I recently stumbled upon a really professionally made youtube channel called Music Life, which besides other stunning videos shot from above in Taiwan, has at least two videos about the place that our resource is all about – Kenting National Park. I will post a video itself at the end of the post. However, I am going to take still photos from the video to give some brief background on those places where exactly they are in Kenting.
Shadao beach 砂島沙灘 & Ecological Reserve
The video starts with the above calm sea with turquoise blue waters, which is a Shadao Beach, at the extreme south of Kenting in Eluanbi.
Below we see the same beach from the angle you usually see when you visit Sand Museum and Beach Viewing Deck – but since this place is a part of Shadao Ecological Reserve, you cannot walk there or swim. It is protected from entering by a fence.
Shadao beach 砂島沙灘 & Ecological Reserve
Next, we see Taiwan’s Southernmost Point – which is also part of the Eluanbi area and an interesting thing to note – even if years before it was connected to Eluanbi Park, where you could have some long walks and could see Eluanbi lighthouse, now you should separately drive and park near there and take a walk to there from another parking place.
Southernmost Point of Taiwan 臺灣最南點
The next author of the video moves us east to the Manzhou Township on one of the most famous beaches, Gangkou Beach. Gangkou Beach is located near Yucun Park not too far away from Jialeshui and is a famous spot for surfing in Taiwan.
Gangkou Beach 港口海灘
360 degree tour in Gangkou Beach at sunrise
If you fly from the Gangkou beach right back to the coast, you we see mouth of the Gangkou river flowing into sea:
Next, we are heading to Dawan Beach, which translates as Big Bay Beach, and it is massive, the sand is white and soft. Dawan Beach is sometimes also called Kenting Beach, but guess what – it is permanently closed for swimming at any time, such a sad thing in fact.
Dawan Beach, also called Kenting Beach is permanently closed for swimming now
However, there is a place where you can actually swim while in Dawan beach, and it is a private beach of Chateau Beach Resort – in next photo you can see this resort itself and the beach near it:
Chateau Beach Resort 夏都沙灘酒店海灘
360 degree beach walk promenade in Chateau Beach Resort virtual tour
Now creator jumps us back the northwest part of Kenting National Park and features fishing nets in Checheng Beach area:
Fish nets on Checheng bay area
Nex we are brought to an area which I really love as well, which is called Banana Bay – this is small, a bit rocky beach, but with very calm waters, almost like a natural pool, and what’s best – this is lesser known area and away from crowds, in Nanwan or Baishawan beaches. Banana Bay Beach is a part of Banana Bay Ecological Reserve.
Banana Bay 香蕉灣
Nevertheless, the video editor likes us to jump back and forth on the map, and we are rushing back to Checheng to see small Dajian mountain:
小尖山 Checheng Small Jian Mountain
Now, let’s go back to Manzhou township to explore the beauty of their pasture grass fields. I’ve already talked extensively about Manzhou grass in this article, so it is readily available here if you want to read more about it.
Pasture grass field in Manzhou 牧草農場
海口村 車城 Haikou village in Chencheng township
Jumping back to Manzhou again, we are brought to Jialeshui Scenic Area. If you look at the most right corner of the picture, you will see a parking area, and the famous beautiful rock formations are found just there.
佳樂水風景區 Jialeshui Scenic Garden Area
Take a look at my 360 degree virtual tour in Jialeshui Scenic Garden as well:
While still in Manzhou, let’s jump to Gangzai village, and see a place called Gangzai (Gangzhi) desert:
Gangzhi (Gangzai) Desert 港仔大沙漠
Jiupeng Desert 九棚大沙漠
Above we can see one more nearby desert, in this case in the culturally rich Jiupeng village.
At this place we end the commentary, and Part 1 ends here, while you can enjoy whole video here:
While we will be back with more insightful commentary as above for the Part 2!