Taiwan Itinerary Day 3: Diving in Green Island
Today, we are diving in Green Island! Well-known for its pristine waters, diving in Green Island is a thing that tourists must do when visiting the little island.
Travel HANter
12 Sep 17
Taiwan Itinerary Day 3: Diving in Green Island
Pre-Diving in Green Island
We woke up early morning and went to redeem our breakfast. We were given NT100 each to redeem at a nearby breakfast shop and we got some crepes and fried fritters (油条), together with two cups of drinks.
After which we changed into our wetsuit and Jiao Lian had asked his fellow diving friend along so that we each had one pro-diver with us, which was good as we were only novices in diving and it had been about 7 months since our last dive in Bali. Diving in Green Island costs NT2000 per pax, inclusive of return transfers and all equipment.
A short drive of about 15 mins and we had reached the dive site. It was a shore dive and the waves were splashy. I haven’t been diving a lot but each time I did, I always wondered why I wanna do this – walking into the sea or jumping off the boat always seems crazy to me. Jiao Lian and his friend were really seasoned divers and helped us walked into the sea. We then dived into the Pacific Ocean (or at least a part of it) and I remembered why I dive.
Diving in Green Island
Diving in Green Island was really as good as what I had read. The visibility of the sea was great and there were lots of fishes and marine lives.
Jiao Lian then took out some bread and passed them to us to feed the fishes. After which, he took a video of us swarmed by fishes. I didn’t quite like the idea of feeding the fishes ’cause SAY NO TO DISTURBING THE ECOSYSTEM!
We had one tank of oxygen and I think we dived for about 40 to 50 mins, looking at all of these:
The dive was kind of short but diving in Green Island is definitely the highlight of our trip!
Post-Diving in Green Island
We were then sent back to our Minsu to wash up. After washing up, we were ready to go for lunch and tour the island a bit more on our trusty scooter before our ferry back. IT RAINED. Thankfully, Feng Jie offered to drive us out for lunch and brought us to a local store that sells pork trotter rice. It was delicious!
After sending us back, Jiao Lian and Feng Jie kindly offered to show us around the island. They brought us to all the tourist attractions and told us how to ‘imagine’ what the rock formations looked like. They even drove us to places with the best view of the ocean where only the locals knew. Such nice people!
Finally, they sent us to the ferry terminal and we were ready to take the choppy ferry back to Taitung. Feng Jie also helped us arranged for a taxi pick up from the ferry terminal to Tai Tung Train station where we took a train to Hua Lien. The train journey was about two hours and cost NT343.
Before driving us to the train station, the driver also brought us to Chan Kee mochi, as per Feng Jie’s recommendation. The mochis were handmade and so soft and full of fillings! Each one costs NT18 to NT25.
Hualien
For day 3 for our Taiwan itinerary, we will be spending the night in Hualien. We stayed in Just Sleep Hualien Zhongzheng for two nights at S$120 per night.
We then booked a day tour to Taroko Gorge for the next day at S$40 and went to Hualien Tungtamen Night Market for our dinner!
“The three main market lanes are Futing Market (Taiwanese food), Aboriginal Street (native Aboriginal food), and a street representing the foods from all provinces of mainland China. In the center, there are restrooms, a plaza with a lookout tower, tourist information center, and other attractions. An ecology pond and lookout tower are located at the back in the E區 section next to Nanbin Road.
The Hualien Ziqiang Night Market moved from its old location, and is now located at the western end of Aboriginal Street between the D區 and E區 sections.” -image and information from guidetotaipei–
There weren’t many people at the night market. Tourism seemed to have really taken a hit on Taiwan. I have to say that the food in the night market was typical of any night market in Taiwan. Nice, but nothing extraordinary.
There were lots of game stalls and we tried our luck. I don’t think we can make a living out of playing games
HAN-dy tip: Some game stalls actually let you “win” a prize when you spend enough. So maybe ask if you can buy the prize if you really want a certain prize but lack the talent.
Day 3 of our Taiwan itinerary was really packed with activities. Phew.
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Also, check out
Taiwan Itinerary Day 4: Hualien Taroko Gorge
Taiwan Itinerary Day 2: Green Island
2 Comments
cook the beans
Really beautiful
travelhanter
Yes. It really is. Very clear water!😍