Scuba diving locations in Taiwan:

• Green Island has well-developed fringing coral reefs and diverse marine life with over 600 species of fish, 150 species of reef building corals and 50 species of soft corals.
• Kenting Marine Park comprises over 15,000 hectares of ocean with a subtropical climate and a great variety of marine life. A variety of pelagic game fish may be seen offshore especially around the Seven Stars, Chi Shin Yen, area, including Sailfish, Umbrella Swordfish, Mahi Mahi and Flying Fish during Spring and Summer and White and Black Swordfish during Autumn and Winter.
• Orchid is a volcanic island with few rivers running to the ocean, so the visibility is an exceptional 30m to 40m plus all year round. It has excellent wall diving as well as the shallow fringing reefs found around the island.

When to scuba dive in Taiwan:

The water is warm all year, rarely falling below 24°C, but rainy season from June to August may reduce visibility. From January to March, schools of hammerhead sharks congregate off the southern tip of Green Island.

Local standards for gear:

The best scuba diving spots in Taiwan:

• San Hai, in Kenting, has great soft and hard corals, shallow ravines, lots of reef fish, nudibranchs, Cone and Scorpion shell fish, sea snakes, turtles, coral bommies, and crinoids. Lots of Blue-Spotted Stingrays and Ribbontail Rays arrive during April and May.
• Sail Rock has great muck diving around the base of the rock on all sides in about 6m, with lots of nudibranches, and shell fish , the occasional turtle, cuttlefish, Blue-spotted rays, Lionfish, Trumpetfish and Angelfish.
• Green Island's Shark Point,Gun Swei Bi, at the south east corner of the island, is where from December to early March each year, hammerheads school, most likely either smooth hammerheador scalloped hammerhead.
• Off Orchid Island, near Kai-Yuan harbour, there is the Blue Hole swim-through which opens out onto a spectacular reef with splendid soft and hard corals everywhere, huge 3m tabletop corals and large barrel sponges.

The best spots to snorkel in Taiwan:

Fun scuba facts:

Country data:

Administrative details

• Currency: New Taiwan dollar (TWD)
• Population: is about 23,000,000 (2011)
• Time Zone: CST (GMT+8)
• Main languages spoken: Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka Chinese, Formosan languages ## Diveable overseas territories:

Taiwanese diving federations:

CHINESE TAIPEI UNDERWATER FEDERATION (CTUF), TAIWAN TECHNICAL & SCIENCE DIVING ASSOCIATION (TTSDA) are members of Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques (CMAS)

Local diving laws and regulations (and PADI-equivalent certifications):