Ishigaki & Iriomote Part II

The original intent was to have a relaxing time on Ishigaki. However, the weather forecast indicated that the fine weather would be coming to an end, so we knew that we should make a full day of it. We were quite taken by our accommodation and didn't hit the road until after 9:00am. It wasn't much longer before we arrived at the Yoneko Yaki  Shisa Farm alongside the main #79 North shore road. Shisa are lion-dogs that guard against evil spirits, but the Shisa Farm creations perform an equally important task of making people happy. It looked like they were shipping them out by the truckload (we bought a pair). However,  there is a wonderful garden area behind the shop with giant Shisa's that exude happiness.

Yonehara Beach was a short distance away and we were excited to jump in the water to check out what is considered to be the best of Ishigaki shore access snorkel locations. It is an interesting snorkel site, not the best in the world, but still quite good. The water  temperature was around 23 or 24C, so without wetsuits, our time in the water was normally limited to a bit less than half an hour. Further west, we stopped in at Aloalo Cafe for a curry lunch. The food was OK, but the view was fantastic. We had the chance to walk off the lunch with a low tide at Kojima Island. We enjoyed it so much that we returned to Kojima on our last day, but that is getting ahead of the plot. 

We continued driving to the NW corner of the island and the Oganzaki Lighthouse. On the return, we stopped along the road and walked down to Sakieda Beach . A group of free-divers were finishing up when we arrived. It was a bit of a swim out to the drop-off but it did have some interesting coral formations. We moved onto Kabira Bay that is a major tourist destination, primarily for glass-bottom boats. By 4:45pm, it was time to head home, to settle down by the pool. Temperatures were in the low 20C's during the day, so we moved indoors at dark. There were a few mosquitoes about, so we weren't tempted to eat on the patio.

We had a couple of hours of clear skies in the morning before the clouds rolled in. We drove east to Akaishi Beach. The wind was up so there was some small surf, but we jumped in to look for blue coral. Apparently, there is more blue coral in the SE of the island, but at that time of year, the seas are rough. Akaishi beach is beautiful but it is plagued by currents that bring trash from China. Every container that we picked up looked like it was China. In the far north, we later encountered a crew with machinery that were collecting Chinese garbage from the beach. We drove up to Hirakubozaki, northern tip of Ishigaki . We drove across sugar cane fields and had a wander on Harano Beach. Down along the NE coast, we pulled into Uliuli Cafe for lunch and had hamburgers again. They were good.

We stopped at the Tamatorazaki Observation deck and then drove up the Mt Nosoko forest road and popped up to the top of Mt Nosoki, standing tall at 282m above sea level. The forest road continued back to the North shore. We had more time left in the day and stopped in at a very weird cat shop  and dropped in at a Yaeyama palm garden before heading for home.

We had a slow start with morning rain, and consoled ourselves with a visit to a bakery in Kabira. Later we spent time in the Yaeyama palm forest and worked up an appetite for lunch. We selected the Yoneharo Kitchen and it was like eating in someone’s cluttered home. The food was good. It dried out in the afternoon, so we went for a snorkel at nearby Yoneharo Beach. Afterwards, Sheila stayed behind, while I made a jaunt up Mt Maetake (263m) that offered views over Kabira and the North shore.

It rained most of the day, so it was into Ishigaki City for grocery shopping. We returned to the local produce market, had a wander around the Don Quixote store, ate tempura for lunch and topped it all off with a visit to a Max Value Supermarket.

The low pressure system didn't move off and we had another late rainy day start. It was the slowest start of the trip and we went straight for lunch at nearby Soba Ufata restaurant. The Yaeyama soba was superb. 

We drove up an unnumbered road that connected the North coast with the East coast for nice views and then the road dropped down past the 165 Bakery. We had a wander at Nobarazuki on the east coast  before returning inland. We went for a walk just north of Sokohara lake and came across all kinds of huge ferns and palms. The weather seemed to improve, so we drove to North Akaishi Beach. We reached a closed gate. We translated the signage to "please close the gate", and carried on. The North Akaishi Beach is beautiful, but you do need to ignore the Chinese garbage at the high tide level. Although the sun came out,  we still had another day and half of cloudy weather ahead of us.

We were in for a windy, overcast day, so we opted for a visit to Banna Park. There are all kinds of strange concrete structures, but if you look beyond the infrastructure, the vegetation is amazing. We started at the east entrance and walked the trails. That was followed by a drive up the Skyline road. We stopped at each of the large hideous concrete structures for views of the island. The southern end of the Skyline isn't far from the outskirts of Ishigaki City and we stopped in at busy Ikkyu Ramen for lunch. 

We followed that up with a drive on the atmospheric road to the Maesedake Observation Deck. We looped around by car to reach the western edge of Banna Park. There is a series of trails that go through incredible vegetation. We encountered one Japanese walker and he also wondered why there were so few people there on a Sunday afternoon on such beautiful trails. We drove home along the west coast and then the North shore.

The weather forecast indicated improving weather and we drove west to have a look at Sukuji Beach, west of Kabira. There is one large hotel on the beach but the overall scene was quiet and we walked the length of the beach (1.5km from end to end). That was followed by a return to Osaki Beach for a snorkel. There were a few dive boats out along the reef edge. We drove up the tiny Mt Yarabu road and I reached the summit of 216m via a short steep trail for more island views. Our lunch stop was at Ishigaki Shoten, a Japanese run Vietnamese restaurant with a cool vibe.

We spent the rest of the day along the north shore with stops at the Yaeyama palms area, a Shisa Farm revisit, and another snorkel at Yonehara Beach. We had a look at Minato Beach before returning home.

We were driving shortly after 7:30am, to catch the low tide at 8:00am. We walked a good portion of Kojima Island and I wonder if a circumnavigation of the island would be possible, starting a couple of hours before a low tide. We were over at Osaki Beach a little after 10:00am and the normally sleepy parking lot was busier than previous times. The free-divers were out in the fine weather. We had an above average snorkel and encountered a couple of sea snakes.

We headed east along the north shore and opted to return to our most favoured restaurant for lunch, the Soba Urfata. We were greeted warmly and I went all-in for the large Yaeyama soba. When I was paying the bill, I used Google Translate to tell the owner that her food made me happy. We all had a wonderful giggle and just writing about it, brings tears to my eyes.

After lunch, we headed for the Northern peninsula to check out a couple of beaches for the first time. Sunset and Kuura beaches were swell. Then we retraced our steps to Yonehara Beach for a final snorkel, and oddly enough, another sea snake.

It was all routine with a drive to the airport and an on-time flight to Haneda Airport, Tokyo.  We were returning home in a couple of days, so while on the flight at 35,000ft, I made use of the free onboard JAL wifi to access the thermostats at home and turned the heat up for our return. Amazing.  Ishigaki and Iriomote were also a fantastic add-on to our Japan cycle trip.