Southern Taiwan to Lanyu | Houbihu vs Fugang Ferry Routes

From southern Taiwan there are two ferry routes to Lanyu, and which one to take comes down to season:

Mid-March to mid-October, the Kenting / Houbihu Ferry Pier route is fastest. From Kaohsiung it's about 2.5 hours by bus to Kenting, then on to Houbihu Ferry Pier (Hengchun area, Pingtung); the boat to Kaiyuan Harbor (Lanyu) is a 120-minute crossing. Houbihu runs 2 sailings a day (outbound 07:00 and 12:20; return 09:30 and 14:45), operated alternately by Jinxing No. 3 and Lyudao Star No. 3 — 3–4 hours faster than detouring through Taitung's Fugang Ferry Pier.

From mid-October through mid-March, only the Taitung / Fugang Ferry Pier route runs — the Houbihu line is fully suspended in winter due to the northeast monsoon. In that window, take TRA along the South-Link Line to Taitung (about 1 hr 47 min to 3 hours from Kaohsiung), transfer to Puyuma Transport Route 201 to Fugang Ferry Pier (about 20 minutes, NT$25), then take the boat to Kaiyuan Harbor (Lanyu) — 150 minutes at NT$1,200 one way.

The winter Fugang–Lanyu line runs on a government-subsidized schedule — fixed sailings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with selected Sundays (check the monthly calendar on ferry.tw for exact dates). Planning a winter trip via Fugang? Always confirm on ferry.tw before you set out — nothing worse than reaching Taitung only to find the boat grounded.

This site tracks the Fugang-side timetables. For Houbihu booking and same-day capacity, use ferry.tw (direct link in the footer). Watch the sea state — once the northeast monsoon kicks in, sailings stop, and even on a scheduled-sailing day rough seas can cancel a crossing at the last minute. Confirm again before you leave.