This is a long overdue post but focuses on the short 3 days 2 nights my friend and i spent in Kenting during our Taiwan trip in April this year, 2013.
us at the iconic Erluanbi Park


Taiwanese often describe Kenting as 'paradise on earth', where the sky is an impossible blue, and where everything and anything is possible, but now that I've been there I can only say it's massively overrated. Might be because I went during the crazy Spring scream weekend, meaning only just about 876561234568987654345678 people were there the same time (i exaggerate i know), making lodging and transport a headache...
one way crowd on each side walking along the night market in kenting street. 
Don't even think about trying to walk in the opposite direction...

Also I guess I'm not really a 'party' kind of person? And if you're not I reckon it's one of the worst times to go to Kenting. Might be better on an average non-holiday weekday.
Anyway, a more detailed review with photos below:

How to go: Take TRA to Fangliao train station. Exit the station heading towards the north, turn left and you will find a small booth area that sells tickets to Kenting. Purchase tickets for the Pingtung bus 9189 or 9188 towards Kenting main street/Erluanbi Park, take 9188 if possible as the journey is shorter. You need to cross the road to the opposite side bus stop to take the bus towards Kenting.

we travelled from Hualien via TRA and ate the TRA bento/lunch box sold on the train. it's a rather long ride (~4hrs) so it's highly advisable to prepare food or purchase food from the train.



Review: Kenting is a beautiful place. The sky is a shade of limitless blue, the sand is white and clean, and the beach goes for miles and miles and miles. Plus there are loads of Greek-style white and blue theme bed and breakfast minsu for you to take your pick- we stayed in Bethlehem Kenting, which had lovely decor but less-than-satisfactory service. I'll elaborate about this later.

A word of caution, if you are coming during the weekend or public holiday, please book your lodging in advance because the place will be packed. Also, the public transport in Kenting is HORRIBLE. For those who can't drive/don't want to drive, you can choose between taking the once-an-hour pingtung bus that services the spots within Kenting, or the absurdly expensive taxis that don't go by meter. If you drive however, you are in luck! This place is full of cheap motorbike/bicycle rental stores.

Bus stop at Erluanbi: all bus stops in Kenting have this board by the side

On the first date, we visited the lovely Erluanbi Park, which is the last stop on the Pingtung bus service. Admission was free during the Spring scream music festival period, however the concert grounds were strictly off limits so we missed out certain parts of the park. Some photos below:



The iconic tower is just a short walk from the entrance, and unsurprisingly very crowded. We continued to walk along one of the smaller paths towards the shore and it led us to a lovely broadwalk just by the sea:


The photo above is NOT photoshopped. The sunset really was that lovely- the broadwalk being close to the sea, is also a really great place to sit and chill or have a picnic while watching the sunset, enjoying the seabreeze on your temples. 




After sunset we visited Kenting Main street, where all the cheap eats were. There were some interesting eats like rice-stuffed chicken drumstick or chicken wing but I was so frustrated by the crowds I couldn't be bothered to take any photos. 

making instruments out of recycled materials


Following that we went back to the hotel to have an early night's rest as we were going to set off to Kenting National Park and Hengchun Airport for the Spring Wave concert the next day. For those who are party animals, the night is young- Kenting is full of clubs and pubs and during the Spring scream period there are loads of activities and events like midnight foam parties for you to party the night away. 

Hotel Review: Bethlehem Kenting is a rather pricey BNB near Shifanchuan bus stop that has lovely decor but staff that couldn't be bothered to be helpful. Stay a night to take photos and enjoy the greece-style decor, it's more than enough. I definitely won't be back. Disappointing breakfast (both in terms of quality and spread) is included in the room rate but I'd recommend you to sleep in and skip it unless you're on a budget like us. 
reception area

entrance to rooms at the backyard 


wall at night

sitting area outside the dining room

inside the simple room

bathtub and washing area

The facilities in the room are quite dated and fairly average. Air-conditioner was making noise the whole night and my friend feared it might just explore or drop onto our bed and crush us. Luckily evidently it did not. 

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and spend the morning at Kenting National Park. The park is a little offbeat gem if you love nature and/or want to get away from the stifling crowds. There are various trails available for your pick depending on how long you want to spend in there but I'd say put aside at least half a day to explore it properly. There is a small garden that houses various varieties of plants and flowers, a few look out points for you to oversee the entire Kenting and different varieties of plant species, flora and fauna to look at. 





Following this we made a short trip to Kenting Main street to collect out Spring Wave concert tickets (yay!) and took the bus to Hengchun to check in and prepare for the concert in the evening. 
More details on the concert and Hengchun in the next post, to be up shortly :)