Taiwan Travel Blog
As we got near Gangkou Beach, I noticed all the surf shops and hostels. It’s a popular stop for backpackers, tourists, and surfers. If you keep traveling North of the beach you’ll get to Hualien (花蓮縣), the part of the island that the Taiwanese are most proud of. Backpackers will fly into Taipei and work down the island. Passing through Kenting before heading back north through Hualien.
Pulling into the parking spot, I noted all the surfers. Since the weather wasn’t great the waves were bigger. Which made today a popular day for surfing. I pulled the surfboard out of the back of the car and we made our way down to the beach.
I didn’t want to get in the way of the locals, so I found an empty spot on the beach near a part of the ocean that didn’t have a lot of surfers. I pulled out the beach towel I had bought and we set our things down.
I took the board and started to put the fins in. I was struggling with the first fin for five minutes when a local came over and told me I was putting it in facing the wrong way. “Great,” I thought, “the locals probably think I’m some dumb foreigner who came to Taiwan and bought a surfboard without knowing anything.” Which is true, but I don’t want other people knowing that.
To make matters worse I couldn’t get the other fins in as well. Apparently, I needed a screwdriver to loosen the screw so I could slide the fins in. The locals couldn’t help me because one of the screws was jammed and we needed something sharp to loosen it up.
I asked if I could surf with only the main fin in and they said I could but the side fins make it easier to stabilize the board. Taking my chances I went out into the water with my board.