Discover why Taiwan remains a hidden gem for surfers, from its guarded coastlines to its vibrant future.
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00:00When I first touched a surfboard, I was like four or five-something.
00:22My mom used to surf, and I saw a couple boards in the house.
00:26So I went to the beach and surfed, enjoying the water, all alone on the beach.
00:32Everybody was looking at me like, why is this kid surfing alone?
00:36And now I'm in the national team of Taiwan.
00:42Devlin Marcelo is a 17-year-old surfer from Kenting on the west coast of Taiwan.
00:49Officially sponsored from the age of 12, he is one of a new generation of Taiwanese surfers
00:54who have grown up with an increasingly prevalent wave culture.
00:58For decades, surfing was a fringe sport little understood and distrusted by those in power.
01:06Now regional authorities are rushing to capitalize on a culture rapidly growing among coastal
01:11towns and floating on their warm waters.
01:15The rush is not only building local communities, but also attracting increased international
01:21attention as surfers from around the world descend on the gorgeous coastlines of Taiwan
01:27to experience the Pacific's best-kept surfing secret for themselves.
01:32Welcome to Finding Formosa, Peeling Left.
01:51It's very exciting.
01:52There's a cafe, there's a rule, there's a fence, there's a platform, there's a lifeguard,
01:56and everybody's playing in the water.
01:58Unlike in Taiwan, when you go to the beach, you'll see signs that say,
02:01water is dangerous, please do not drink water.
02:03It looks very desolate.
02:05There are no facilities, no safety rules, etc.
02:10At that time, everyone had a concept that the beach was dangerous.
02:14Parents would also think the beach was dangerous.
02:16Surfing has always been a popular activity in Taiwan.
02:20There weren't so many people.
02:22The main reason was that there were political factors in Taiwan.
02:27We were relatively conservative about the ocean.
02:30In 1949, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense published the Taiwan Provincial Port
02:37and Coast Measures, in line with a martial law order promulgated in the same year.
02:44It brought ports into the direct control of the martial security headquarters
02:49and imposed heavy restrictions on all boats coming in and out of Taiwan.
02:55From 1957, any entry to the coast within 500 meters of the upper tide line was prohibited,
03:02and any who violated the ordinance were to be tried in military court, under martial law.
03:08Extensive windbreaks were constructed, ostensibly to aid with defense,
03:13but also serving to prevent beachside access for Taiwanese.
03:18National campaigns spread fear of communist frogmen,
03:21amphibious troops surfacing from the foreboding deep,
03:25and an armada of red ships floating just over the horizon.
03:30The coast only meant danger, and Cold War paranoia roiled from the ocean like so much morning mist.
03:38This was no place to visit, much less to enjoy,
03:42and Taiwan's stunning coastline of yawning cliffs, dense rainforest,
03:47and excellent surf breaks lay ignored and undeveloped.
03:52That is, by most.
03:55Henry Sun is the current owner of Ocean Vibes Surf Shop,
03:59first founded by his surf pioneering father in 1979.
04:12When I saw people surfing in Taiwan, I got in touch with them.
04:17When the U.S. military came to Taiwan,
04:19they left their surfing boards, or taught them how to surf,
04:23and led these so-called pioneers to start surfing.
04:27At that time, there were really few people who could get in touch with this.
04:33It was because it was still under martial law,
04:35so basically, before going into the water, they would be inspected.
04:39They were actually a little afraid that you were exchanging messages with the enemy,
04:43or that you were in contact with them.
04:45When I was a kid, I remember I used to come to Kenting with my parents to camp here.
04:49Then at night, I met a soldier holding an M-16 rifle and told us,
04:55you can't camp here, this is the coast, this is the control area.
04:58Like my dad often shared with us,
05:00when he was surfing in the sea,
05:02there was actually a soldier standing there on the shore,
05:05looking at him surfing with a gun,
05:07hoping that he might have contact with the enemy overseas.
05:11Not only was he afraid of foreigners,
05:14but he was also afraid that a lot of people would leave the mainland through the sea.
05:19But let's think about it again.
05:21As Taiwan becomes more and more peaceful,
05:23as Taiwan becomes more and more open to the world,
05:26more and more people think that
05:28we should not only not be afraid of the sea,
05:32we should also be close to the sea.
05:34The surfing in Taiwan slowly began to explode
05:38at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s.
05:44Though martial law was finally lifted in 1987,
05:48restrictions on access to the coast were not withdrawn until 1992.
05:54And even then, a Cold War mentality lingered.
05:58But as democracy bedded down and the new millennium approached,
06:04a new generation of young entrepreneurs
06:07saw a way to both exploit and help guide a nascent beach culture.
06:14Kevin Lin is a board shaper
06:16who founded one of the first surfboard studios in Taiwan.
06:20At that time, it was very expensive to buy a surfboard.
06:23For a longboard, it was almost NT$100,000.
06:26When I was a student, I didn't have any money,
06:28so I made a cash card.
06:30I didn't pay it back for two or three years.
06:33And at that time, there were very few boards.
06:35Some were brought back from abroad.
06:38Sometimes it was more than NT$40,000 to NT$50,000.
06:40Then we decided to try to make our own board.
06:44That's how we started surfing.
06:47I hope to become a role model.
06:51Surfboards were imported from abroad.
06:54I didn't even know what the characteristics of a surfboard were.
06:58I wanted to make surfboards suitable for surfers
07:02who wanted to get in touch with surfing.
07:04I wanted to make a board that could catch waves and stand on it easily.
07:07I wanted to make it feel like a success,
07:09and to keep surfing.
07:13In Taiwan, many sports require the support of companies.
07:17After my father retired, he decided to go abroad.
07:21At that time, he followed a merchant ship to travel around the world.
07:25He stayed in Hawaii for seven years.
07:27He had a strong interest in surfing and wanted to bring it to Taiwan.
07:32When he came back, he started his own brand.
07:34At that time, they went from the north of Taiwan to the east and the south.
07:39They developed surfboards all over the place.
07:41Now, many old-generation surfboard owners are students.
07:46This is a continuation of the previous tradition.
07:49I hope to create my own surfing culture in Taiwan.
07:53And with the growing proliferation of small businesses like Ocean Vibes,
07:57Pineapple Surf, and Summer Point,
08:00Taiwan's surf culture has grown big enough for government to start taking notice.
08:06Through continuous promotion,
08:08many professionals have been working hard to promote surfing activities.
08:13Over the past few years,
08:15the government has been promoting ocean activities.
08:18We want to clean up the ocean and allow more people to surf in the ocean.
08:22In fact, because of this,
08:24our ocean activities have become more diverse in recent years.
08:27Therefore, we decided to hold surfing activities in Taitung.
08:32In 2011, the first Taiwan Open of Surfing was held in the mountainous county of Taitung.
08:39The event has since gone from strength to strength,
08:42bringing increased visibility and credibility to Taiwanese surfing.
08:48Will Hayden-Smith works for the World Surfing League,
08:51who organize and certify the event in collaboration with the county government.
08:58We really specifically named this event the Taiwan Open of Surfing
09:01because it immediately associates Taiwan with a surfing destination.
09:05The World Surf League has millions of fans all over the world
09:08that watch our broadcast on YouTube and on our website.
09:11And what they do, surfers love to explore.
09:14We're a segment of the population that love to go and try new things and explore new places.
09:19I've had many friends who had never even considered coming to Taiwan
09:22that have now come and surfed in Taiwan.
09:25We've had surfers from all over Asia and Australia.
09:28We actually have a surfer from South Africa and another one from Brazil
09:31who can't even earn points at this event,
09:33but they came to compete in it because they've seen this wave
09:36and they wanted to come and see it and experience it.
10:06Surfers like Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson
10:24attribute their success to seeing some of the best surfers in the world at their beach.
10:30So what I'm hoping this event will do is inspire some of the young kids
10:33to work really hard, train and practice,
10:35and learn from what they're seeing from the foreign surfers here.
10:38And the sky's the limit, really.
10:40I actually went down three or four days before the comp.
10:44We wake up at 5, 5.30.
10:47We go surf the first session,
10:49and then we go out, eat some breakfast,
10:52and we go down around 11.
10:55Actually seeing those guys on the tour,
10:58it just motivates me to do...
11:01I want to be in the surf comp and just get known by everyone with surfing.
11:08In this year's Open, Devlin was knocked out in the rounds of heats,
11:13but he says it only provides further motivation.
11:16The standard of Taiwan surfing is growing.
11:18I mean, I come from Australia where surfing has been around for over 100 years.
11:22I think the surf culture in Taiwan is only a couple of decades old,
11:25so it's going to take a long time until they've got some world-class surfers.
11:29But to be honest, it's progressing faster and better every time that I come back.
11:33We've had a 10-year-old surfing today,
11:35and we come back in five years when they're 15, 16,
11:38and they're going to be really good.
11:39I see a lot of young parents
11:42who are willing to invest in their kids' surfing development.
11:47I think this is something that makes me feel very gratified.
11:51As people get better at surfing,
11:53the kids' surfing skills and their progress
11:57are beyond my imagination.
12:01My dream is to go to the Olympics and compete for my country.
12:06Surfing is a lifestyle.
12:08It actually makes you see the world in a different angle.
12:12And when you go in the water,
12:15you can just forget everything and just surf.
12:19Even till I'm old, I'm still going to be surfing.
12:22I can't surf anymore.
12:24A lot of people just stay at home and on their phone all the time.
12:30You can go out surfing for five hours straight
12:33and enjoy the outdoors, the nature.
12:36I reckon everyone should give it a shot.
12:39Taiwan is a super good place to try.
12:52Taiwan is a super good place to try.