Orchid Island

Understand

Its population is about 5,000, mostly indigenous Taiwanese of the Tao (formerly known as Yami) ethnic group, not Han Chinese. Most people live in one of the six villages along the coastal road that traverses the island's perimeter.

Getting there

By plane

1 Lanyu Airport (KYD IATA 蘭嶼航空站), ☏ +886 8 973 2220. Daily Air (website in Chinese only) has around 6 flights a day from Taitung to Orchid Island's airport on the central west coast. You can easily become stranded on the island for days when winds pick up even during non typhoon weather. Daily Air will cancel flights when the winds are even as low as 35 miles per hour. The flight from Taitung takes about 25 minutes. (updated Jun 2019)

By ferry You can also take a ferry from Taitung or Kenting, but the seas can be very rough. The journey time for both ferries is about 2 hours.

2 Lanyu Kaiyuan Harbor (蘭嶼開元漁港). Ferries run from Taitung City's Fugang Fishery Harbor year round, while in the summer, there is a ferry from Houbihu port in Kenting. (updated Jun 2019)

Getting around

There are basically only two roads on the island - the loop road following the coast circumnavigating the island, and the mountain road, dissecting the island in two (east-west). Other than walking, the only practical means of transport for tourists is hiring a scooter. These can be hired from an area next to the ferry port, which is also the location of the only petrol station on the island.

1 Lanyu Yun-Chen Motorcycle Rental (蘭嶼雲晨機車出租-), ☏ +886 915 554 717. 08:30-16:30. (updated Jun 2019) Hitch hiking is also possible, although you may have long waits between rides due to the low number of vehicles on the roads.

See

Visit churches: Christianity is pretty big here; each of the six villages on the island has exactly one Catholic and one Protestant church. (The Protestant ones are larger and in better repair.) Access and times of services vary. Ask around!

1 Orchid Island Weather Station (蘭嶼氣象站) (on the highest point of the island), ☏ +886 8 973 2587. Daily 06:00-18:00. A good place to see the whole island from one place and can help to orient yourself for your journey around the other attractions. (updated Oct 2021) 2 Lanyu Lighthouse (蘭嶼燈塔) (on the northernmost point of the island). A 15-m-tall lighthouse, built in 1982. (updated Jun 2019)

Parks and nature 3 Dragon Head Rock (龍頭岩), Huandao Road. 24hrs. (updated Jun 2019) 4 Lover Cave (情人洞). A natural stone archway with association with young love. (updated Jun 2019) 5 Jimavonot (火把岩), Right next to the road in the north-east of the island, about 1 km east of Iraraley. 24hrs. A rock arch and rock pillar, sometimes associated with male and female anatomy. Hence known by names like Couple Rock, Ying and Yang Rock, Virgin/Maiden Rock, or more innocent names like Torch Rock. The Tao name Jimavonot means reed bundle. (updated Oct 2024) 6 Datienchih (大天池). A lake inside the crater of a dormant volcano, covered in vegetation which feeds on the rich volcanic soil. (updated Jun 2019) 7 Lion Couple Rock (雙獅岩). A popular fishing spot, despite the dangers posed by the sharp rocks. The unique rock formation lies on the northern part of the island and faces out into the Pacific Ocean. (updated Jun 2019)

Cultural

8 Ye-Yin Old Tribe (野銀地下屋). A village consisting of a unique local architectural style, where the houses are built partially above and partially below ground. (updated Jun 2019) 9 Lanyu Flying Fish Cultural Museum (蘭嶼飛魚文化會館), ☏ +886 8 973 1573. Built in 2005 to showcase the local culture, particularly the Flying Fish Festival, the museum also has a number of workshops in local arts and crafts. (updated Jun 2019)

Do

Tour the beautiful island on a scooter. Talk and dine with the local Yami people. Enjoy relaxing on this quiet island

Buy

1 7-Eleven (蘭嶼門市), ☏ +886 8 973 1061. 24hrs. One of the two 7-11 on the entire island. (updated Nov 2024)

Eat

Tribe Bar is probably the most popular place for western tourists and offers a mix of Asian and Western dishes.

1 Bayang Bar (巴漾複合酒吧), ☏ +886 8 973 2069. 07:00-23:30. (updated Jun 2019) 2 Rover (蘭嶼旅人), ☏ +886 933 089 849. 20:00-00:00. A seaside restaurant serving a variety of more international cuisine. (updated Jun 2019) 3 262 Bar (蘭嶼262). This outdoor restaurant serves a combination of local seafood specialities and local Taiwanese favourites. (updated Jun 2019)

Breakfast 4 A Li Gei Breakfast Restaurant (阿力給早餐店), ☏ +886 912 243 173. 06:30-23:00. A popular breakfast restaurant, just down the road from the airport. (updated Jun 2019)

Drink & nightlife

1 11 Neighbours Bar (十一鄰), ☏ +886 927 000 893. 08:00-00:00. (updated Jun 2019)

Go next

Getting out is not always so easy. Winds can be very strong which makes flying and boat travel impossible at times. Leave yourself at least four extra days in case the flights are cancelled. Ask locals about weather conditions as they know best what’s the current situation. To stay informed at all times monitor latest news about the weather. Don’t limit yourself to basic weather apps, but look also at weather apps that show wind and waves. At Lanyu airport and in Daily Air application the recommended app isWindy. Flights are more dependent on weather conditions and often ferry is more likely to come than airplane. Daily Air monitoring can be done from application (iOS, Android). Since the app is only in Chinese use translation from screenshot or refer to below features description. Flights for a current day can be monitor with a feature under flying airplane icon with caption 即時航班. Afterwards there are statues for all the connections operated by Daily Air. For Taitung-Lanyu connection choose 台東←蘭嶼. There you can monitor current status of all the flights at the specific day. Possible statuses of flights: Red - Flight is delayed (usually it means that the flight will be cancelled, but it seems that they keep it as delayed up to the last moment). Blue - Flight has happened successfully. Grey - Flight is cancelled. Yellow - Flight is boarding. Also while looking at the flights keep in mind that no flight can happened from Lanyu without the previous flight from Taitung being successful. It seems that not always the status for flight from Lanyu is updated as quickly as status of flights from Taitung. While Daily Air allows to reserve online only 4 seats per flight there are still 15 seats that can be obtained within a queue registration at the airport. Locals usually don’t buy tickets online. They just go to the airport and next to Daily Air counter register their ID number in a queue for a flight. You can do the same using passport ID and if it happens that your reserved flight is cancelled then it’s a way of getting a seat in one of the next flights (if you’ve paid online then this payment can be used for a flight gathered with a queue system). After registration in a queue write down your number and check queue list in the Daily Air’s app. It’s under a list icon with 候補狀況 caption. Here’s the current queue status. However, especially after a few days without flights, queue may quickly clear out, because people that registered a few days ago could use ferry to get out of island or didn’t show up at the airport. So even if you are over 100 positions in queue y