Taimali Beach: look but don't swim

As you stop your vehicle and peer over the guardrail, you'll be wondering if you haven't somehow flashed back to an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Welcome to Taimali Beach – now slowly and carefully turn your vehicle around and find the entrance to the beach.

With its two-tone pastel blue waters lapping the shore in a film of white bubbly break, one might understandably pull off his shirt and wade into the waters here. But don't do it. Beneath its sexy blue aquatic surface lay dangerous undertows that will very quickly have you on your way south to Orchid Island or the Philippines.

If the hammerhead sharks don't get you, exhaustion will. So, the thing to do here is go in no deeper than your ankles, splash some Pacific on your face, wiggle your toes in the smooth stones (no sand, sorry) and just soak up the vibe.

Not many people make it down to Taimali Beach, and even if there are a few humans with the same ideas as yours, this beach, at 2-3 kilometers in length, is plenty big to afford you enough personal space for tranquility. If you are feeling so thoroughly mellowed out and entranced by this beach, several bed & breakfast accommodations have established themselves up in the hills backing the beach. With sunrises that are supposed to be the best in Formosa, finding accommodation on the mountain roads behind the beach is well-advised.

It may not be southern Thailand or the Caribbean, but if you pass through Taimali township on Highway 11 and look down over the guardrail at the blue Pacific licking this stretch of coastline, there is no way you won't flick on the turn signal, press down on the brakes, and start looking for a way down (there are plenty).

HOW TO GET THERE:

Head south on Highway 11 from Taitung City or Chihben Valley and look for the beautiful stretch of beach below the high bend on the road.

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