Kinmen Oucuo Beach 歐厝沙灘

8/16/2023

Oucuo Beach is perhaps the nicest beach in Kinmen. It features a long flat white sand beach and beautiful views of the Taiwan Strait. Also, there is also an abandoned army tank stuck in the sand there that is popular for visitors if you can find it.

Background:
Oucuo Beach is named after the nearby Oucuo Village, the traditional settlement of the Ouyang
(歐陽) family, who started the settlement during the Ming Dynasty around 400 years ago. The area around the village has been a coastal defense station since the Ming dynasty all the way into the Chinese Civil War.
One main attraction on the beach is the abandoned M18 army tank sitting in the sand on the south side. The US based M18 Hellcat tank was sold to the ROC after production stopped in 1944, and served a crucial role in holding back the communists during the Chinese Civil War.
I'm not sure why this tank was abandoned on the beach; maybe this is a military secret. But it has soon become an Instagrammer's paradise and a top attraction in Kinmen.

Hours: 24/7

Showers:
Only foot wash (free), no showers.
There are bathrooms next to the foot wash. See below for photos.

Tours:
There are many tours and activities available on the islands, such as fishing, clamming, traditional Chinese Costume Experience, Water Gun Shooting, Night Otter Spotting, SUPing / Paddle Boarding, Intertidal Eco Tour, Handmade Metalworking DIY, and many others. For more information, look at other tour/ferry sites or book a personalized tour with Klook here or KKday here.

Hotels:
We stayed at and can recommend Sihai Hostel, which is a quality hostel with spacious and clean rooms. They also arranged transport to and from the hostel for free. You can book Sihai Hostel on Agoda here, Klook here, or Trip.com here.
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation on the islands.
You can also find out more about where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide here.
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy 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.

How to get there:
By scooter/car: Take Jinshan Road south of Kincheng until you reach Oucuo Village. The beach can be reached via a narrow concrete road going south behind the village. You can book a scooter rental for Kinmen Island on Klook here or on KKday here. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here.
You can rent a car for Kinmen on KKday here or charter a car on Klook here. You can also check out our car rental guide here.
Shuttle Bus: You can book a discount tourist shuttle bus pass on KKday here.
Bicycle Rental: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan's landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here.

Map: Please see below:

Our Journey:

One of the first places I wanted to go to in Kinmen was Oucuo Beach. Not only because it is the best beach in Kinmen, but because of the abandoned tank in the sand that I could put on my Instagram.

"The Oucuo Coastal Scenic Road"
"In 2004, the Kinmen National Park built this Oucuo Coastal Scenic Road. In an effort to promote the eco-tourism in Kinmen. By using the bike, you can easily enjoy the natural scenes of Kinmen. The distance between the Oucuo Village and the Jhushan Landfill is about 2.4 km. With this road, you will pass through the coast, woodland, grassland, Tungsha Creek, and Jhushan Shooting Range. The Oucuo Scenic Coastal Road is a new way for you to touch the nature beauty of Kinmen."

Okay, yes if you take the back road "Coastal Scenic Road" you will come right into a shooting range. I had to stop and wait for the soldiers to let me cross the road for like 5 minutes as they cleared the area.

The foot wash in front of the beach. This makes a trip to the beach a lot nicer; you don't have to wait until you get back to your hotel room to wash off the sand.

Another foot wash closer to the beach. These foot washes are all free.

Bathrooms near the entrance, but with no showers.

South side of Oucuo Beach.

The beach here is so flat, the waves carry on forever!

The beach gets a little dirtier further north.

Sea shells being carved out by the wind.

More sea shells in the sand.

I looked everywhere for the tank. From the foot wash, walk to the right or south and you will find it next to the first rocks that come out of the beach. It should be visible most of the time except for during really high tide. It's like a 1 km or 10 minute walk from the foot wash.

Back side of the M18 Hellcat.

Another angle.

Iron pickets are still set up in the background. There are also lots of sand balls from crabs I think.

Barnacle infested main cannon.

Inside the cannon.

Rusted and barnacle covered turret.

Rusted and unrecognizable parts.

What appears to be a lever and some pipes.

View toward the ocean.

I had the whole tank to myself for about 5 minutes before some more IGers came. I let them do their thing in peace.

For more Blogs on Oucuo beach in Chinese you can click here, here, here, and here.

There are many tours and activities available on Kinmen, such as SUPing / Paddle Boarding, Intertidal Eco Tour, fishing, clamming, Night Otter Spotting, Handmade Metalworking DIY, and many others. For more information, look at other tour/ferry sites or book a personalized tour with Klook here or KKday here.

For more of Taiwan's outer Islands, check out our ultimate guide to Kinmen here.

You can also check out our full guide to all of Taiwan's outer islands here.

You can also check out our full travel guide to Taiwan here.