Island Life knows exactly how to do the Taroko Gorge. It's a busy place at its peak, so they had us up and seizing the day bright and early. We stayed at the Silks Taroko and had to drive to the Visitor Center to avoid an extra charge. We were bummed to start (we missed our hotel breakfast as a result) but it was worth it to have Taroko to ourselves for over an hour (literally saw zero other visitors). That's enough of the griping and on to the praise. IRIS. She's wonderful and knowledgeable and funny. She added her own personal touch and moments to the tour, beyond just facts and guide knowledge. We were thrilled to learn about the Gorge, Taiwan and so much more from her. Also, the swim spot was Wish the Water Curtain Cave was included (we did it immediately following) but honestly think this tour is amazing.

My boyfriend and I took 2 tours - I had first emailed the company telling them how many days we have got, asking about the Zhului Old Trail hike and requesting another suggestion as well, and they suggested some tours of which we took the following 2: - Taroko tour: Bruce (super nice dude from Vancouver and very considerate: asked us if we wanted extra water, brought toilet paper and umbrellas etc) drove us around in the park to all the main stops, which is great because you don't have to rent a car yourself, nor look up the way or plan anything. We liked the fact that it was not just driving - there was enough time to do several shorter hikes (10-30') if you want to, such as climbing up vista points, and we never felt rushed. This way you get to move a bit, which we liked very much! This tour also includes lunch at a local restaurant, and nothing comes in more handy than a guide who can translate what you want to eat. At the end of the day, we had time to go for a swim in a secret spot, which was the perfect closure to a very humid day. Big thank you to Bruce for a wonderful day! - Zhului Old Trail: we took this tour with a guide because we had no time to arrange the permits (the guide will do this for you) nor transport ourselves. Apart from that, you can do this hike by yourself easily as there is no way you would get lost. Nevertheless, we very much enjoyed having the company of a guide (in our case friendly Laura) and learn a bit more about the park and her interesting travels. A nice unexpected "present" is that the guides take pictures of you during the tours which they will send to you via google drive afterwards - for free! We appreciated this, thanks!!

The day tour of the Taroko gorge is a good, efficient way to see most of the main attractions in this impressive gorge. Good pre-tour communication and punctual, 8am pickup so we avoided the busloads later. Out guide gave a running commentary of the history, local culture and each site we visited and had time to walk around, or through! Lunch at a traditional-theme hotel was adequate. The chance for a self-guided walk along the popular Shakadang train for 2 hours after lunch was great. Overall, an enjoyable day.

If you are going to be in the Hualien Area I strongly recommend using Island Life Taiwan as your Tour Operator. The group tour of Taroko Gorge was excellent. Our Guide Jimmy was very knowledgeable about the area and making sure we had a good time on a busy weekend in the area. I also did a private tour of Hualien to Taitung. Iris was such a joy to be around, very friendly, great English and very keen on showing the best the East Coast of Taiwan had to offer.

Wonderful tour and one of the highlights of our Taiwan trip! Our tour guide was Iris - she had good English,was very nice and funny, and gave a lot of background on little tidbits on Hualien and Taroko Gorge. Saw all the highlights of the gorge with a perfect mix of walking and sightseeing. The group size was 8 which was perfect. Met people from different parts of the world as well! Lunch was included and the ATV at Qing Shui cliff was amazing! Highly recommend this tour!

What an incredible day! Iris is a joyous soul and went out of her way to make the day extra special for us. She personalized the day to our interests and needs, took lots of fun pictures, told us many interesting stories, let us try local foods, and even took us to some secret spots! It was a day I won't soon forget and was one of the highlights of my trip to Taiwan. Ana also gave great service and answered all of my questions before the tour. I couldn't have asked for more....except to do it again one day! You won't regret booking this tour, it's definitely the most authentic experience you will get.

We did the Taroko Gorge tour with Island Life and Ana, our tour guide, was very friendly and knowledgeable about the park and the local area. It was a very full day where we got to see all the best sites and hiking trails and avoid the crowds. We had a brilliant day and I would highly recommend them!

We had an awesome time with Alan as our guide. He was highly knowledgeable, engaging and good-humoured. He was also very attentive to each person's specific needs. Would highly recommend Alan, Island Life Tours, and Taroko Gorge!

Had a great trips with Alan and Manuel! Would highly recommend ! Fun times!

Had a great trip to Taroko gorge with Alan. Highly recommended - he got us to some great places without running into big crowds, plus he shared some interesting stories, beyond what’s online or on the info boards. The group was nice too, 8 of us and a nice atmosphere, we were too tired to join but the others all went off for dinner together. Great day out. Thanks!!

Our guide Allen was really good! He explained not just the nature but all the history, bringing the mountains to life. we also went to all the most picturesque trails. Highly recommended. They also accept credit card payment which is convenient

Amazing service all around. The Wife and I booked the Better Taroko Gorge tour, and made a huge mistake with the date that we only realised the day before. Jamella and Santa from Island Life Taiwan sorted it all out for us quickly (despite it being past 10pm) and we joined the following day's group without any issues. The tour itself was superb – it was clearly planned by insiders who knew where to go at what time to avoid the crowds, which gave us the best views and the least stressful situations when exploring what the gorge had to offer. Santa, our guide, was a trove of knowledge, and taught us much about the region. Highly recommended!

Alan is an excellent guide and the tour went at the perfect pace. We saw lots of places while never feeling rushed. We never ran into crowds at any of the scenic spots either. I rarely sign up for tours, preferring to go at my own pace, but am glad I signed up for this one. Also nice that it is a small group.

Had a wonderful tour with Iris as our guide! We wouldn’t have experienced Taroko Gorge that extensively in a day without this tour.

We had such a great time on the tour! Iris was so knowledgeable about the history of Taroko Gorge and Hualien, and was so much fun. There is a lot to see in one day, so there is not a lot of time to relax and read signs if that’s what you’re into. If you really want to experience and learn about the Gorge, I absolutely recommend booking a tour with Island Life. It definitely would not have been the same if we tried to do it ourselves!

We went with Daniel on the MuGua river gorge tour. He picked us up at our room at 7:30. Its early, but the day was hot. When we arrived at our first swimming hole, we had it to ourselves. I'm grateful for the early start. The spots were breathtaking. Daniel was just the right amount of friendly and talkative without dominating the experience. He took some great photos which was a relief as I didn't have to worry about my camera and I could enjoy the experience more. A wonderful day. Thanks.

Booking is quick and easy through internet/ e-mail. In my tour at the East Coast near Taitung I got to see the most wonderfull places of the Coast, good spots for food and good conversations about life in Taiwan. Loved it.

Just amazing, no others words thanks to Allan our very knowledgeable guide, great English and well humoured, the day at Taroko Gorges just went by and I did enjoy it very very much. Thanks Island life Taiwan and Allan for the great day spent discovering your amazing nature wonder.

We did the Better Taroko tour with Alan, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of our Taiwan trip. His English was impeccable, he took great pics of us, and he shared a lot of great info with us, especially about Taiwan history, culture, etc. He was also cracking us up all day with his jokes. The tour was super comprehensive and ended up being a packed, long day (pick up at Hualien hotel at 7:30 am, drop off at Hualien train station at 4:45 pm) but we felt like we saw all the major sights with plenty of time to explore on our own. We avoided all the crowds, which was key to enjoying some key sights like the suspension bridges. Lunch at the indigenous restaurant was delicious and filling. Highly recommend this tour with Alan to anyone who wants to experience Taroko!

Did the taroko tour and overall it was a great experience. Simon our tour guide picked us from our hostel and even though we woke up a bit early we managed to stay in front of the crowds; worth it! Highly recommend them if we had more time we would have done more tours with them for sure!

This has to be one of, if not the best English Taroko Gorge tour in Hualien. We booked quite late (the day before actually!) and Island Life were more than happy to arrange a tour for us, even though we were the only two people booked for the day! We were originally tossing up whether we could explore the gorge by ourselves, but are glad to have selected the Island Life tour. Iris was a wonderful guide who enthusiastically showed us around Taroko Gorge. It would have been impossible to reach all the gorge highlights without her expert knowledge and driving skills! We can't speak highly enough of her knowledge and excitement that made the tour 5/5 for us. Not to mention the gorge itself was was simply out of this world. The tour ran all day but it went by in a flash. If you are exploring Taroko Gorge from Hualien, you must use Island Life. Say hi to Iris for us!

I highly recommend the Taroko Gorge best Tour. Even if it’s expensive (2600TWD per person), the one day trip was definitely worth it. Our guide, Iris is really a dynamic, super friendly guide! For sure, if you have Iris during your tour, you will spend a really pleaseant day and learn a lot of things! The pick up was on time. She gave us plenty of information in the Taroko Gorge but also comment about the Aboriginal way of life or about Hualien on our way to Taroko Gorges. She arrange the planning so that each spot we would avoid the lots of bus tourists. The prepared lunch was really good with all local specialities! The communication with Island Life was reactif and easy. It was also quite convenient to communicate with them.

The Better Taroko Gorge Tour with Jason (OJ) was fantastic. We wanted to see the highlights of Taroko Gorge without having to drive ourselves, deal with the infrequent shuttle bus or sign up for a larger or longer tour - this tour ticked all the boxes. Jason was super knowledgeable and just a really lovely, funny person and guide. He was adaptable with time constraints while also wanting to show us his favorite spots and avoid the crowds. We really appreciated Jason's passion for the national park and his desire to share the stories, culture and history of both the Hualien area and of Taiwan. Highly recommend. PS. Also thanks to Jamella for the very fast and informative replies after contacting via the website.

We did 2 tours with Alan (Taroko and Coastal). The tour is worth every cent, if you considering booking a tour guide in Hualien, this should be your first choice. In terms of timing management, Alan was great at dodging the big tour buses before they crowded the attractions, so it felt like we had the sight all to ourselves. In terms of care, Alan is a true professional. He is warm, humorous, and goes above and beyond. Thank you, it was our privilege to tour with you. L

Taroko tour by Iris was perfect! It was perfectly paced, saw 10 highlights before lunch (late lunch totally worth it). Very comfortable transportation and great conversations with all aboard the tour. One of the best tours we have done anywhere.

I cannot recommend Island Life enough! I'm not usually one to do tours, but I'd read that Taroko Gorge is difficult to navigate by public transit and I'd heard such great things about this company that I decided to sign up, and it was an absolutely phenomenal day! We saw sooo many sights in the gorge and avoided most of the crowds of tourists - plus we got in multiple mini hikes and enjoyed a delicious aboriginal lunch. Our tour guide, Alan, was fantastic - he had a great sense of humor and took so many great pictures! It was so lovely to get to know the others in the tour (small group, only 6 of us total!) and to explore so much of the park in one day. Definitely take this tour, you won't regret it!

My husband and I have travelled for the one day Taroko Gorge tour on 16 November 2023 and enjoyed the tour tremendously. The guide Alan showed himself a passionate and knowledgeable guide. We had gained insightful knowledge of the place. We were very impressed and we're very glad we joined the tour. I definitely recommended to my friends and love ones.

Our English-speaking tour guide was great! He was friendly and was good at taking photos of us that were then emailed to me.

We had a wonderful experience doing the better taroko gorge tour with Santa as our guide. Being a very busy place with narrow roads, it was great being shuttled expertly from place to place. If you're looking for the highlights of this expansive national park, island life tours is the way to go!

My husband and I had fun at Taroko Gorge during our day tour! Our tour guide, Iris, speaks English very well! Highly recommended!

Excellent tour with Alan. Did the Better Taroko Gorge tour and he spoke great English and was a funny and well-informed guide. Great value for money and loved the small group. 8 people max. Would recommend for anyone visiting Hualien.

We had a great time with Jimmy on the Zhuilu Old Road trail. Super scary towards the end with sheer 600m drops to the gorge below, but Jimmy never rushed us and kept us entertained with his knowledge of flora and fauna along the way.

We did the Better Taroko Gorge Tour and it was amazing, our guide Iris was very friendly and knew the area and its history well. Despite the heavy rain all day it was still fun and the ATV add on at the end was heaps of fun too. Definitely recommend!

Did the Better Taroko Tour with guide Allen. The tour was really great and informative, Allen has a good humor. Definitely recommended!

Best Tour! Highly recommend

Did the Old Zhuilu Trail tour and Jay was an excellent guide. Awesome hike with spectacular views.

A great tour that will take you to the most beautiful spots in Taroko. We were a small group of 5 people and our guide, Alan, wss a treat! He is so knowledgeable, his English is excellent and he makes the tour very entertaining. He took us to some secret spot so that we could swim in the most turquoise water I've seen! We did 2 trails in taroko national parks, it was great. I was a bit sad we couldn't get on the suspended bridge though and that the temple is currently closed. But we did many other great things too. We had a delicious snack nearby, learned a lot about the history of the local tribes and we were brought to a local restaurant to have some great lunch and drinks. At the end, we arrived in the beach of qixitan and some peeps went with a ATV to view some cliffs. I will keep this great day in mind for a while, best time I've had in Taiwan so far and I was sad to leave Alan, he is a great guide and I had a wonderful day thanks to him. He also took really cool pictures for us that the agency will send to us eventually. Awesome trip, it makes me want to do more tours with them!

Awesome tour, highly recommended

Did two tours with them and both were equally as amazing. Pick up from your hotel/hostel is on time. Free of the crowds and tour groups these guys know not only where the sweet spots of Hualien but also what is the best time to beat the crowds. Depending on how big your group gets you can also get to check out other off the beaten track spots. The Taroko Tour we start early which I found perfect as you get to enjoy more of natural scenery without rushing. They are knowledgeable about the area and are in it to showcase the beauty of Hualien area! Thanks you guys!

Disregard almost ALL the reviews written by travel guides. I looked on their website and saw that they have available tours for this weekend, but upon contacting them they said the only available one is on Sunday. They said they'd give me more details about it, and SUNDAY morning decided to text me that it's not going to take place anymore. Totally unreliable. Spare yourself and your patience and book some other tour. These guys will stand you up last minute and make your vacation not so nice anymore.

An excellent day with Alan (who speaks very good English by the way) we were picked up at our hotel early so as to avoid the crowds and did the Taroko Gorge tour, we were in a group of 6 people so seemed very personal. Alan was very knowledgeable and made sure everyone had a great time.

We had a great tour with our tour guide Iris who knew a lot not only about the Taroko Gorge, but also about the history and culture of Taiwan. And she showed us the highlights of Taroko Gorge, before the first tourists even arrived, that was great!

very nice tour! phenomenal, beautiful scenery! expert guidance!

Local guide,English available,small group

Great day spent with island life tours. Iris our tour guide was a lovely friendly lady with a great sense of humour. We were picked up on time from Azure hotel Hualien to begin a affordable wonderful all day tour.Our first stop was a picturesque view of the coastline outside of Hualien before heading into Taroko National park, learning the history of 200+ men that lost their lives dynamiting & smashing there way through solid rock. The tunnels are a truly aspiring feet of what these men accomplished, costing many lives. Iris done a magnificent job guiding us through the gorge all the time being aware she had to make it to a certain check point of road works that only opened for 10min on the hour. We had 90min walk up a valley through 5 tunnels the first 390 metres long, shinning the torch at the roof to see bats. After the walk we stopped for lunch that offered a choice of one of 3 meat dishes , along with helping yourself to traditional Taiwanese stirfry & rice.Also catered for vegetarians.After lunch we started heading out of Taroko, stopping on the way to walk along another trail which included a swim at a beautiful scenic spot & afterwards dropped off on time to catch train back to Taipei. We'd arranged this tour 3wks prior to leaving New Zealand,all emails were replied to in a timely fashion with Informative details on costings etc.The only thing I didn't really like is that a email will be sent the night before tour starts providing pickup information from hotel. Hualien also has one of the better night markets I've been to in Taiwan offering Aborigine cuisine & side show's.The weather in Taiwan can also be very hot & humid,I had mild concerns thinking would it be too hot for a day tour but no need to worry as the day of tour was a beautiful day & the weather is no where as bad as the North where air conditioning I feel is a must. THANKYOU ISLAND LIFE

One of my best friends and I were visiting Hualien for a short trip. Despite calling on short notice, Island Life was able to arrange a tour (the Better Taroko Gorge Tour) for us with Iris. Iris was an amazing guide and I would highly recommend anyone visiting Hualien to call them up for a tour. Iris made the trip perfect by personalizing the day to our interests and she helped us take amazing photos. She is very knowledgeable of the area and informed us about a lot of local history. If you take a tour with Island Life, cross your fingers that Iris is your guide.

Great tour! Allen was knowledge, friendly, and helpful. Beautiful tour! Highly recommend!

We did a day trip to Lisong hotspring from Taitung. Our guide Chad is a Canadian living in Taitung and very cool guy. They brought a wetsuit for my wife to cross the river which was cold in winter, that was nice. Good experience.

Great tour! Very knowledgeable about the area, and beats the crowds by leaving earlier than the rest. Would highly recommend!