Four Things To Do In Taiwan When It Rains That Aren't A Mall
- braveontw
- Jun 22
- 3 min read
Rain cancelled your outdoor plans. You can still move, get active, and experience local life, all indoors, alongside the people who actually live here.
You already know about the night markets and the temples.
But Taiwan's weather doesn't negotiate. Plum rain season, afternoon convection storms, typhoon remnants. A perfectly blue morning can turn into a full cancellation by 2pm. It happens to every traveler at some point.
When it does, most guides will send you to a mall or a museum. But Taiwan has a few indoor options that most travelers never find. Cheap, walk in friendly!
Things To Do In Taiwan When It Rains
Activity | Price | Solo Friendly | Walk-in |
Shrimp Fishing | NT$400/hr | Yes | Yes |
Bowling | NT$40/game | Yes | Yes |
Indoor Bouldering | NT$200-350 | Yes | Yes |
E7 Play (Indoor playground） | Hourly rate | Yes | Yes |
All four are walk-in friendly. No reservations, no advance planning needed.
Chapter 1: The One That Only Exists in Taiwan
Shrimp Fishing: The Indoor Experience Most Travelers ingnore
Picture this: it's 10pm on a rainy Tuesday. You're sitting on a plastic stool next to an indoor pool, rod in hand, cold drink beside you, waiting.
This is shrimp fishing (diào xiā chǎng), and it exists in few Asian countries only.
The setup is simple. You rent a rod, get a 2 minute lesson from the staff, and fish for live shrimp in an indoor pool. When you catch one, the venue cooks it for you on the spot.
Pricing:
1 hour: NT$400
2 hours: NT$750
3 hours: NT$1,000
Some venues charge by weight instead
Prices vary slightly by region. Kaohsiung tends to run cheaper than Taipei. Either way, factor in the cook your catch service separately.
Zero experience needed. The staff will show you what to do. Many venues are open 24 hours, which makes this one of the few genuinely good options for late night rainy days.
Good for: solo travelers, couples, groups.
To find one near you, search Shrimp Fishing "釣蝦場" (just copy it directly) on Google Maps.
Chapter 2: The Ones That Cost a Fraction of the Price Back Home
Bowling and Indoor Bouldering: Cheap, Easy, No Booking Required
Two activities. Same logic: show up, pay, play.
Bowling (bǎolíng qiú)
One game of bowling in Taiwan costs around NT$40 per person. In the US, you're looking at USD$5 to $8 for the same thing. Taiwan's bowling alleys are easy to find, always walk-in, and never complicated.
To find one near you, search "保齡球" on Google Maps.
Indoor Bouldering ( shìnèi bào shí )
Taiwan doesn't have a bouldering chain, but almost every district has at least one gym. Walk-ins are welcome at most. Zero experience needed. Staff will point you to the beginner walls and explain the color coded route system. The price is significantly lower than what you'd pay in the US or Europe.
To find one near you, search "室內抱石" on Google Maps.
Both are good for: solo travelers, couples, anyone who wants to move instead of sit.
Chapter 3: The One That Gets Better With More People
E7 Play: Everything Under One Roof
E7 Play is a large indoor entertainment venue with bowling, darts, arcade games, racing simulators, and air hockey all in one space. It runs on an hourly rate, and most people end up staying two to three hours without realizing it.
Solo travelers do fine here. But it gets significantly better the more people you bring.
Good for: solo travelers, couples, groups of friends.
To find E7 Play locations, search "E7 Play" on Google Maps.
The One Thing These All Have in Common
No reservations. No advance planning. You can walk into any of these on a rainy afternoon and be doing something within fifteen minutes.
Taiwan's weather is unpredictable. Your backup plan shouldn't require a booking two weeks in advance.
And honestly? Some travelers end up preferring these to the original plan.
Coming to Taiwan and want help building an itinerary that accounts for the unexpected? That's exactly what I do.
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