Jump Ahead:
Day 1 | Arrival in Ishigaki, rental car, Ishigaki city
Day 2 | Kayaking Miyara River, Shiraho Sunday Market, Tamatorizaki lookout, Mt. Nosoko hike, Hirakubo lighthouse, Akashi town, star gazing
Day 3 | Ishigaki limestone caves, Banno Park skyline lookout, Yaimamura Village, monkey feeding, Kabira Bay glass bottom boat tour, Yaeyama Palm tree grove, Yonehara Beach
Day 1 - Ishigaki
A nice 5-day trip to Okinawa! Always wanted to go and we finally found some time to make the trip. It was hard to choose which islands to visit for such a short trip but in the end we settled on the main island of Okinawa (mostly in Naha) and then Ishigaki (with Miyakojima just barely missing the cut). This was just based on the types and amount of activities available on each island. We both didn’t care to stay in the bigger city of Naha that long (mostly went for the aquarium) so we ended up spending more time on Ishigaki. For this trip, we found it cheaper to purchase a package deal through an agency.. kind of a customized package which included the flights through Naha to Ishigaki (and back), hotels in Ishigaki and Naha, and the rental car for Ishigaki. It happened to come out cheaper than booking separately which was good for us.
The site we used was called J-Trip:
https://www.jtrip.co.jp/
Had a perfect view of Mt. Fuji, the alps, and Kanagawa at the beginning of the flight. Too bad I didn’t have my better camera on me (isn’t that always the case?). Got excited about Japan again in an instant… taking in this rare opportunity. It was definitely nice to be flying with a real airlines again (after the Cambodia trip).
We first had to fly to Naha airport to transfer to Ishigaki. Naha airport was relatively small but did have some counter type food available at least… lot of spam here hehe. Had some good soft serve after eating a musubi bento and the citrus drink was pretty good too… almost like a lemonade. Then we caught a bus out to a very small commuter plane. First time for me flying on that type of plane… but I guess it’s something of an experience because they were even giving free postcards upon deplaning.
Finally we arrive at Ishigaki airport… it was also small but I was impressed for what it was. Free wifi at both airports and around Naha city, plus both airports were not a complete rip off (contrary to many others stateside). Even though they were smaller, both were much better than Honolulu (though almost everywhere is)… overall cleaner, not a rip-off, had better services, more polite, and generally more conveniences.
Shortly after picking up our luggage we caught a shuttle to our car rental place… everything going as planned so far. Driving away from the airport there was an immediately laid back country feel… definitely not crowded at least like Oahu. A short drive to the hotel and it was right next to a Family Mart so that was nice.
We chose to stay at the Hotel Peace Island Ishigaki which was an older hotel… not pretty to look at but had a full-size apartment style room with everything you’d need. It even had a laundry machine and a large fridge.
Hotel Peace Island Ishigaki
http://peace-k.jp/yashima/
After getting settled in the room a bit, we walked to the public market/shopping arcade area in “downtown.” Not really much to the place except a few of the same omiyage-type shops.
For dinner, we ended up at a small family-owned izakaya style place. All the food was good, drinks were strong, and the soba just a little sweeter. So far the food in southern Japan has leaned towards being more sweet than say the Kanto region…
Okinawa Izakaya:
http://ishigakijima.daa.jp/
While walking back to our hotel we came across an interesting memorial about when the island switched ALL their traffic signs in the span of 8 hours (overnight) in 1978.
You can read more about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/730_(transport)
Finally, back to Family Mart for dessert/snacks/breakfast, and then back to our hotel to relax. Somehow I felt nostalgic listening to Okinawan music on the radio… something about how the emotion comes through to me even though I’m not from these islands.
Day 2 - Ishigaki
Work up early today at 0600 and ate our Family Mart Okinawan musubi for breakfast hehe. At 0750 we left to go kayaking with a company called Marine House – it really did seem to be just someones house but at least they seemed fairly professional about everything. They did provide cell phone water cases and water shoes in case you didn’t bring yours and they really showed concern about taking care of our things. There was a brief paddling lesson in Japanese (during which I just followed the motions hehe) and then right off to the river. The group consisted of just the guide, 2 friends, 1 family of 4, and us. Overall, the river was easy enough to paddle through and the mangroves were not too difficult to maneuver around. Interesting enough for two hours anyway – small caves with little jumping fish onto land, lots of butterflies, various plant species and critters everywhere. In the middle we got out for a short 15 minute walk in the mangroves and then paddled back to the house. The weather turned out really nice and we went at an easy pace as it was just turning low tide and getting warmer.
Marine House:
http://www.yamangu.com/
After getting back to the house,we rinsed off our shoes/self, changed clothes in the tiny changing room, and then headed to Shiraho Sunday Market. We weren’t sure at first where it was but it is indeed located at the Coral Village Research Center. Parking was in the adjacent lot. The market was in a very small courtyard with not so many vendors but it was actually better than we first expected. Food choices all looked good (and tasted good too). Just a little of everything to make it a worthwhile visit. Good for local people to visit as well and a nice rest stop for us. Some of the foods included soups, pancakes, brown sugar andagi (yes!), kulolo looking things, hibiscus shave ice, and of course, free water hehe.
Next was about a 30 minute drive to Tamatorizaki lookout. Here we came just for the nice view and were surprised by the many different hibiscus flowers along the paths. Still had good weather but it was getting pretty hot outside now.
After the lookout, another short drive making our way North to Mt. Nosoko for a short little hike. We found parking just on the side of the road near the trail head… it’s all a little haphazard so just pay attention to how other cars are lined up. The hike itself was only about 15 minutes but fairly slippery and muddy despite the warm weather. Had to use ropes at some points… so I would not recommended doing it in the rain or while wearing nice shoes (amazing how many people hike without proper clothes/shoes). You’ll come across a fork in the trail… just turn uphill and to the left. The paths can be narrow and there are no real trail markers. At the top is a really nice view… definitely worth the effort. There are large rocks to sit on at the top although one is off limits due to it being loose apparently (I think they all felt like they were moving in the wind though).
We still had a lot of time in the day so after the hike we headed towards Hirakubo lighthouse at the northern tip of the island. Sunset beach was closed today so we didn’t get to see it on the way. At the lighthouse there was a nice enough view all around… probably the only reason to come up here as there wasn’t much else around. I could imagine how much good fishing there must be in those waters… much better than Hawaii. On the flipside though there were definitely some weird bugs and lot more animals in Okinawa hehe. Got some shave ice in the parking lot on the way out… the “zenzai” in Okinawa was with a larger red bean which I don’t think I prefer but still was not bad. Shekwasha fruit flavor was very sour with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The dinner place we researched didn’t open for another two hours (still 1630, opens at 1830) so we stopped by the pottery shop near the lighthouse but there was nothing of interest for us except a very bored, lonely dog outside…
Next, we found our way to the beach in Akashi town. We really had the whole beach to ourselves, minus the family fishing at the very far end on the rocks if you count that. The sand was not the greatest and there was a lot of washed up trash (mostly Chinese products – light bulbs, oil drums, etc.) but the water was still clear. Some crab holes here and there but we could only catch a couple of hermit crabs to play with. After a short nap on the beach, we took a walk to the far end to see the shipwreck there, then strolled back through the town as the sun was setting. Just a very peaceful afternoon overall.
Hungry now, finally it was 1830 and the restaurant Akashi Shokudo was open. From the outside it seems to be a very small place with a few hotel rooms on the side. Only a few women working and an old man cooking in the back. I think everyone was local except us and people knew we were foreigners since I had Yokohama shirt on. Since there aren’t that many restaurant options in general on this side of the island (that were open at least) I can understand why this might be a more local crowd. We were hungry so we ordered Yaeyama soba, soki soba, and fried fish. All were good but the highlight was the pork in the soki soba. Words can’t begin to describe it and I HAD to order a second side of it. I don’t know how it could be so good… even the cartilage was soft like jelly. All other places should give up because this place already is and always will be number one in my memory. I became so biased already that it wouldn’t be fair to compare to it to anything else haha. I don’t know if it was because we were hungry, or the atmosphere, but it was just too good to believe. Definitely the highlight meal of the trip for me at least. I really didn’t want to eat soki soba anywhere else on the trip after this place. Oh and everything else was pretty good too hehe.
On the way back to the hotel, we wanted to see stars so we stopped at Tamatorizaki lookout again (though everywhere was pretty dark, especially while driving). The clouds cleared up enough to get a decent view but unfortunately I didn’t bring my tripod for a good picture.. just memories! Good oldie music was playing in the car on the way home and it really resonated with me in the moment… the singer’s name was Hibari Misora, very famous apparently. I put one of her fun songs below hehe
After a long day, we got back to the hotel around 2100, (sunset late here, about 1900). Did our lazy stop at Family Mart for the next days breakfast again since we were too tired to go elsewhere. Was mentioning how it’s hard to feel like I’m in Okinawa because of the Japanese and similarity in look/temperature/etc. to Hawaii… Also it was a short trip, but I guess if I had to compare, for me it would be like Ishigaki/Kauai, Naha/Oahu, Tokyo/Mainland. It just took a little more effort to fully appreciate where we were and how I could relate/understand more.
Day 3 - Ishigaki
Musubi and sandwich for breakfast again (they have some different ones in Okinawa conbini), then a short drive to some supposedly famous limestone caves. The place was empty when we got there and was not quite what we were expecting. There seemed to be just one old guy running the entire place and it wasn’t kept up very well. I assumed it would just be a single cave but you actually pay for a short “nature” walk. The nature walk has some small caves, caged birds and monkey (who all seemed hungry), very old burial sites, small fishing house, etc. It’s a loop trail, taking maybe only 30 minutes to complete, and seems almost like an abandoned theme park. Nothing really impressive to me at least. There’s a small shell and stone collection on the way out and a shop at the exit.
Update 8/2019: In hindsight, we might’ve went to the wrong cave attraction… the one we went to is no longer recognized on google maps, unless it has since moved… I have to believe there was something to lead us there to begin with though… anyway, the correct one should’ve been the same as the link below. What’s on this website is definitely not what we experienced…
As we were leaving, the old man told us about another cave on the driveway heading out (turn at the Cowboy statue nearer to main road/entrance)… turns out this was actually the “popular” cave. This cave was more impressive and what we were initially expecting… in hindsight it’s better to just go straight there for free and skip the paid nature walk place. A very expansive cave, with one portion leading to the ocean about 3km away. It’s a one way route on the inside with an exit on the far side followed by a short walk back to the car.
A short drive from the limestone caves is the Banno Park skyline and a fairly big observation point. We got a nice view of the other Yaeyama Islands from here. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go to visit the other islands on this short trip but it was a nice enough view to put things into better perspective.
At around 1130, we went straight to Yaimamura Village. Sort of a cultural village like the Polynesian Cultural Center back home but smaller. The village consisted of old houses (some original), a nature walk, various activities, a monkey park, and dance/music performances from Ishigaki/Okinawa. The music performance and dance was entertaining and unique, especially the funny Hello Kitty lady with the bottle-on-head dance. The sad part (as they mentioned during the performance) is that this part of their culture is dying with the older generation.
Feeding monkeys in the little park enclosure was fun too. They weren’t super aggressive but they do climb all over you pretty freely as soon as they hear the food or see the food capsule. Most will grab the food with their tiny hands but one just ate straight out of my hands… used lots of hand sanitizer after! Worth the 200 yen for food hehe. There was also a pretty large gift shop on the way out of the village complete with a cafe. We got some good zenzai with ice cream from there before leaving.
Continuing our island tour, we made it to Kabira Bay by 1430. We had a hard time deciding on where to eat lunch since the first option we looked up was closed. Marie wanted goya but for some reason it wasn’t that easy to find on Ishigaki. There turned out to be a good amount of shops and cafes near the bay but some closed pretty early and/or sold out of half their menu somehow. Didn’t seem good for a supposedly big tourist spot. After walking around a little, we found the company (Kabira Marine) that we already had a 20% coupon for (though it seems pretty much all the companies in the area had 20% coupons… one of those fake sale things). Booked the 1530 glass bottom boat cruise (because that’s what people do here), walked around the shops, and got a quick bite to eat nearby (kebab/taco gyro, really just because we were hungry but couldn’t find a proper lunch). Then we walked down to the beach to board the boat… waters here prohibit free swimming in the area (though there are diving tours I believe) so maybe it’s just a controlled tourism area? The course was just a quick 30 minute tour for 830 yen each… not terribly expensive at least. The boat operator knew where to find the octopus/turtles/fish already. There were plenty of fish and the water was super clear but I thought the coral would be more colorful. Still a good enough experience. The whole time I was just thinking how nice it would’ve been to have a snorkel and 3-prong the whole time hehe. Coming back in and seeing the coast reminded my of fishing days in Hawaii a little. By the time we got off the boat, some of the gift shops had already closed (by 1600) so we just got some ice cream and croquettes, then headed back to the car for our next destination.
Stopping at the Yaeyama Palm tree grove turned out to not really be worth the time but it was near the beach anyway. It was really just a hillside full of palm trees and a building with an elevator you can pay to go up a few floors for a better view. We didn’t go up and the short trail we did walk down just went to a different parking lot haha… we didn’t stay here long at all.
Very near to the palm tree grove was Yonehara Beach, one of the top 3 most popular beaches on the island. The sand was better here (compared to the previous day) and the water was super calm, clear, and actually fairly warm. At least we can say we touched the East China Sea hehe. The beach was not crowded at all either with probably less than 10 people stopping by at the time.
Next to the beach was a pretty crazy looking souvenir shop. We decided just to take a peak but it actually turned out to be pretty good and I was able to get a pair of nice lions from them. I thought they were going to be 2000 yen each but it was actually for the pair so it turned out even better! Not the fakey, colorful, comic looking ones either. In hindsight, after checking other omiyage shops in town, it was hard to find (if any) the lions I got (win!).
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a small lookout on the side of the road over looking Kabira Bay as the sun was getting low. Cool clouds, peaceful country vibe, just enjoying it for a few moments.
After driving back to our hotel, we walked back into town to check out other omiyage shops in the public market area. I got my yaeyama patterned towel that I couldn’t get at Kabira Bay (because those shops closed early) and with a surprise 10% off too! We were both pretty tired so we ended up just eating at a chain style Okinawan restaurant. Nothing special but Marie was finally able to get her goya. For me, the food just couldn’t compare to the other soki soba in Akashi hehe. Finally, stopped at Family Mart again for what would be our final breakfast food here.
Overall, a very full two days on Ishigaki but very enjoyable and I think we got to do most of what was popular (except maybe diving things). Particularly enjoyed the laid back island feel very much. Tons of mosquito bites though! Good weather, low 20’s (deg C)… just right and not much sun burn. Next time I think we can go straight to the other islands for an even more laid back retreat.
To be continued!