Surf Taiwan - Quick Facts
LOCATION: Asia, off the coast of China - North of the Phillipines
POPULATION: 23508428 (est. July 2017)
NATIONALITY: Taiwan (Taiwanese)
LANGUAGE: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects
CURRENCY: Taiwan New Dollar (TWD)

Taiwan, separated from China by the Taiwan Straight, was formerly known as Ilha Formosa. Ilha Formosa or 'Beautiful Island'. It's not hard to imagine why the Porguguese sailors came up with the name, it is a large tropical island with warm water and nice waves.

The capital is Taipai, home to Taipei 101 - formerly the tallest building in the world. The largest city is New Taipei.

Don't forget to add your spots to the Taiwan Surf Spot Map!

Taiwan may not be a 'mainstream' surfing destination but it's one that can be enormously enjoyable and rewarding for surfers. The warm water and the consistent chest to head high waves during the monsoon season ensure that there will be no lack of waves. The best time for a surf trip to Taiwan is any time from early November to Early March.

There are plenty of waves if you are prepared to look, a bit of research and an eye on the weather will be rewarded with uncrowded waves.

Surfing Taiwan - The Good
Powerful beachbreaks and pointbreaks
Affordable for travelling surfers
Warm water temperatures

Surf Taiwan - The Bad and the Ugly
No really world class waves
Watch out for the typhoons!

Taiwan is fast becoming a recognised surf destination on the world map. The World Surf League now holds a World Longboard Championship event — the Taiwan Open. See the image below for some action from the 2017 event.

Taiwan Surfing Conditions

Have you got any information on the Taiwan surf scene or information to help future visitors? Tell us how good or bad your surfing vacation was by posting your trip details on our surf travel forum.
The photo above was taken during the 2017 Taiwan Open World Longboarding Championship held at the pointbreak at Jinzun.

From April until November, the water can reach up to 30 Celsius so you will be fine with board shorts. Just make sure you bring enough sunblock and wax.

During the Winter season, the water stays above 20C but you might need a 2/2 or 3/2 wetsuit to protect yourself from cold air as the air temperature dips to 15C. The water is much warmer than the air during the Winter so it feels like you're in a heated swimming pool!

You can bring any kind of board you want to Taiwan. There are plenty of shops that rent out the boards near the surf spots. It cost between $16-26 to rent a board + wetsuit for the day. The further south you go, the more expensive it is. Do compare a few shops before you decide to rent out one as they have a huge variety of boards for rent.