Two Days in Kenting, Taiwan: What to Do & Eat
While in Taiwan, we went for a weekend trip to Kenting, which is located all the way in the south. We've heard about the regions beautiful nature and pristine beaches, and since we missed going to the beach, we decided to see what the fuss was all about. So we hopped onto a shuttle taxi and in two hours we arrived in Kenting.
Here are some tips from our side about what to do, see and eat while in Kenting.
Things to do
Chill on the beach
Our main objective while in Kenting was to simply chill on the beach, because chilling is what we love to do the most during the weekend! Kenting has some beautiful beaches and we went to both the Kenting Beach and the beach that was close to the Sail Rock (unfortunately, we don't know the name of the beach). We loved the beach near the Sail Rock; it was clear and calm and the water was a perfect temperature.
Visit the Eluanbi Lighthouse
The Eluanbi Lighthouse is located about 15 minutes driving from Kenting Main Street. The parking fee for a scooter is 10 TND (ca €0.30) and the entrance fee to the Lighthouse park is 60 TND (€1.70). A short hike up the hill and you can find the Lighthouse. From there, you can walk around the park, which is actually really beautiful, and you also have a lovely eautiful view over the west side of Kenting.
Go on a Hike in the National Park
The whole area of Kenting is a National Park, and if you are into hiking, then this is a great spot. Rent a scooter to go to the Kenting National Forest and from there you can hike in all possible directions. As we are not really hiking people we didn't go, but the nature looked very beautiful. If it weren't so hot, we would've definitely gone on a hike!
Rent an electric scooter and drive around Kenting
The best way to get around Kenting and visit all the sights is to rent an electric scooter. You can find one literally everywhere on the main street of Kenting. We rented one for half a day and it cost 500 TND (around €14), including helmets.The roads are usually very quiet and you can find some beautiful hidden gems like this protected beach in the picture above.
Watersports
If you like jet skiing or riding the banana boat, then Kenting is the place to be! Especially at the South Bay Recreation Area you can find plenty of water sports providers
Watch the sunset on the beach
We've watched the sunset from the Kenting beach, and it was truly magnificent! Along with a quick dip in the calm and shallow water, it's the perfect and romantic evening before getting some good food.
Things to eat
Seafood at 巷子內海鮮熱炒 (sorry there is no English name!)
We found this place via Tripadvisor, but the location that is shown on the app is wrong, it's actually here. It's a local place and they serve great seafood at reasonable prices. We had sashimi (which was soooo gooood!), clams and prawns, and some rice on the side.
Mexican at Smokey Joe's
On our first evening in Kenting, we didn't really feel like researching a place for food, so we just went to this chain restaurant called Smokey Joe's. We had the Chicken Fajitas, and we were pretty surprised by the quality of this dish! Maybe it was because we hadn't had Mexican food for a while and we were craving some, but it was pretty good!
Street Food at Kenting Night Market
The night market on the main street of Kenting starts at around 5PM, and you can find loads of different snacks and food here. We loved roaming around and trying different delicacies such as Teppanyaki beef, fresh grilled squid, stuffed baked potato, sweet potato balls, crispy crepes and even mochi's! And it's all so cheap, so eat your heart out.
Where to stay
All around Kenting Main Street there are little B&B's that all offer accommodation. There aren't really any big, luxury hotels around, though we have seen one or two bigger sized hotels just outside of the main street. Apparently, you can just roam around once you arrive in Kenting, find a nice looking B&B and ask if they have any rooms available for the night, so you don't have to book in advance. We stayed at Inn Kenting the Sky tree, which was clean and comfy, but the service wasn't that good and the breakfast was quite disappointing. It was around 1200 NTD per night and close to the beach.
Travel Insurance
Don’t forget to get travel insurance when you’re traveling! I always use Safety Wing as I think it’s the easiest and also the best value for money.
You can get your Safety Wing insurance via this link (I’m receiving a small percentage for every sale via this link, however, the price you pay stays the same, so it doesn’t cost you any extra! Like this I can continue writing the blog:)
How to get there
At first, we weren't really sure how to get to Kenting, as some people told us to go by bus and others to take a shared taxi. We finally decided to take a shared taxi. You can find these at the Kaohsiung Railway Station. As soon as we got out of the metro stop, someone approached us and asked 'Kenting?'. It cost 350 NTD (around €10) per person, and because the driver couldn't find any other people to join us, we had the taxi all to ourselves.
Everything went smooth, and he took us straight to the hotel. To get back to Kaohsiung, we first thought that we had to go by bus, as we had no idea where to find the shared taxis. Luckily, as soon as we got out, someone came and asked us if we needed to go to Kaohsiung. It was the same price as the shared taxi, so we gave it a go. The lesson here is: If you want to go back to Kaohsiung from Kenting, just walk along the main street with a lost expression and someone will come up to you and ask if you need to go to Kaohsiung ;)
