Taiwan diving

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chilipeppah

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I'm planning on being in Taiwan mid-March. Any tips on dive locations. travel there from Tapei and dive operators? Is the diving worth it or should I go hiking instead:).
 
Green Island Diving is really nice (Luu Dao) - off the coast of Taitung (Taidong) be prepared for cold water and potentially heavy swells on the ferry back and forth.
March is off season so some of the dive shops would probably be closed, you'd have to look around. It's a pretty small place. You can rent a scooter and ride around the island until you find the dive shop that you like.
It's a really nice place to hang out and relax in the off season, even if you don't do a lot of diving. The hot springs are really nice too.
 
I'm planning on being in Taiwan mid-March. Any tips on dive locations. travel there from Tapei and dive operators? Is the diving worth it or should I go hiking instead:).

Chilipeppah,

I wouldn't say the diving in Taiwan is fantastic, but it depends what you are comparing it with. There is clean water, good viz, plenty of marine life (albeit it is overfished) and for sure some dives you'd enjoy. Best bet in March would have to be Kenting area (the bottom of the island) where there will be dive shops open. If you need a guide when heading there, drop me a line though here and I'll put you in contact with a couple of expats who work as instructors down there.

As for the hiking, well for sure it is worth it, great mountains, great scenery well worth bringing the hiking boots.

Cheers
 
Is the diving worth it or should I go hiking instead:).

Yeah, the diving's worth it. As mentioned, it's not fantastic compared to some places in the world, but it's good enough to have a lot of fun.

The best diving I've done yet in Taiwan is off Green Island. You can read my trip report here (in the General Asia forum not the Greater China forum): http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/general-asia/314792-taiwan-green-island-trip-report.html

I dive Kenting at least one weekend a month because it's closer and more convenient than Green Island. Sure it's overfished, but that doesn't mean it's fishless; there's still plenty to see. And the invertebrate life is actually pretty good at some sites. Some Kenting dive sites are, of course, better than others.

Orchid Island is another option but I prefer Green Island.

I haven't dived Xiao Liu Chiu yet, but apart from having more turtles it's said to be about the same quality as Kenting.

Chillipeppah, can you (or someone you're with) speak Chinese? If so, I'd say you should definitely do Green Island in March. If not, you could give it a try but it would certainly be more difficult. If you google " 'CF Diving' Taiwan" you'll probably find a phone number for CF Diving (I don't know their Chinese name) which is good dive center on Green Island, but I don't think they speak any English there. The two native English-speaking dive instructors/tour organizers who would be your best bet don't have plans to dive Green Island in March, but one or both of them could probably take care of your needs in Kenting some weekend, or if they're both busy then maybe they could put you in touch with someone else who can help you out. They're at www.shellbackdiver.com and www.taiwandive.com - Kenting - Green Island - Orchid Island - XiaoLiuChiu , respectively. I recommend both of them.

To get to Kenting, take the high speed rail from Taipei to Kaohsiung, then outside the station look for (or wait to be approached by) the taxi drivers who are trying to gather 3 or 4 people to share a taxi to Kenting. Or there are buses (slower than taxis) near the slow train station in Kaohsiung.
 
Thanks for all this valuable advice! No I don't speak Chinese....if I end up underwater will report back with an update.
 
If you don't speak Chinese, you really need to hook up with a guide. I have added a few dives on the end of business trips with Greg at Shellback Diver and it was very good, but if I had tried on my own I don't think I would have been able to pull it off at all. The cost is very reasonable with him (and I assume www.taiwandive.com - Kenting - Green Island - Orchid Island - XiaoLiuChiu also, but have not used them). There simply is not the tourist/diving infrastructure you see at normal resorts and you need to plan for this.
 
OK, so I just signed up for photobucket.com and tried to post some Kenting diving photos here ... but instead of pictures, all I got was a bunch of stuff like:

<a href="http://s764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/blah blah blah"></a>

I'm a bit of a Luddite and I'm not really ready for the high-tech 21st century.

So can you walk me through it a step at a time? If you can, I'll show you some great photos.
 
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To the op: If interested I am running a trip to Green Island Apr3-5.

Also the diving at Green Island during the month of March should be fantastic. Water temps should be in the 26-27C range and the north winds will be dying down at that time. All the dive shops will be open as well....in fact they are open at least every weekend.

When at Green Island I use "CF diving". If you cant speak English then I suggest Blue Safari Diving (google it), a small outfit with some English speaking staff. Naturally since some of their market is foreigners the price is higher.

Good luck...
 
OK, so I just signed up for photobucket.com and tried to post some Kenting diving photos here ... but instead of pictures, all I got was a bunch of stuff like:

<a href="http://s764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/blah blah blah"></a>

I'm a bit of a Luddite and I'm not really ready for the high-tech 21st century.

So can you walk me through it a step at a time? If you can, I'll show you some great photos.

---

Makhno, on the automatic email notification of your post from scubaboard, there were links direct to your photos, thus copy the complete link into your post and it will work fine ?

http://s764.photobucket.com/albums/xx288/guttersnipephotos/

Good photos and excellent clarity, keep adding them to photobucket. I'm pondering where to put my photos on the net, as I had 4 days out on the barrier reef last month and have one or two pretty decent shots ~ albeit the highlight of my dives was a 4m wide Manta swimming durectly over my head and so close I couldn't get it in the viewfinder !
 
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