WorldTaiwan › Hualien › Gongs

Gongs 63.3

#2859 of 5756 surf spots in the world · Taiwan · Hualien · near Hualien

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Surf score63.3 /100
Surfable days91% of the year
Clean days6% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell6% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.5 ft median
Water26°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Gongs

The best time to surf Gongs is April, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 28°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is RMQ (109 km) and the nearest town is Hualien (18 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%0%1.4 m23°Cvest
Feb99%2%1.4 m23°Cvest
Mar100%3%1.1 m24°Cvest
Apr99%11%1.1 m25°Cboardies
May92%3%0.8 m26°Cboardies
Jun76%0%0.7 m27°Cboardies
Jul75%5%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Aug72%6%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Sep82%19%1.0 m28°Cboardies
Oct97%11%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Nov100%6%1.3 m26°Cboardies
Dec100%2%1.8 m24°Cvest

What is under Gongs

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 50 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 125 m against 50 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out50 m
Depth 4 km out47 m
Channel beside it125 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 63.3

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
19.5
Best days 22.4%
9.9
Clean days 18.4%
2.2
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
5.6
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 110° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 99% of days. Mean peak period 8.4 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.0 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 59%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 23.826, 121.586 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,520/ month
typically €1,340 – €1,710
Rent, one bedroom€799
Groceries€319
Eating out€184
Getting around€108
Phone + internet€113
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,970/ month
typically €2,610 – €3,330
Somewhere to stay€1,750
Eating out€626
Car, transfers, fuel€405
Data + extras€189
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Taiwan (2025, United States = 1.00) (no separate series, so we scale CN) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

Isekagaku🇯🇵 Japan · score 53.0Mosca Point🇪🇸 Spain · score 57.5Barravento🇧🇷 Brazil · score 53.7Killcare Bombie🇦🇺 Australia · score 56.6
Compare Gongs with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in September