Online applications to visit Dadan Island (大膽) in Kinmen County are being accepted again, following a three-month break, the Kinmen Department of Tourism said yesterday.
The island, 45km from Xiamen, China, and part of the front line against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during the Cold War, was opened to tourists last year.
A total of 17,000 people have visited since, with a nearly 90 percent satisfaction rate reported, the Kinmen County Government said.
Taiwanese and foreign tourists who want to visit the island must apply for a permit in advance, but Chinese citizens and tourists from Hong Kong and Macau are not allowed to visit, the tourism department said.
A maximum of 300 visitors are to be allowed per day, up from 150 last year, but the exact number would depend on the tides, it said.
The county government offers a passenger ferry tour package between Jiugong Harbor (九宮碼頭) and Dadan, which it hopes would help boost tourism in Lieyu Township (烈嶼), which administers Dadan, the county said.
The tour takes about five hours, and the packages include a professional guide, and free food and beverage at a local restaurant, it said.
Ferry tickets cost NT$1,500 per person, with a 50 percent discount offered to Kinmen residents, with elderly, child and veteran discounts available, it added.
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