ISHIGAKI

[Cyka UchuuJin]

who's been?

and if you've been, can you recommend a really lush hotel that actually has king beds.

[Mike Oxlong]

They got a Club Med...

http://www.clubmed.com.hk/kabira/index.php

[Cyka UchuuJin]

They got a Club Med...

http://www.clubmed.com.hk/kabira/index.php

and it looks to be just about the only interesting/nice place down there. what is it with japanese and separate beds???

[Iraira]

what is it with japanese and separate beds???

Have you ever tried to actually get some sleep in a bed that was covered in chocolate syrup, honey, cherry pits, discarded 12V batteries, an acteylene torch:drool:, and hardened candle wax?

That's why there are two beds.....sheesh

[Greji]

Have you ever tried to actually get some sleep in a bed that was covered in chocolate syrup, honey, cherry pits, discarded 12V batteries, an acteylene torch:drool:, and hardened candle wax?

That's why there are two beds.....sheesh

That sounds pretty good. Do they have a hitching post?

[Behan]

Some cowboys on their way to check in:

[Cyka UchuuJin]

scrapped ishigaki and went to kohama.
i have no idea how we came upon this place, but it was without a doubt far exceeded what we were after. 25 minute high speed ferry took us from ishigakijima to kohamajima, population 625. 7.82km island dwarfed by the amazing backdrop of iriomotejima. our room was amazing, set on a lagoon, with balcony jacuzzi and private sauna. we had teppanaki both nights, the ishigaki beef rivals kobe for sure and the lobster that had been caught that morning on the other side of the island was perfect.
http://www.nanseirakuen.com/kohamaisland/allamanda/index.html

it's not cheap to get there, the tickets from tokyo haneda on ana were 90.000 one way (and that was with the ana vouchers bought from one of those ticket kiosks).

the island itself is fantastic. we hired bicycles and did the 16km all the way around, through the little hilltop village (highest point 96M) and to the manta ray statue overlooking the fishing port (the strait between kohama and iriomote is called the 'manta way', where manta migrate through, although we didn't see any). perfect untouched white coral sand beaches, with more coral than i'd ever seen, went for a swim in the clear waters and had fish and even an eel swimming round our feet. an unihabited smaller island just off the shore is perfect for picnics.

not a place to take the kids, but if you're looking to get as far away from 'japan' without leaving the country, it's highly recommended. even in early november, the temperature (both water and air) was perfect and the resort was nearly deserted, and we were the only foreigners. the staff were very friendly and smiled because they were happy, not because it was their public 'have to' face.

we'll definitely be back.

sunset behind iriomotejima looking from kohamajima shore

[alicia454]

[Cyka UchuuJin]

none of those islands away from ishigaki has a conveni or fast food places. that's exactly why we went. we'll go there again and do a day trip to iriomote. i was pretty convinced that boyfriend and i could swim across manta way to iriomote, but then thought better of it when i saw the eel.

true, very little english is spoken in the yaeyama islands, it was explained that even the dialects on the 7 islands are quite different. a few people at allamanda spoke english, but to be perfectly honest, we liked it that way.

ishigaki was pretty cool in it's own happy-go-lucky way. we loved that everyone was so laid back and wore sandals and wasn't obsessed with wearing UV gloves. we knew we'd hit exactly what we wanted when the brown skinned, hawaiian shirt wearing taxi driver who was probably 60 years old had a huge grin on his face and kept saying 'okinawa is best to make happy!'. we bought souvenier junk and t-shirts and had lunch in the a&w root beer shop while waiting for the next ferry over to kohama.

i agree, i'd not spend any time in ishigaki, it's the industrial port of the yaeyamas, and the other islands are way more interesting. iriomote is a protected marine life area. kohama for us was heaven (ie, no kids or sterilised packaged convenis or anything resembling automatic anything). next time we'll stay at the same place on kohama and do day trips from there.

we flew from haneda to naha, then on to ishigaki on ANA. jal has flights direct from haneda to ishigaki, but it's all on a smaller plane with no premium class. the skymark/jta option was a possibility, but the price wasn't really all that much cheaper than ANA with the vouchers, so we decided to go with tried and true.

[omae mona]

FYI, yesterday's Asahi Shinbun had a full page ad from a travel agency, mostly devoted to Ishigaki & the Yaeyama islands. They have a bunch of 3-day packages ranging from 50,000 to 130,000 yen, including (I believe) travel from Tokyo.

Web link to the packages from their ad is here.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

FYI, yesterday's Asahi Shinbun had a full page ad from a travel agency, mostly devoted to Ishigaki & the Yaeyama islands. They have a bunch of 3-day packages ranging from 50,000 to 130,000 yen, including (I believe) travel from Tokyo.

Web link to the packages from their ad is here.

well then we went at exactly the perfect time. there were probably only 10 couples when we were there and that suited us just fine.

[Buraku]

what is it with japanese and separate beds???

marriage...welcome to hell

[uchimizu]

Ishigaki is the main island of the yaeyama archipelago, in my opinion, one of the most interesting places in the archipelago.

While it is quite convenient to be based on Ishigaki (there is a quite good Nikko Hotel in the center, walking distance from the port), you should also see Taketomi island, with its very nice village and outstanding beaches, and the very wild Iriomote island.

Here is a story I wrote about the islands: http://uchimizu-en.blogspot.com/2008/01/beautiful-islands-in-south-of-japan.html.

[HadakaNoGaijin]

I was on Iriomote for this summer working so I'll attempt to give some semi helpful insider info.

First off that ferry, alicia454, you're talking about went bankrupt over the summer and stopped June 6th. I know because I was planning on taking it June 6th. They were talking about reopening the route but I dunno if they have yet. But its only 2000yen or so difference I believe in the ferry and the plane from Naha so nothing major.

As people have said here, you can manage most sightseeing stuff by staying a few days or so. The Urauchi River cruise is worth the money but if its raining I'd be hesitant to go because the trail is covered with rocks in places and not very wide which is fine but when there is a 18meter drop into overgrown primeval Jungle that no one would be able to find you for days if not longer its alittle ify. Bring some swim trunks because you can swim at the drop off for the trail which is a good way to kill time waiting for the ferry. My first thought was Jurassic Park when I saw the Jungle.
If you're rich enough do the diving, the corals and the sea life are absolutely amazing. If your poor like me, get a snorkel and go a beach and swim/walk for like 15minutes to the end of the reef where the drop off begins and its well worth the effort. Other than that, tourist wise you'll probably hear about a town with a beach you can get to by ferry from Shirohama, the name eludes me now, which was very nice years ago but has become touristy since then.You should really check out the Sonai nature preserve and Hoshidate village has a traditional Iriomote House for people to check out.

Now for a very insider tip, theres a awesome lookout point by Uehara if you know how to get to it. Its right next to the big cell towers which are extremely obvious. If I remember correctly, coming out of Uehara going toward Shirohama you'll see gas station on the left with 100 yen stall like 40 secs out of Uehara. You'll need to take a left at the road next to it, then the roads going to fork and you'll take a right and then the first left and the road should turn really steep, almost too steep for a bicycle and that will led to the base of the cell tower.

Don't plan on seeing a Yamaneko, unless you have a year to drive around after midnight or are extremely lucky.

Buy all of the supplies you can carry in Ishigaki as its much cheaper because of the stories on Iriomote have their prices increased for the tourists. The locals make trips over to Ishigaki to buy their supplies because of the prices.

The locals really don't like you walking around in just a swim suit so if you'd like to be respectful and not piss off the entire old population of the town unlike me, put a shirt on. They also used the beaches as places to dry out the dead so the locals tend not to swim at the beaches either and especially at night as thats when the spirits are out.

If you'd like to try yashigani, those massive battle crabs and not pay like 4000yen its quite easy to catch....well lets say find one instead of catching. Just drive around at night because they like to cross the roads alot so just keep your eyes peeled. Now as for the catching part we used to step on them to constrain them and then tied them up with rope, yes their that big. They can pinch off a finger or two if they get you so be careful and if its cooked wrong it can be poisonous so asked for local help for the cooking. But if it all works out they damn delicious, probably the best damn crab I've ever eaten before.

If your looking for some nightlife, there is only one place that I know of, on the north side, unless you befriend some locals and they have a party. Every Wednesday night at the Iriomote Cafe which is right besides the Urauchi river boat cruise they have a techno rave thing. Of course theres not alot of people but you can meet some the younger locals who're quite interesting people to talk to. Plus they have a teepee, which I randomly helped set up one night with some celebrity, and Cheech and Chong figures on their self. So if raving under a starlight sky in the middle of the Jungle next the sea is your thing its worth checking it out.

Um, last one for now, buy any tiidamilk product you see. You'll be doing a favor for a fellow fuckedgaijin and for a awesome woman too. Plus you'll get a local organic food product that'll taste amazing so its well worth the money.

O and one more if you ever ran into the Brazilians attempt to befriend them as they party alot and some speak alittle English.

I laughed about the few English speaking people in Yaeyama Islands because I know the majority of the ones on Iriomote and I can count them on my fingers.

Well hope this might be of some help, I'll go back to lurking and reading the news =P

[Mulboyne]

Well hope this might be of some help, I'll go back to lurking and reading the news =P

Thanks for taking the time to write that up for everyone.