A lagoon-fringed national scenic area near Donggang where oyster rafts, cycling paths, and a floating restaurant define a slower pace.
We’d planned Dapeng Bay as a half-day cycling detour on the way back from Donggang and ended up staying until well after dark, which is not what either of us expected from a lagoon best known, per the guidebooks, for oyster farming. The scenic area wraps around Taiwan’s largest inland lagoon, its still water broken only by lines of black-and-white floats marking off the oyster rafts that give this stretch of coast its economy.
Cycling the Lagoon Loop
The bike path circling Dapeng Bay is one of the flattest, most pleasant rides we found anywhere in Taiwan — a full loop of roughly ten kilometers hugging the shoreline, passing wetlands where egrets stalk through the shallows and small piers where oyster farmers were hauling in rafts heavy with shells. We stopped often, not because the path demanded it but because the light kept changing over the water in ways that made stopping feel necessary.
Oysters, About as Fresh as They Get
Along the bay’s northern edge, a cluster of seafood restaurants serve oysters harvested literally meters from your table, and we had them four ways in one sitting: raw with a wasabi-soy dip, in a starch-thickened oyster omelet, deep-fried, and stirred into a garlicky stir-fry with basil. Lia, who came into this trip mildly oyster-averse, left as something close to a convert. The bay produces a huge share of Taiwan’s oyster supply, and eating them here — rather than at a night market stall three days removed from harvest — makes an obvious difference.
The Bridge and the Night Market
Dapeng Bay’s cable-stayed pedestrian bridge lights up after dark in shifting colors, and a small night market sets up nearby on weekends, low-key compared to anything in Kaohsiung proper but with a local, unhurried energy that felt like a reward for having made it this far off the main tourist track. We ended the night sitting on the bridge’s railing, watching the oyster rafts go dark one by one as the lagoon settled for the night.
When to go: October through April for cooler cycling weather and calm lagoon conditions; visit on a weekend evening to catch the small night market alongside the bridge.