoon Gaemi is the worst Typhoon to hit Taiwan in nearly a decade. It caused five deaths in Taiwan, dumped over a meter of rain in the mountains, and caused work and school to close for over three days in some areas. In this blog, I will detail some of the major events and overall…Read More

​Table of Contents

• Basic Summary of the Typhoon 台風凱米大概的狀況
• My Experience in Taipei 我在台北的經驗
• Impact Around Taiwan 台灣其他地區的影響
• Safety Precautions During a Typhoon 颱風天安全措施
• Conclusion 結論

Basic Summary of the Typhoon 台風凱米大概的狀況Typhoon Gaemi began forming as a tropical depression on July 22nd, strengthened to a super Typhoon, and finally made landfall in Taiwan on July 25th, 2024. Its highest winds reached 165 km/h, making it a category 4 Typhoon (very strong Typhoon or Super Typhoon). When it made landfall in Yilan, Taiwan, it was a category 3 Typhoon. As of the time of writing, the typhoon has caused over 27 fatalities and 502 injuries throughout the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and China, with five deaths in Taiwan. Most of these people were killed by falling objects, while one man was killed by a landslide (which is why you should stay indoors and out of the mountains during a typhoon). All domestic flights and hundreds of international flights in Taiwan were canceled. Most mountain villages in Taiwan were evacuated. Much of Taiwan was flooded along the Chianan Plain where over 500 mm of rain fell in a day. As of the time of writing, Maolin District of Kaohsiung received the most rain, with over 1900 mm of rain (6 feet) over three days.
In addition, agricultural losses totaled NT 1.8 billion.

With over 677 people killed in Taiwan, Typhoon Morakot (also known as the 88 Flood 八八水災) was the most deadly Typhoon ever to hit Taiwan in recorded history. It also broke records for the highest rainfall of any Typhoon in Taiwan’s history, a total of over 3 meters of rain (3060 mm in Alishan), with…Read More

Table of Contents

• Basic Summary of the Typhoon 莫拉克颱風大概的狀況
• Stories of People Who Lived Through It 人們經歷莫拉克颱風的經驗:
  • From X (Twitter):
  • From Facebook:
• Geological Changes 地理的改變
• Safety Precautions During a Typhoon 颱風天安全措施
• Conclusion 結論

Basic Summary of the Typhoon 莫拉克颱風大概的狀況Typhoon Morakot began forming as a tropical depression on August 2nd, 2009, then strengthened to a category 1 Typhoon, and finally made landfall in Taiwan on August 7th, 2009. Its highest winds reached 140 km/h. When it made landfall in central, Taiwan, it had weakened to a tropical storm. It then slowed down and dumped rain on Taiwan for about three days until it exited via the Taiwan Strait and made landfall in China on August 9th, 2009. Over 3 meters of rain (3060 mm) were recorded in Alishan during the three days that the Typhoon affected Taiwan, which is the highest rainfall of any Typhoon to hit Taiwan. Most of Southern Taiwan was flooded. Overall the Typhoon caused over 3 billion dollars in damage.

Kenting National Park is one of the most beautiful natural areas in Taiwan. Lying on the southern peninsula of Taiwan, it features natural scenery from beaches, coral reefs, waterfalls, grasslands, tropical forests, sand dunes, mountains, and more. Popular activities include hiking, cycling, swimming, snorkeling, surfing, and any other water sport you can think of. Also it has year round warm tropical temperatures and sunny weather, making it an ideal vacation destination.

We will no longer be updating this blog. This is mostly just a quick blog of our trip to Kenting after Typhoon Nepartak hit in 2016.
Check out our fully updated guide to Kenting here.

Background:
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 entrance into the park, however certain sections require an entrance fee:
Gueishan 龜山: 60 NT per person
Eluanbi Park 鵝鑾鼻公園: 60 NT per person
Maobitou Park 貓鼻頭公園: 30 NT per person
Kenting Forest Recreation Area 墾丁國家森林遊樂區: 150 NT per person
Jialeshui Scenic Area 佳樂水風景區: 100 NT per person
Kenting Youth Activity Center 墾丁青年活動中心: 50 NT per person
Sheding Park 社頂自然公園: Free
Longluan Lake 龍鑾潭: Free
South Bay Recreation Area 南灣遊憩區: Free
Little Bay 小灣海灘: 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 that keep going past Hengchun into Kenting National Park. Looking for scooter rental in Kenting? Click here or here to search for options. You can also check out our Taiwan scooter rental guide here. 
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search here. You can also check out our car rental guide here. 
By Bus: Busses leave daily to Kenting from Zuoying HSR station, Kaohsiung Station, and Pingtung. You can book tickets to Pingtung via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here, or book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here. You can book tickets to travel to Pingtung via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
By Plane: There are direct shuttle busses to Kenting from Kaohsing's Xiaogang (KHH) Airport. 
You can book cheap flights to Kinmen on Trip.com or CheapO Air. You can also search for cheap flights in Taiwan on Kiwi here. 

Accommodation:
I have stayed at many hostels and hotels in Kenting, and even almost bought a house here. Some places that I have stayed at and can recommend are Nanwan Kiki (book on Agoda here, Booking.com here), a B&B next to Nanwan Bay, Kenting's most popular Beach. There are also a few decent hotels near Kenting Street Night Market like Kenting Star Inn 888 (book on Agoda here, Klook here, Hotels.com here, Expedia here, or Booking.com here), or Kenting Dajianshan Hotel (book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here). You will notice that none of these hotels are five star resorts (I do not come to Kenting to waste my time at a resort, but you can still search Agoda, Booking.com, Hotels.com, or Expedia for those) but they are in my opinion the above have the best value for the money. 
Looking for a hotel? Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. 

Tours and Activities in Kenting:
There are many activities available such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, surfing, submarine riding, and river tracing. 
You can find more tours of Kenting on Klook here or KKday here. 

Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. 

​Map: Please see below: