Things to do in Kenting
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kenting
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best all round window: monsoon easing, sea calming, low typhoon risk; April brings the Taiwan Music Festival crowds.
Warm sea, easing crowds and falling prices; monsoon wind builds on the east coast and October brings raptor migration.
Peak beach season inside typhoon season, hottest and priciest; storms can close beaches and the coast road.
Taiwan's warmest winter escape but luoshanfeng monsoon winds hit the east coast; quiet and cheap except Lunar New Year.
What's on
- Taiwan Music Festival early April, Qingming holiday weekend
County run successor to Spring Scream, the 1995 to 2019 festival that started Taiwan's indie festival scene; Kenting at its busiest.
Best things to do in Kenting
National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium
Taiwan's national aquarium: reef and ocean halls, belugas and penguins, and the best bad weather half day in Kenting.
Eluanbi Lighthouse
Historic lighthouse in a coastal park above two seas: lawns, banyans and paths, best early or late out of the heat.
Southernmost Point of Taiwan
Short walk to the marker at Taiwan's southern tip: open ocean on three sides, paired with Eluanbi in one loop.
Hengchun Old Town
Taiwan's best preserved town wall with four gates, plus local priced food in the peninsula's real working town.
Sail Rock
Roadside viewpoint for the sail shaped offshore rock: park, look and photograph, and stay off the sharp reef.
Where to stay in Kenting
Kenting Street and Xiaowan
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the night market, Xiaowan beach, scooter rental and shuttle stops, with the full range of resorts and hostels.
Kenting National Park interior
quiet splurge and couples
Green park grounds a few minutes above the strip, trading walkability for calm and design.
Nanwan
beach village stays
Guesthouses and cafes behind the main swimming beach, quieter than Kenting Street and on the shuttle line.
Hengchun Old Town
drivers, repeat visitors and budgets
A real walled town with cheaper beds and local food, about 15 minutes by road from the beaches, but no beach of its own.
Think twice about
- Kenting Beach at Dawan, for swimming
Beautiful beach fronting the main strip with a permanent swimming ban because of dangerous currents. Look and walk, swim at Xiaowan or Nanwan instead.
- Unguarded beaches outside lifeguard hours
Rip currents are the main killer on this coast and people have drowned at unguarded beaches near Baisha. Swim only inside lifeguard buoy lines.
Best restaurants in Kenting
Piccolo Polpo Bistro
The area's most ambitious cooking: an Italian leaning bistro on local seafood, and the special dinner pick.
Bossa Nova Cafe
Laid back owner run beach cafe across from Nanwan sand: the natural lunch and sunset stop of a beach day.
Cowboy's Beach Bar and Grill
Burgers, grills and cold beer at the Dawan end of the strip: the reliable group fallback dinner.
Qiu's Sashimi
Famous harbour sashimi stand: thick cut fresh platters at legend making prices, best as a post snorkel lunch.
Pizza Swell
Small friendly thin crust pizza shop at cheap eats prices: the vegetarian and kid friendly strip standby.
Kenting Night Market
Night market on Kenting Street itself: grilled seafood, fried chicken and cocktail trucks, packed from 7pm.
Outdoor things to do in Kenting
Nanwan Beach
Kenting's fullest beach: lifeguards, rentals, showers and surf, busy on weekends and shallow a long way out.
Baisha Beach
Kenting's prettiest bay, pale sand and few crowds, but steep and often red flagged: swim only inside the buoys.
Xiaowan Beach
Small sheltered bay at the foot of Kenting Street: the calmest main beach swim and the strip's sunset drink spot.
Houbihu
Working harbour with guided shore entry snorkelling over coral, a semi-submarine, and seafood sheds for lunch.
Jialeshui
East coast surf beach with sculpted rock shores and open Pacific swell: lessons for learners, experts in winter.
Sheding Nature Park
Free two hour loop through coral forest and narrow gorges, with macaques, sika deer and views over both coasts.
Kenting National Forest Recreation Area
Shaded botanical forest walks, banyans and limestone caves: the coolest walking in Kenting on a hot day.
Longpan Park
Treeless grassland cliffs above the Pacific: sunrise, night skies and the full force of the winter monsoon wind.
Best hotels in Kenting
Gloria Manor
Design led manor in green park grounds above the strip: the quiet, elegant splurge and the couples' pick.
Caesar Park Hotel Kenting
Classic full beach resort with a private path to Xiaowan, big pools and spa: the default luxury family base.
Chateau Beach Resort
Beachfront resort with three pools and a spa, but its own beach is no swimming: a pool family's resort.
Howard Beach Resort Kenting
Big facility resort across from Xiaowan at a step below top prices: the value pick for facility heavy families.
Hotel dùa Kenting
Smaller design boutique on Kenting Street: strip walkability and style without a mega resort around you.
Mama Hostel
Simple, clean hostel beds on the main street itself: the lowest walkable price on the strip for beach all day stays.
Is Kenting expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | NT$1,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | NT$3,500 a person |
| Splurge | NT$9,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Houbihu: a few days ahead
- Jialeshui: a few days ahead
- Gloria Manor: weeks ahead
- Caesar Park Hotel Kenting: weeks ahead
- Chateau Beach Resort: weeks ahead
- Howard Beach Resort Kenting: weeks ahead
- Hotel dùa Kenting: weeks ahead
- Mama Hostel: a few days ahead
- Top resorts and Gloria Manor sell out on summer, holiday and April festival weekends; book beds when dates are fixed.
- Book snorkelling, diving and surf lessons a day or two ahead in season so rough sea cancellations cost nothing.
Is Kenting safe?
- Swim only where lifeguards are on duty and inside their buoy lines; Dawan beach is permanently closed to swimming.
- Never ride a scooter after drinking, and do not learn to ride in Kenting if you do not ride at home.
- Typhoon season runs roughly May to November; keep summer plans refundable. Emergency: police 110, fire and ambulance 119, coastguard 118.
Kenting travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Seafood sold by weight at harbour and night market stalls: confirm the total cooked price before the fish leaves the tank.
- Agree umbrella, jet ski and banana boat prices and minutes before starting.
Getting around Kenting: public transport and more
- HSR to Zuoying then Kenting Express bus 9189, two to two and a half hours; there is no railway to Kenting.
- Scooter rental is about TWD 450 to 550 a day and needs the right licence; without one use shuttle buses, taxis and a private driver.
- Photograph a rental scooter all over at pickup to avoid damage disputes.
Who Kenting suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Kenting your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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