Little Liu Chiu Island (小琉球) is South-West of Kaohsiung in the Taiwan straits. The very small island is easily reached by passenger ferry from Dong-Gang (東港 - East Harbor) . See Google Map.
Freeway 3 is the easiest way to get down there. Just drive to the end and turn right. Turn left just before the big red bridge and park in one of the lots there next to the boats. We arrived just in time from central Taiwan and caught the boat at 12:35 on the Saturday after Christmas. Our friends Andrew and Sarah were there waiting for us, saying "Come on! We're going to miss the boat!" ... So, we got on the crowded little ferry boat and made the quick 25 minute trip to the island. Our helpful hotel manager met us at the dock with a sign and the keys to 3 scooters. She led us up the narrow winding streets to the hotel just near the harbor.
Life is slower on Liu Chiu and almost nobody wears a motorcycle helmet.
The harbor was completely full of fishing boats crewed by Indonesians, Filipinos and Taiwanese.
We took a wonderful trip on the under-sea boat.
An urn for burning incense near the best beach on the east side of Liu Chiu.
A hermit crab crawling out of his shell.
Liu Chiu Island is completely made out of coral. There are all kinds of interesting coral.
The view from the "Black Ghost Cave" temple.
Sunset on Little Liu Chiu island as seen from the Black Ghost Cave temple.
A beach completely made of busted up coral.
The Famous "Liu Chiu Rock" . "Held Up" by a beautiful model.All in all, we only spent about 26 hours on Little Liu Chiu Island It was totally worth it. We barely made the ferry back with seconds to spare and again it was totally full on a Sunday. Thanks to Andrew and Sarah for the great idea. We are already planning our next trip to this pretty little island for some more beach combing on the coral sands.
