Chaoyin Cave — the Cave of Tidal Sound — is a sea cave at the island's northeastern point where the Pacific swell drives waves deep into a rock cleft with a sound that echoes and reverberates into what sounds like distant chanting. The cave has been a pilgrimage site for over a thousand years, and the shrine above the cave entrance is one of the most atmospheric spots on the island, with the sound of the sea amplified into something closer to music.
The path to the cave follows the island's rocky northeastern shore from Fayu Monastery, a thirty-minute walk through scrub pine with sea views on one side. The cave itself is most dramatic at high tide when the swell is running, but the rock formations and the small temple built above the entrance are worth seeing at any state of the tide. In the rock face near the cave, a series of Buddhist inscriptions and relief carvings were cut during the Tang and Song dynasties and remain legible.