Swap the Harbor Hustle for Scenic Trails and Lighthouse Views
TEXT | AMI BARNES
PHOTOS | CHEN CHENG-KUO
Separated from its namesake city by just a short stretch of the deep blue, Keelung Islet offers a small but perfectly formed half-day trip for those looking to add island adventure to their city of Keelung exploration. Here, you’ll find scenic trails, cave-dwelling gods, and a dramatically painted lighthouse — all without having to venture far from shore.
The adventure begins at Badouzi Tourist Fishing Harbor, from which a 20min boat ride whisks you across 5km of open water to the volcanic outpost of Keelung Islet. Open to the public between April and October, when ocean swell is minimal, the island receives not more than 1,200 visitors a day, although, unless you visit during weekends or peak flower seasons, you’re unlikely to find crowds.
Visiting the island involves leaving mainland Taiwan, meaning a landing permit is required, but don’t worry, this is not as onerous as it sounds. Several boat companies offer trips to the islet and, as far as I can tell, their services are all much of a muchness – so just pick one you like the look of and they’ll handle the application on your behalf. Trips can also be arranged through third-party platforms like KKday and Klook.
Essentially, there are three options to pick from. On a recent Travel in Taiwan visit, we booked a 4hr, 3-in-1 trip through Jin Long Yacht Club (jinlong-yacht.com.tw), which involved circumnavigating the island before disembarking to walk the coastal trail and climb to the lighthouse. This trip costs NT$850 per person. There’s also a 2hr trip that skips the lighthouse trek and a 4.5hr version that adds a pootle along the mainland coast to view the Capybara Rock (formerly known as the Elephant Trunk Rock), close to Shen’ao Fishing Harbor. Some operators even offer special packages that include fishing outings.
On the day of your trip, you just need to rock up 30min before departure with your ID, your most wind-proof form of sun protection (it’s gusty and exposed over there), comfortable walking shoes, and snacks to tide you over in case you get hungry. (The boat companies offer water, and there are toilets on the island, but nowhere to buy food, so you’ll need to go prepared.)
Arriving at the harbor at 9 o’clock sharp, we made our way to Jin Long Yacht Club’s counter to check in and receive our boarding passes, in the form of lanyards. There followed a safety talk and explanation of the morning’s plan (Mandarin only, as was the rest of the tour content), then we were each handed life jackets before being walked two-by-two in preschool crocodile formation past the coast guard station and on towards our vessel.
We steamed out of the port under clear skies, and our tour guide (a formidable orator with a broad depth of local knowledge) launched into a running commentary on everything in sight. Gaining distance, first Alabao Bay and Heping Island appeared to the northwest, alongside the red-and-white cranes of Keelung Port. Next, the triple smokestacks of the Hsieh-Ho Power Plant came into view, then, to the southeast, the town of Jiufen nestled into a mountain-fenced depression. Bitou Cape jutted out to sea further south, while the Yehliu Geopark peninsula did the same to the north, and much further out, hazy outlines of huge container ships marked the horizon.
It took about 20min to cross the gap, but before landing, we made a clockwise loop, sailing past Keelung Islet’s Mini Me, Little Keelung Islet, a couple of nostril-like sea caves, and a vantage point that our guide said made the rocky slopes resemble a woolly mammoth (personally, I thought it looked more like an anteater).
After disembarking, we set off to explore the island’s two trails, taking the coastal trail – shorter and easier of the two – as our warm-up. Extending for several hundred meters along the islet’s eastern edge, the gently undulating trail offers the kind of cinematic big-sky, endless-horizon scenery where you might expect to spot the heartsick protagonists of a wistful romantic drama. Beside the trail, two caves have been turned into shrines. Tudi Gong, the Lord of the Land, occupies one, and Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, the other. Peer closely into their rocky abodes and you’ll notice it’s not only deities seeking shelter – the walls are spotted with clusters of white gecko eggs.
Both routes are there-and-back affairs, so after reaching the end of the coastal trail, we retraced our steps and began the steep climb up to the lighthouse. Wooden steps have been built onto the side of the slope, making the ascent less perilous (if not less tiring), and for the first 20min, tight zigzags offer some spectacular photo opportunities. Depending on the month, you might also find yourself surrounded by trailside blooms. From April to June, the elegant white trumpets of Formosa lilies sway in the wind, while from September to October, bright-orange spider lilies gild the slopes.
Your 20min slog brings you to a small pavilion. Commanding a breezy spot on the islet’s rocky spine, this is the trail’s only shaded rest area, and on this hot summer’s day, it was packed with hikers trying to cool down. From here, it takes another 20min to make it to the lighthouse via a rockier, rougher, but slightly less steep section. Along the way, the path wiggles around an intriguingly frog-shaped rock, perched in such a way as to give the impression that the oversized anuran is preparing to leap into the deep. There’s also a viewing deck at the island’s highest point, 182m above the shimmering surface of the ocean.
The lighthouse, when it finally comes into view, is a surprising sight. The octagonal structure has a bold paint job with Beetlejuice black and white stripes, and is decked with an array of solar panels (according to signage, it was Taiwan’s first solar-powered lighthouse). Around it, there are several benches on which weary walkers can take a break, and on a clear day, if you crane your neck to look past the trees, it is just about possible to glimpse the Keelung area’s outer extremities – Pengjia and Mianhua islets (a further 45km and 56km out to sea, respectively, and both off-limits to the general public).
We paused for a while to enjoy the shade and the views, but with our scheduled departure slot approaching, the time soon arrived to head back down to the jetty, having earned both our trail legs and sea legs in a single trip.
