Discover the Magical Waters of Matsu Islands

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The magical blue waters of Matsu, an island chain off the coast of Taiwan, is definitely the stuff of dreams and probably worthy of adding to your bucket list.

Each summer, the shorelines of the islands glow with bits of algae known as "blue tears." It was feared that the phenomenon was caused by pollution in the water, but has recently been confirmed to be naturally occurring.

"This represents a kind of ecological balance, and the appearance of noctiluca scintillans is therefore far from an indication of environmental deterioration," said professor Chiang Kuo-ping in an article on Huffington Post. Kuo-ping is the study's author and director of the Institute of Marine Environment and Ecology at National Taiwan Ocean University's Center of Excellence for the Oceans.

The algae is active generally between April and August - so there's still time to get there and see it. Here's how.

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