Trip Report - Taiwan Green Island Hammerheads

[glee719]

Hi Thom, I know this is an old post but I was wondering if any dives in Taiwan are catered to photographers? I am fairly comfortable in water and can maintain boyancy well without gear so far, but once I get bunch of equipment in my hand I start to lose track so I would like to learn the basics from a pro. Thanks.

p.s. visiting Taiwan for 2 weeks late May and I am still debating where to go.

 

[ambertiger]

Hi Thom, I know this is an old post but I was wondering if any dives in Taiwan are catered to photographers? I am fairly comfortable in water and can maintain boyancy well without gear so far, but once I get bunch of equipment in my hand I start to lose track so I would like to learn the basics from a pro. Thanks.

p.s. visiting Taiwan for 2 weeks late May and I am still debating where to go.

Hi,
There are hundreds of very keen divers who are photographers in Taiwan so yes, all dive operations cater to photographers. If you are arriving in Taiwan in late May you are arriving too late to see the hammerheads as they only appear in Taiwan in Winter, late December to early March. However there is lots of shallow water shore diving down to 18m and plenty of boat dives where you can go well below 18m. Best places to dive in Taiwan are green Island, and Orchid Island off the east coast and Kenting in the south. There is also decent diving along the NE east coast line around the Long Dong Bay area. Hope this helps.

 

[glee719]

Thanks. Any recommended operators to go with in Green Island and Orchid Island? Thanks.

 

[ambertiger]

Not really, both places are very small. There are only 4 dive shops on Orchid Island and about 10 on Green Island. There is no public transport on either island so the first thing you have to do is rent a motor scooter for about NT$400 per day + gas. If you are going to Green Island, the first dive shop you get to is on the right, 200 meters past the gas station. (only one gas station on both islands) Turn left when you leave the harbour. You should note that not many people speak English on either Island. Green has more English speakers than Orchid so I would recommend just driving around and popping in to the dive shops and seeing if you can communicate with anyone inside. I am assuming of course that you don't speak Chinese. If you speak Chinese then no problem. All the dive shops charge more or less the same price for guided dives and equipment rental and tanks.

 

[ScubaMoMo]

What are the rough costs of diving at Orchid or Green Island? Also how was the Hammerhead trip this year in terms of sightings and how much does that one cost roughly (by PM if don't wanna disclose publicly).

 

[glee719]

I am Taiwanese! Thanks and it sounds like an adventure!

 

[ambertiger]

Hi if you are Taiwanese you should be able look at the various Chinese language websites that that the dive shops on Orchid and Green Islands manage and find out the current prices easily enough. You will also be able to book accommodation and a pick up from the harbour or airport (recommended) as summer is high season. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you will not be able to dive on the hammerheads they are only there in winter.

 

[glee719]

Yes I did call couple resort/dive shops I found on Google for Green Island, they seem friendly enough. I haven't quite figured out Orchid Island yet, do you think it's feasible to do it all in one trip? Also, I contacted the PADI training operator in Hsinchu city wanting to see if I can get Divemaster cert in the two weeks I am there. Thanks for your help.

 

[ambertiger]

Hi It depends on how much time you have and how you plan to travel, fly or take the ferry. There are plenty of dive sites on both islands. The two islands are a long way apart, time wise, if you are taking the ferry. I would advise against taking a 2 week PADI DM course. With these types of courses you will become a DM in name only not skills, so basically you are spending a lot of money for nothing. If I were you I would just go to the islands and have fun diving.

 

[glee719]

I want to report back to this informative thread. I ended up spending close to 3 weeks in Taiwan sticking to Taiwan Dive Center, 4 days in Green Island and the rest in Kenting. Green Island was great for me because the visibility was very nice and there were a lot of things to see down there. Back in Kenting I stayed at TDC's facility which has clean beds and friendly staff. I did many more shore dives there in both good and bad conditions. Right before I left there were heavy rains and the visibility was down to <2m, but I was still happily practicing navigation and assisting some brave OW students and Discover Scuba tourists.

Needless to say, I am a DM now. I'd definitely recommend Taiwan for diving if you can stay longer durations, because transportation to these sites are not that straight forward.