Wind, Waves, and Wonder

We visit Dulan in Taitung’s Donghe Township, in the foothills of the Coastal Mountain Range on Taiwan’s eastern seaboard. To the landward side we can see beautiful green Mt. Dulan towering in the distance, while to seaward the vast Pacific Ocean offers wind and waves. Frenchman Nick Postec, who is in Taiwan for a three-month stay for the second year running, is enjoying himself immensely as he surfs or windsurfs every day in Dulan Bay.

Nick, who has been surfing every day during his long stay in Taiwan, says that no matter if the waves are big or small, what counts is not simply to refine one’s technique but also to make oneself better by enjoying the ocean.

Surfing, hot springs, hotpot

“It’s hard anywhere in the world to find a place that has both strong winds and big waves,” says Nick. He usually surfs in Biarritz or Hossegor, both of which have well-­developed surfing cultures, but in winter they are too cold. For him, Taiwan has great “consistency” in its waves from October to February, so he can expect to enjoy surfing every day, which is “very nice.”

Nick first came across Taiwan in 2022 while searching online for surfing venues. He found an appealing video posted by a surf shop in Dulan, and after doing his homework, he decided to come to Taiwan to surf.

Nick, who shipped two windsurfing boards and a surfboard from France to Taiwan by air, has high praise for the wind and waves in Taitung: “The waves in Dulan are very consistent, and they are very powerful without being dangerous, so it’s a good place for me to improve my technique.”

After getting out of bed each morning Nick starts his day by going to the 7-Eleven for a cup of coffee, after which he goes to check out the day’s waves. “If there are big waves, I surf. If the wind is strong, I windsurf.” He says with a smile: “Windsurfing is the cousin of surfing.”

He explains that surfing is an extreme sport that is physically exhausting. “The best recipe for recovering my strength is a soak in a hot spring plus hotpot, especially hotpot flavored with Chinese medicinal herbs, which is very healthy….” As Nick speaks, his expression reveals a deep sense of contentment, and he smiles happily. “If I didn’t have to work, I’d like to live in Taiwan all the time.”

Nick avers that surfing clears the mind and brings a sense of satisfaction, which helps you to enjoy your life in general. The most important thing is that he has met many friends in Taiwan who share his love of surfing. Having come to Taitung for a second three-month stay during the 2023 surfing season, he says, “In the future I want to come to Taiwan every year in the surfing ­season.”

WaGaLiGong Dulan Surf and SUP House & Bar holds the Taitung Wave Classic every year, drawing surfers from around the world to gather in Taiwan. (courtesy of Taitung Wave Classic)

The best memories are people

The friends Nick is talking about are Mark Jackson, one of the cofounders of WaGaLiGong Dulan Surf & SUP House and Bar, and Mark’s wife, Chen Yong-yi.

Mark, who came to Taiwan from South Africa 20 years ago to teach English, made the transition from long-stay visitor to permanent resident, and speaks in a mixture of Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. He reveals: “During my first five years in Taiwan, I met three close friends who you could say have been my life guides.”

Zhang Jieshi, who serves in the Air Force, taught him diving and spear fishing, and invites Mark to spend the Lunar New Year holiday with him every year. Jimmy Zeng, who works in a court of law, taught him to windsurf. And Kong Jiahao, an indigenous man, taught him paragliding. “I am like brothers with the three of them and have become a part of their families, which has enabled me to fully assimilate into local culture and caused me to fall in love with Taiwan and anchor myself in daily life here.”

Because Mark considers personal relationships so important, he periodically organizes barbeque parties and contacts new and old friends in hopes that all visitors who come to Dulan can feel a sense of belonging.

Mark Jackson and Chen Yong-yi hope that travelers who come to Dulan can safely enjoy all kinds of marine activities, including surfing and stand-up paddleboarding.

When you come to Dulan you can also experience the richness of Taitung’s art and indigenous cultures.

This three-hour surfing class puts top priority on safety. (courtesy of WaGaLiGong)

Surfing: An international language

WaGaLiGong opened in 2015, and each November it holds the small-scale “Taitung Windsurf Wave Classic” which attracts surfers from around the world. Mark turns up the volume of his hoarse voice as he says that what he finds most amazing is that having visited Taiwan once, people from Lithuania, Russia, the US, Italy and elsewhere will come back again after a few years, and everybody has become good friends.

For example, Taiga Matsumoto from Japan, who enjoys surfing and windsurfing, first came to Taiwan in 2016 and for the following seven years has come back every year for a one-month stay.

Taiga, whose friends all call him “Tiger,” shares his experiences in Taiwan on Facebook. For example, he talks about how in the mornings he eats xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) from 7-Eleven or Donghe steamed buns, never tiring of these despite eating them every day; about how much he loves Taiwan’s ginger duck hotpot; or about how that day’s waves were the best waves of the year.

Taitung’s rocky shoreline and northeasterly monsoon winds create clean, powerful waves that are ideal for surfing. (photo by Ho Cheng Heng, courtesy of WaGaLiGong)

The three-kilometer-long fine white sand beach and the azure sea at Jinzun on the Taitung coast make the area a surfing hotspot. (courtesy of Taitung County Government)

Since 2011 the Taitung County Government has been staging the Taiwan Open of Surfing, attracting expert surfers from around the globe. (courtesy of Taitung County Government)

Taitung: A world class surfing venue

Jinzun Harbor, 15 kilometers north of Dulan, is a gathering place for expert surfers. The Taitung County Government began sponsoring the “Taiwan Open of Surfing” there in 2010 and has worked with the Asian Surfing Championship and World Surf League to make the Taiwan Open an event on the international surfing tour. As a result, Taitung has become a world-famous surfing venue.

Jela Hung, chief of the county government’s Tourism and Recreation Section, points out that the Taitung coast offers waves from beginner to expert levels. Besides the appeal that the county’s warm winter waters have for surfers from Europe, North America, Japan, and Korea, professional surfers have judged Taitung to have “beautiful” wave shapes. The most important thing is that one wave after another is “clean” (intact and well formed), and that one rarely encounters choppy conditions or unsurfable “mushburger” waves that collapse into nothing but foam. With clean waves, surfers can practice a wide variety of moves and techniques.

Hung suggests that after spending many hours in the cold ocean water, surfers on long-stay visits to Taitung should not forget to head to Zhiben or Jinlun to soak in a hot spring. They should also be sure to try local indigenous cuisine including abai (leaf-wrapped dumplings), herbal tea, and thick rice noodles.

Jim Hayes stand-up paddleboarding in Hawaii as a young man. (courtesy of Jim Hayes)

Surfing is life

In addition to Taitung, there are different waves to be ridden at Wushi Harbor in Yilan, Jialeshui in Ping­tung, and Fengbin in Hualien.

The Hualien-based company Tropical Blends Sports LLC, which is well known in the surfing community, is operated by veteran surfer Jim Hayes, who comes from Hawaii. He began surfing when he was 12 years old and has taken part in the famous Moloka’i 2 O’ahu Paddleboard World Championships, a Hawaiian event in which participants must paddle for seven hours through tempestuous waves; he also once sailed a yacht from Hawaii to California. In 1978 he undertook three journeys with the world’s leading surfing organization, the World Surf League, to make films about tour events in world-famous surfing locations.

He began running a surfboard shop in Hawaii in 1978 and sold stand-up paddleboards around the world. However, six years ago Jim decided to go into semiretirement and relocate to Taiwan. But the reason had nothing to do with surfing.

In fact, Jim’s older brother began teaching English at National Taiwan Ocean University in Keelung 25 years ago, and after retiring he settled in Hualien. This brother invited Jim to come to Taiwan many times.

Jim, who took virtually no time off all year, discovered that Hawaii was becoming more and more crowded and the cost of living was becoming prohibitively high. “It was turning into a mini-Los Angeles, and was no longer the Honolulu of my youth,” he complains, inadvertently raising his voice.

He thought about Taiwan, where his elder brother lived. There are many people of Asian descent living in Hawaii, so Taiwan’s Asian atmosphere was very familiar and accessible to him. In addition, Taiwan has a very low crime rate. Hence he decided in 2018 to move permanently to Taiwan.

Jim Hayes has shipped numerous limited-edition surfboards to Taiwan from Hawaii by container. He says that for a surfer their board is like their girlfriend, or sometimes even closer.

Tropical Blends Sports hopes to serve as a hub to support local surfing communities.

It’s about being in the water

As a veteran surfer, Jim found that except for the days surrounding typhoons, waves in Taiwan paled in comparison with the big waves known as “pipelines” found at Hawaii’s Sunset Beach.

Since the waves are so small, why did he relocate to Taiwan? Jim explains: “I’m 70 years old, and my shoulders are not as strong as they used to be, but I can still do stand-up paddleboarding. I was in the heart of surfing in the world for more than 40 years, so I no longer need big waves. Now, it’s just about being in the water.”

“Taiwan has three things that every international surfing venue must have: warm water, happy faces, and good food.” Jim, who is skilled at designing surfboard fins, is especially optimistic about Taiwan as an “emerging market” for surfing. “I hope I can use the experience and expertise I have acquired over 50 years of surfing, whether in terms of technique, knowledge, or equipment, to help surfing groups in Hualien and other places,” he states.

He hopes to promote bodyboarding in Taiwan, because it is safer, the equipment is cheaper, and it is easier to learn. He has guest rooms above his shop where he can accommodate surfers from all over.

Jim is willing to spend his time interacting with other surfing aficionados.

Surfers visiting Hualien’s Fengbin Township can see incomparable mountain and ocean scenery. (photo by Luo Minfeng, courtesy of Hualien County Government)

It’s so nice here!

While we are interviewing Jim, Jan Luo, from Berlin, Germany, comes into the shop.

Jan is on his second long stay in Taiwan, this time staying four to five weeks. He says: “It’s so nice here! In Berlin over the last several years it has been constantly raining due to climate change and the winters are cold, so for me winter in Taiwan is really warm.” He has been to many places in Taiwan, but he likes Hualien the best. He says that Taiwan has excellent infrastructure for cycling, and besides surfing, he even bought a bicycle here.

Hualien County magistrate Hsu Chen-wei says that Hualien is one of the few places in the world where one can get to high mountains or the open ocean in ten minutes. Jiqi Beach in Changbin Township, Beibin Park in Hualien City, and the beach beyond the breakwater at the Port of Hualien are all surfing hotspots ringed by mountains. Besides riding the waves, Hualien also offers 20 mountain and coastal trails, as well as delicious local cuisine including organic rice, honey black tea, and indigenous peoples’ “slow food.” Travelers from around the globe can all find a frequency that resonates with them in Hualien.

Are you inspired by what you have read here? If you happen to be planning a long surfing vacation of one to three months, why not come to Taiwan to chase the waves and enjoy the rhythm of the warm ocean swells!