A lazy Sunday spent basking in the sun with the sand between your toes and the sound of the ocean waves breaking in the background…

Sounds pretty nice, right? We certainly think so, which is why we decided to spend our day off catching some rays at Chunan Beach with a few fellow English teachers.

We should probably go ahead and put it out there that Chunan isn’t really a tropical Mecca with turquoise water or dramatic coastal cliffs. And although we had heard this was a surf beach, most of the surfers we saw were standing in waist-deep water next to their surfboards. Of course, there were also a few dead fish hangin’ out, and all our belongings were absolutely covered in sand after a mere five minutes. Did we mention we live in the Windy City?

But all criticism aside, Chunan was quite a pleasant place to pass the day. For starters, it had a pretty good beach bar (with awesome burgers!) where you could also rent water sport equipment. We’re not so sure how lugging a surfboard 30 minutes on a scooter would go, so this latter piece of information seems pretty valuable. Then there was the fact that Chunan is actually a sandy beach, allowing for comfortable sun bathing with real sand between your toes. And finally, Chunan is nestled behind sand dunes, invoking an excluded-from-the-rest-of-the-world type feel. It’s not anything to the likes of San Diego’s Black’s Beach, but it’s certainly a nice respite from the city smog of Hsinchu, to say the least.

Apparently the waves at Chunan are better for surfing in the Fall/Winter, but if you’re impatiently looking for something to do, windsurfing and kite boarding are two great alternatives. With the steady flow of gusts in the area, there is plenty to not only power the wind turbines but also keep you atop the water. I’m a little bit tempted to give it ago, regardless of the fact that I couldn’t even get on the skim board we rented. If you do feel so inclined to try out these windy sports, there is a man at the beach bar who offers classes for all levels, although we’re not sure about the rates.

On a side note, we’re starting to realize how small the island actually is! We ran into some fellow English teachers from our training group that live a little bit farther south than us and were also enjoying all that Chunan beach had to offer. It’s pretty nice being in a foreign country and still bumping into familiar faces during day trips!