The BETTER Taroko Gorge Tour

This tours was amazing and we got to see everything we wanted and even more!
We had the best day with our guide Iris who was very helpful, knowledgeable and funny. We could not have asked for a better guide. The tours was very nice since it included a variety of activities, from swimming in crystal clear water to hiking to a temple in the mountains in the breathtaking scenery of Taroko gorge.

We would definitely recommend anyone to book this tour!

What a day! Taroko Gorge is a spectacular place to visit, especially with a great guide. Our guide Iris took us to all the best places in the park and was hilarious and joyful the whole time. It was a HOT day, so it was nice when at the conclusion of the tour, Iris took us to a nearby river for a swim. Just what we needed! Thanks so much to Island Life, we will definitely contact you again when we come back to Taiwan.

Outstanding experience with Island Life Taiwan! The Tunnel of Nine Turns had just opened so we got to experience possibly the best place in the park on our visit. It’s the summer, so the park is fairly busy, but our Island Life guide Allen did a good job of avoiding the crowds and getting there early made a big difference. Overall a wonderful experience and i would definitely recommend Island Life Taiwan to anyone visiting Hualien.

Our trip to Taroko Gorge was amazing! My friend and I were initially going to explore the gorge by ourselves, but luckily we stumbled upon this tour while researching. It was the best tour we could have ever hoped for. The service overall was awesome, from the scheduling to the drop off at the end of the tour. We had such a fun time with our tour guide, Iris. She was so kind, funny, and knowledgeable about the history of Taiwan and the Taroko tribe. She really took care of us, making sure we were safe and didnt get wet from the rain while treading the trails. We even got to go ATVing on the beach near the gorge and also experienced Taroko tribe food at the top of the mountain. Our trip was 10x more memorable and amazing because of her. Highly recommend a tour with her as your guide!

Wow Wow Wow! If seeing Taroko is a priority for you (and it should be) go with Island Life Taiwan. They really do make sure you get to the park before the crowds, plus our guide Iris knew all of the best spots for photos, talk about IG gold!
Thanks Island Life Taiwan, excellent day.

The best tour you could possibly imagine
A group of 4 of my friends (including myself) did The Better Taroko Gorge Tour with Iris as our tour guide. To sum up this review in a couple words, I would repeat the title: “The best tour you could possibly imagine”. Iris was very knowledgeable about the Gorge, Hualien and all of Taiwan. She had so many interesting facts and personal, cultural contributions about the geography, politics and culture of all the places we went, that we would all gladly spent way more time with Iris had we had more time. She was super responsive and respectful and did a great job of transporting us, but also simultaneously being a good tour guide and giving us good information as well as taking plenty of pictures and videos of and for us when we were too busy or preoccupied with the sheer beauty of the Gorge to do ourselves.

Iris is very genuine. It is clear that she enjoys doing what she does, which translates perfectly into a very enjoyable and informative day.

In terms of the content, it all ran smoothly and was clearly adapted to what met our specific needs and expectations. This was not a hard, rigid, impersonal tour. There is so much to see and do in the Taroko Gorge and Island Life Taiwan was a perfect fit to make our day with them exactly what we wanted.

I could not recommend this tour anymore!!!

Everything about this tour was perfect; from the inquiry & booking to the day itself and the follow up.
Iris was a wonderful guide; had everything prepared, planned and in the boot of her car for all eventualities.
The place itself is wonderful and all the better for an early start. It was midday before we saw anyone else so we really benefited from seeing the beauty on our own.
Certainly would recommend this tour for those we don’t mind the early start and want a personal, professional tour.
And at the end of the day, all the photos that Iris took of us available for viewing on Google Drive 🙂

Memorable tour of Taroko Gorge
My boyfriend and I greatly enjoyed our time with Island Life Adventures — we took the “Better Taroko Gorge Tour” with Iris, our extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide, who took us to all the prettiest places in the gorge before the big tour buses got there; this meant that in several of the scenic spots we had the place to ourselves (no small feat, especially since we were there during Chinese New Year!) We particularly appreciated the small group size (there were 5 of us in total), which made the experience feel very tailor-made and personal. Iris also took lots of photos throughout the tour and sent them to us afterwards, which was a lovely way to conclude our experience. Would highly recommend!

Amazing Experience, Highlight of our trip in Taiwan!

We did two tours with Island Life Taiwan (Taroko and Zhuilu Old Trail) and both were spectacular experiences. They were definitely the highlight of our time in Taiwan!

Our tour guides (Iris and Manual) were very knowledgeable, nice, and accommodating. They went above and beyond to make the hiking as enjoyable as possible, and made it special for everyone on the tour.

Overall, I highly recommend doing the tours! The parks are huge and you need a great, local guide to be able to make the best of your time there.

Amazing private tour
We had a private tour because we were traveling with our 4-yr old. We all had an amazing time! We got to see more than I thought possible. Alan, our guide, was really great. He even took photos of us, which is so nice considering I’m not usually in them because I’m usually the one taking them. Typical Mom. 🙂 I wish we had more time in the area to do the longer hikes. We’ll have to come back when DS is a bit older.

Fantastic!
Our guide was very passionate, knowledgeable, friendly and funny. She explained us historical facts from features we would have missed otherwise. We had a wonderful time discovering the Taroko Gorge with her. The early start enabled us to visit without being invaded by coaches of tourists. Also, since we were a small group, we could ride a smaller vehicle and access places tourist coaches could not. Definitely recommended if you want to discover the gorge!

Best way to experience Hualien’s nature!
I had wanted to see Taroko Gorge while visiting in Hualien, but knew I couldn’t see much of it without some kind of tour. This one proved to be the best out there! Though it was a tiny bit pricier than a few of the other options I found, I thought it was well worth the cost. Alan was a great local tour guide! (And yes, he speaks English). Because our tour group was only 3 people, he was able to personalize the tour a bit more for us, staying longer in certain places to take pictures, or doing things in a slightly different order. It was all amazing!! So beautiful and not strenuous hikes. I paid extra for the ATV ride on the beach and it was absolutely worth it! We had the beach to ourselves and a whole hour to ride and enjoy the view. I highly recommend this tour while you are there, especially if you are traveling with multiple people, since the price will drop with each additional person. All in all, had a great day!

Our family of five had an incredible day in Taroko Gorge with Iris. We expected the views to be stunning, and they were, but we didn’t know we were visiting on the first day of a four day Taiwanese holiday, so the crowds were huge and could have ruined the trip if not for Iris’ inside knowledge of every aspect of the tour. She juggled the itinerary to keep us away from the worst of the crowds and worked magic to find parking and accompany us on the visit to each spot, providing background information about everything we saw. It was so much more than a sightseeing tour, and we would trust Iris to take us anywhere, and I wouldn’t want to see Taroko Gorge any other way.

Breathtaking
Highly recommend Island life Taiwan tour. We stayed in Hualien for 4 days and we booked them for all our tours during the duration of our stay. They are very professional and provided such excellent service. Tour groups are small, 8 people the most, so we didn’t feel rushed. Each guide catered to every guest and answer each question knowledgeably. They made me and my 10 year old feel very comfortable. I would recommend them to anyone. We did the Zhuilu old trail, Taroko gorge tour, and Heshuan (I know i spelled this wrong sorry) tour and we enjoyed every single bit!

Best day imaginable!
It would be ridiculous to come to Hualien and not see Taroko Gorge, and the Island Life Taiwan tour has got to be the best way to go. Our tour guide Iris was amazing at finding her way around the gorge and avoiding the crowds, which were huge that day as we went during a Taiwanese holiday. She was able to tell us so much about what we were looking at, and arranged for all of the extras you need to go all the way, like helmets against falling rocks when needed, and rain gear (including shoe covers!) to walk through the waterfall curtain. The views are breathtaking. The day is exciting. We highly recommend.

Exciting Trails and Special Treats!

Appreciate the last minute booking through Bruce. Thanks for your accommodation. My family had a great time meeting our guide Alan who brought us through the various trials and even bought us sausages and drinks a the Shakadang Trial. He even brought us down to the bank where we could soak our legs in the icy cold clear blue waters! It was an exciting journey and thanks for introducing us the ‘Mee Sua’ back at Hua Lien! Most of all, the wonderful photos you’ve taken and shared with us through your company! Cheers!

Truly an experience of a lifetime. We did the Taroko gorge tour and Zhuilu old trail tour with island life and couldn’t recommend them enough. Our guides, Allen, Iris and Jay were as friendly as could be. Great job.

Great Tour of Taroko park
Our guide, Iris, was fabulous. Always friendly and helpful, she explained to us many things about the park, the fauna and the vegetation. We’ve seen everything calmly and the service was impeccable.

The tour was EXCELLENT! Our tour guide was Iris and she was extremely knowledgable and personable. I have a food allergy and she went out of her way to ensure that I could eat something at lunch. We were also on a tight timeline given our train schedule and she made sure that we were able to see all the sights and get to our train on time. All in all a very nice day. Would highly recommend this company.

1st class Tour!!
We took this tour as a family group of 3 adults in October and had a wonderful day, Iris showed us many spots and was full of information which she willing shared. Her bright personality and knowledge really made the day special. So pleased we chose this tour over others, being in a private vehicle was very comfortable and allowed more flexibility with time to take photos etc at places of interest. Lunch was delicious and filling. An added adventure of the the day was catching a very lost and scared dog who was dodging buses and cars on the main highway on the way home. Her willingness to stop to allow us all to catch him in my book says volumes about her and the company, he certainly would have been run over otherwise. His owner was so pleased to get him back!! If I get back to Taiwan I would not hesitate book with this company again, everything was well organised and as advertised. It was a refreshing change from the usual organised tours. Go with them you wont be disappointed and have a fabulous day out!! Thanks again Iris for a very special day.

What can I say, an amazing experience we wont soon forget! Our family of four did a private tour with Iris and she made us feel like a part of her Taiwan family. In Taroko she even bought us some magow (sp) sausages, an aboriginal specialty of the local tribe. What a great day. Everyone at Island Life deserves a thank you. Good experience all around.

Experienced guide really make the difference. Yes, we could have taken the public bus and visited many of the same places for cheaper, but having a guide there to tell us about the history and geology of the place, and point out things we never would have noticed, made it a very special day. This is definitely a highlight in Taiwan and Island Life made it a highlight of our holiday.

Iris is amazing! We are a family of 5 and took a private tour of Taroko with Iris and she was a joy throughout the day. We were worried about the weather, but when it began raining in the afternoon, Iris had umbrellas and took care of everything. A very friendly local with lots of love for her local community. We also met another Island Life guide Alan at lunch and he seemed equally fun and accommodating. Highly recommend Island Life!