Other than throne gorge, we are unlikely to go whale watching sister in law has bad motion sickness. What are the other places in hualien to head to that can fill up the second full day? We are likely to do a private tour for those two days in hualien, to be recommended by the minsu.
Definitely visit the qingshui cliffs above the Pacific, just north of Taroko Gorge. Or drive south to the East Rift Valley or the west coast, towards Taitung.
Visit Qixingtan Beach, just a couple of kms north of Hualien. This is particular nice at the weekend when there are different activities going on and many Taiwanese are there, many food stalls. Walk to the Tan Katsuo Museum, which used to be an old Japanese dried fish factory. Nowadays you can see some good displays and there is even a good fish restaurant in the building.
It is about m south of Qixingtan beach, small entrance fee, nothing in English but one of the museum members will escort you and explain everything in English. The night market which really does not get going until 6 pm is well worth visiting and eating dinner there.
November is not the right time for whale watching anyway so a good decision to give it a miss. Some of these whale watching tour companies are very unethical. Even knowing the weather is not suitable or the chance of sighting is low, they will still take your money, go out for a short distance then turn back, claiming bad weather and give you a voucher for a return visit which tourists would be unlikely to utilise.
