Taiwan Ferries: Routes, Ports & Operators

Taiwan Navigation’s new ship Penghu (9,932 gross tons) is the only direct ferry from Kaohsiung to Magong, the main town of the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, with cabins for the overnight sailings.

The quickest sea route to Penghu: high-speed boats from Budai in Chiayi County to Magong, run by several competing operators and used by most visitors heading to Penghu’s basalt coasts and summer fireworks festival.

The short hop from Donggang to Xiaoliuqiu (Lambai Island), Taiwan’s only coral island, where visitors snorkel with green sea turtles and ride scooters round the Vase Rock and Beauty Cave coast.

Ferries from Fugang harbour north of Taitung city to Green Island, the volcanic Pacific island known for the Zhaori saltwater hot springs, coral-reef diving and its former political prison.

The long open-ocean crossing from Taitung to Orchid Island (Lanyu), home of the Tao people with their carved plank canoes and flying-fish culture, off Taiwan’s south-east coast.

The southern route to Orchid Island from Houbihu at the tip of the Hengchun Peninsula near Kenting — convenient for travellers coming from Kaohsiung and the south-west rather than Taitung.

The overnight ship from Keelung to Nangan, the main island of the Matsu archipelago just off the Fujian coast — former front-line islands known for granite stone villages, military tunnels and the “blue tears” bioluminescence.

The busy 15-minute shuttle between Nangan and Beigan in the Matsu Islands — the way to reach Beigan’s Qinbi stone village and Matsu’s second airport.

The boat from Magong to Wang’an, one of the South Sea islands of Penghu, in about 40 minutes; most boats continue to Qimei.

The boat from Magong to Qimei, Penghu’s southernmost inhabited island, famous for the Twin Hearts Stone Weir; loop boats go out direct and return via Wang’an.

Penghu County’s own ship Nanhai Star No. 2 links Kaohsiung directly with Qimei, then continues to Wang’an and Magong — the only direct sailing from Taiwan’s main island to Penghu’s southern islands.

Nanbei Shipping’s Nanbei Star runs a triangle from Nangan to the two Juguang islands, Xiju and Dongju, the southernmost of the Matsu group with the Dongju lighthouse.

The island-to-island crossing off Taiwan’s south-east coast from Green Island to Orchid Island (Lanyu), home of the Tao people, avoiding a return to Taitung in between.