As summer heat descends over Taiwan, finding an escape becomes paramount. There are few better places to beat the heat than the river that leads to the Ocean God's Pools.
According to Paiwan Tribe (排湾族) legend, there used to be a beautiful fairy that bathed in the pools up in the mountains. The Ocean God wanted to see her so badly that he flooded the whole earth so he could travel up to the pools. The Mountain God, upon finding everything flooded, became angry and asked the Sun God to use his power to evaporate the water. The water receded, and the pools became known as the Ocean God's Palace.
An hour drive from Kaohsiung, in Pingtung County, the Ocean God's Pools are a brief 30min walk up the river. During the rainy season, you'll have to walk on a path up on the river bank. But because Taiwan is in the middle of an intense drought, the river had dried down to a trickle and we were able to walk over river rocks and small streams.
The first two pools are deep and clear. A canyon forms a tight curtain around the pools, providing cliffs to jump from and flat rocks to spread out and sunbathe. When our group arrived (myself, Emily, Chu, Karolina, Chu's brother Wei Wei and his dog A'di), there was an older couple boiling tea by the edge of the pool. They pointed out the safe places to jump from and warned about the depth as we set down our packs.
Chu and I jumped in immediately. We splashed around then clambered up the rocks to get a look at the next pool. The pools are connected by naturally-formed slides of smooth stone coated in algae. The canyon then continues upwards in a series of interconnected pools. Chu and I peered at the swooping jumble of rocks and told the others that we'd be forging on ahead.
Each pool was its own little world. You'd crest the lip of one and dive right into another. Each was deep, between three to five meters of dark still water. For some time we walked up the dried riverbed, or clambered over rocks. We encountered two people coming back down wearing big orange life vests. In this season, I didn't feel it was necessary, but if it was the rainy season, it would definitely be a different story.
"There've been a couple people who've run into water snakes," Chu mentioned as we waded into the next pool.
"Here? In this pool?" I asked, looking at the deep blue water, the placid surface broken by dried leaves and sticks.
"A little further up. Just a couple people." Chu tossed over her shoulder as she dove off the bank and into the water. A stick floated by and I flinched. I sent up a prayer to the Ocean God before jumping in after her.
After another 30 minutes of adventuring, we swam through the penultimate pool, called Entrance to the Ocean God's Palace, and arrived at Goddess Dai'e'na's Pool. A waterfall crashed over a rocky cliff into deep blue water. Another grandpa, having made the climb before us, pointed to the rope to climb the cliff and where to jump. We rock-climbed up and once at the top, Chu had no problem leaping off into the pool. I stared down at the drop as my stomach rose in my throat.
It took a good five minutes for me to walk myself off the edge of the cliff. When I finally leapt, I spent so long in the air, I had time to realize I was still falling. I crashed into the water with a shriek. When I popped back up to the surface, I made a beeline for the shallows.
"Again!" I declared, determined to silence the fear that was still lodged, right next to my stomach, up in my throat.
We leapt off the cliff again and then spent another twenty minutes paddling around the little oasis before finally heading back down. The way back was much easier as we were able to slide down the rocks between many of the pools. On our return to the first pools, we spent a few minutes drying ourselves on the sun-baked rocks before gathering our things and heading back down the river.
If you're in Kaohsiung, this is the perfect place to escape the heat.
Location:
海神宮
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Cost:
Parking is 50NT per person