Hualien tide times

Hualien is the main city of Taiwan's east coast, positioned where the Central Mountain Range arrives at the Pacific and the flat alluvial plain at the Taroko gorge mouth holds the only significant lowland area on this otherwise sheer coastal face. Taroko National Park begins at the city's northern edge, where the Liwu River has cut a 20 km marble gorge through the Central Range — the gorge road is one of the most dramatic road routes in East Asia, with marble canyon walls rising 300 to 500 m directly above the road and river.

The tidal regime at Hualien is semidiurnal, driven directly by the open Pacific. Spring range runs approximately 2.0 to 2.5 m — a clean, well-behaved twice-daily cycle with two near-equal highs and two near-equal lows. The spring-neap variation across the lunar month gives the largest ranges around new and full moons. The Pacific tidal signal is consistent and reliable compared to the mixed diurnal regimes of enclosed gulfs to the west and south.

Qi Xingtan Beach (Seven Star Lake Beach) is the most visited coastal site directly accessible from Hualien city — a pebble beach 4 km north of the city centre, famous for the white and grey rounded stones that cover it rather than sand. The beach faces the Pacific directly; the gradient is steep, typical of pebble beaches, and the surf zone is active with Pacific swell. The spring tidal range of 2.0 to 2.5 m moves the waterline measurably on the steep pebble gradient — roughly 8 to 12 m between the spring high and low waterlines — but the beach's visual character doesn't change as dramatically as a flat sandy beach at the same range, because the pebble slope adjusts to the wave energy. Public art installations and stone-sculpture gardens run along the promenade above the beach; the Hualien County Stone Sculptural Museum is immediately adjacent.

The Qingshui Cliffs (Qingshui Duanya) begin roughly 15 km north of Hualien at the coast road. These cliffs are among the world's most striking coastal landforms: the Coastal Range drops 1,000 to 2,000 m directly into the Pacific with minimal foothills, and the Su-Hua Highway is cut into the cliff face. The Pacific beats directly against the cliff base, and there is no beach or tidal flat at the cliff base — just vertical rock face to deep water. Tidal stage is irrelevant to viewing the cliffs as a scenic feature, though the drive along the Su-Hua is an experience in itself.

Hualien Port, immediately south of the city, handles aggregate export (marble and stone products from the Central Range), fishing fleet operations, and occasional cruise ship calls. The port approach is tide-insensitive for commercial traffic at this range. The Kuroshio Current runs northward along eastern Taiwan at 1 to 2 knots offshore; this warm, clear Pacific current is distinct from the coastal water in the port approaches and gives the offshore zone its characteristic colour.

The typhoon risk on the east coast is significant. Peak season runs July through October; systems crossing the Western Pacific make landfall on eastern Taiwan several times per decade. When a typhoon passes directly over or north of Taiwan, the east coast takes the full Pacific-facing exposure. The Su-Hua Highway closes during these events, and Taroko gorge closes as well. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau (CWB) publishes authoritative tide predictions for Hualien and issues typhoon and marine warnings. For any activity where precise tidal timing matters, use the CWB tide tables — they are publicly accessible and computed from harmonic analysis of the Hualien gauge record.

Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model; accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 m on height.