The hook
A small volcanic island off Taiwan's southeast coast with clear-water diving, one of the world's few saltwater hot springs — and the prison where the Republic of China held its political prisoners for four decades.
01Why it's worth it
Ludao is 15 km², an hour by ferry from Taitung, ringed by a single road you can scooter in forty minutes. The reef is the best-regarded in Taiwan, the water is warm and clear, and Zhaori Hot Spring on the southeast shore is a genuine rarity — a saltwater spring rising into rock pools at the tideline, one of only a handful anywhere. On its own that would make a pleasant two-day island.
It is not on its own. From 1951 until the late 1980s, Green Island held the White Terror's political prisoners: the Republic of China's four decades of martial law, during which people were tried, jailed and executed for their politics. As one Taiwanese commenter explained it to a foreigner tracing their grandfather's flight, the era ran "late 1940s–late 1980s" and "Green Island prison complex were made for the purpose and even public execution were recorded." The New Life Correction Centre and the Oasis Villa now stand as the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park, with cell blocks preserved and a wall carrying the names of the imprisoned.
Taiwan is unusual in how directly it has turned this into public memory rather than leaving it to specialists, and the island is where that is most concentrated. Visiting both halves in one day — a memorial in the morning, a reef in the afternoon — is a strange experience, and most people who have done it say the strangeness is the point rather than a flaw.
02How to experience it
Ferry from Fugang harbour near Taitung, or fly if the sea is rough. Rent a scooter at the pier. Give the memorial park real time and read the exhibits rather than walking the perimeter. Dive or snorkel at Shilang or Dabaisha, and go to Zhaori before dawn — the pools face east and the whole point is the sunrise. Two nights is enough; three if you dive.
The honest note
This is a place where people were imprisoned and killed, and it is still within living memory. The people who were held here have grandchildren who post about it. Treat the memorial park as a memorial, not a photo backdrop.
The ferry is rough and cancels. The Taitung crossing has a reputation for seasickness, and typhoon season closes it outright. Build slack.
The diving is good but not tropical-Pacific good, and the island is a well-established domestic destination — busy on summer weekends, and the scooter traffic on a small island is real.
From the locals
The account that gives this island its weight is a family one. Someone posting photographs from a government-sponsored memorial event explained who they belonged to: "Recently my dad and grandma were invited to a White Terror Memorial Event on Green Island sponsored by the government. My grandma didn't want to go. Dad went by himself and shared some of the photos with me. My grandma was imprisoned there for 15 years, 17-32 years old, for writing a 'communist' article in the school newspapers. She met my grandpa at the prison too, who was imprisoned for leading student protests."
That a survivor declined the invitation, and her son went in her place, says more about what this island is than any exhibit caption.
On the other half of it, the assessment is quieter and comparative. In an argument over whether Kenting is Taiwan's best beach destination, someone pushed back toward the islands: "the beaches on Penghu are far better, the same goes for snorkelling/diving at Green Island and Orchid Island — although the night markets and party scene is certainly better at Kenting, as the other places aren't as commercially developed."