WEST COAST

There is none as yet but for such a famous spot there should be one if you can help us please let us know.

General Break Information

One of the more populated beach breaks in Fukushima, West Coast is a beach break dominated by yet another HUGE power station...

Luckily the local government has decided not to destroy the beach with tetrapods and hence it is open and relatively untouched. Car parks have been built on the closest road though there are no toilets or showers.

There's a big citi around here so West Coast is the most popular place to surf. its a fair hike from the car however so compared to even Ibaraki it not crowded.

The north end of the beach picks up swells from the East through to the South and is protected by the headland from direct North Swells and also from strong North winds.

The middle of the beach is open to swells from the NE to the South, the issue here is the winds, any wind from the NE to the South pretty much kills the waves.

the whole beach is sand bars so stand on the sea wall and look for the best sand bar working and go surf it. The coast is not as flat as the north of chiba and south of Ibaraki so usually the beach breaks here have a decent amount of power and a big day can dish out a real pounding.

A couple of secrets - if you can find your way around the powerstation roads there is road access to the north of the SameGawa and if you swing around a fence over the river there is access to the beach about 1km south of the main west coast beaches. Be warned though that this river is dirty.

The river mouth has been know to through a barrel or two over the sand bars but it is fickle and you might get it working one out of 15 trips even when you think the conditions are all lined up.

Water Temps:

Summer has a very short window where you might get away with just board shorts and winter is full 5mm wetsuit, hood, gloves and boots. the more cashed up Japanese all have the latest semi dry suits with the boots glued on.

If you're going to surf up here in winter make sure you bring a 20ltr bottle of boiling water from home, by the time you get out of the ocean it will be bath temp and a pure relief.

Access: Take the Joban Highway up past Hitachi and get off at UEDA, from the exit head to Route 6 and north. Cross over the Samegawa (shark river) and turn right onto Route 239, this puts the power station on your right, follow the road until it runs along a 20 ft high sea wall - look for some parking and clamber up on the sea wall to look out over the ocean and check the waves.

Alternately keep driving and the road soon climbs up the bluff and you can look back down the length of the beach from your car.

Round trip from Tokyo will set you back 4,400 yen in tolls and a full tank of gas , with a bit of driving involved between checking beaches the kms can easily add up to 550 plus. The above is based on traveling late at night or on the weekend when tolls are cheap. If not tolls alone can be 12,000 yen return.

Photos (photos from around this area)

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