Adventures of Anette: Snorkling

Showing posts with label Snorkling. Show all posts

Monday, August 1, 2016

Sightseeing in Izu: Kanto's best snorkeling spot Hirizo Beach

Anette 5:00:00 PM

Izu (伊豆半島) is a peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture known for among other things its marvellous coastlines, and has for many years been a top destination for Japanese tourists seeking to enjoy water activities such as snorkling. One of the beautiful places in Izu that yet are to be discovered by tourists, or at least by foreigners, is the Hirizo Beach (known as Hirizohama / ヒリゾ浜 in Japanese) at the very tip of the Izu peninsula. This beach is out of reach from the road, and you have to take a boat to get there. The trip by boat takes only a couple of minutes, and there is a ferry boat operating constantly during the summer.

Above: The Hirizo beach seen from the Aiai cape

If you have access to a car this would definitely be the easiest way to get to the boat terminal. There is a parking lot right by the terminal where you can park your car, but the closest parking spots usually starts to get filled up already in the wee hours if you visit during the weekend so you'd have to be early if you want to snatch one of those parking spots. In our case we started the weekend by driving from Tokyo on Friday evening and reached the ferry terminal around 4 hours later. In that way we could both get a parking spot right at the terminal and also ensure a good spot in the queue for the ferry. Here's a short movie that shows how it was like:

The Hirizo Beach is extremely popular, and in the morning the queue to the boat can be particularly long. My group could get on the first boat thanks to our early arrival, but a couple of friends who arrived later apparently had to line up and wait for around 30 minutes before they could get on the ferry boat.

Another good thing about arriving early at the Hirizo Beach is that you'll have the chance to pick your preferred spot for your beach tent. It can get extremely hot at the beach and there's no other options to get some shade so bringing a beach tent is a must. The beach will get extremely crowded during peak season, and a tent can ensure that you get your own little private space as well. Around an hour after we arrived at the beach the whole area was covered by beach tents.

People putting up their tents

The Hirizo Beach is very rocky, so if you are looking for a place to go sunbathing in Izu you might want to visit one of the peninsula's white sandy beaches such as Yumigahama (弓ヶ浜) instead.

One of the reasons Hirizo Beach is so popular is not the beach in itself; rather it is the tropical sea life and all the pretty things to see once you dive into the ocean. Hirizo Beach is known as one of the Kantō region's best snorkeling spots, and in the clear water you can see many types of exotic sea creatures lurking around the corals. Here are some of the photos we took during our day at Hirizohama:

After you've been on the beach for a while you might want to get some food, but here's the deal: There are no places to get food once you reach the beach. Fortunately the 1,500 yen ticket to the boat (500 yen for kids) can be used as many times as you'd like during the day of purchase so most people leave most of their belongings on the beach (another great thing about having a beach tent where you can leave stuff) and take the trip back to the boat terminal to grab lunch at one of the local restaurants there. It can get pretty crowded during lunch hours so my recommendation would be to beat the crowds by taking an early lunch and come back when the other visitors go to the mainland for food.

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
-Anette

Basic information

Name of Beach	Hirizo Beach (ヒリゾ浜)
Address	〒415-0311 Shizuoka-ken, Kamo-gun, Minamiizu-chō, Iruma 南伊豆町中木
Access	①By car (recommended) ② 2 hours & 45 minutes by train from Tokyo to Shimoda Station, then 45 min by local bus from Shimoda Station (下田駅) to Nakagi Station (中木駅) in the direction Izukyu Shimoda Station (伊豆急下田駅)
Boat Departure Hours	8:30 - 16:00 (Departing every 5 minutes during peak season)
Parking	260 cars（Be aware that the parking lots at the terminal get filled up early in the morning）Here's a map of the parking area:
Homepage	http://www.nakagi.jp/ (Japanese only)

Related blogposts

All blogposts about snorkeling

Recommended Hotels in Izu

More Izu Hotels

ABBA Resorts Zagyosoh

Nishiizu Koyoi Onsen

Arcana Izu

Hotel Izukyu

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Friday, January 8, 2016

Snorkling

Luxury Resort Life in the Maldives: Chaaya Reef & Ellaidhoo by Cinnamon

Anette 8:42:00 PM

Arriving at Ellaidho

After having spent one day sightseeing in Male it was time to experience the real luxury life of a Maldivian resort island. Our choice had fallen upon the four-star resort Ellaidho by Cinnamon situated at the Chaaya Reef, and we were looking forward to trying out one of their eminent Maldivian water bungalows.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Snorkling

Experiencing Miyake Island (三宅島): Swimming with Wild Dolphins

Anette 10:17:00 PM

Experiencing Miyake Island Part 1

With its 6,852 islands Japan sure has enough islands to choose from for those who like to explore the wild nature on the outskirts of Japan's bustling cities. Just a couple of hours south of Tokyo and the Izu Peninsula you can find the Izu Islands, a group of volcanic islands that administratively are a part of Tokyo. These islands are relatively easy to get to, as you can reach some of the islands by plane in about an hour or so from Haneda airport. If you're on a budget it is also possible to take a night ferry from Tokyo's Hamamatsu-cho getting you to some of the islands in as little as 6 1/2 hours.

Although we had a great time exploring Miyake Island the main reason we decided to travel there was actually to be found right outside the neighboring Mikura (御蔵島) Island: Wild dolphins! Before we came to Miyake Island I had heard that one could swim with wild dolphins here, and as dolphins are among my favorite animas we simply had to go on one of these tours. I personally dislike seeing dolphins and other whales in captivity (please check out the documentary Blackfish if you haven't yet seen it), so getting the chance to swim with the dolphins in their natural environment was a great opportunity to get close to them without intervening too much in their daily life.

On our way to Mikura Island

Mikura Island seen from our boat

Of course the downside of swimming with dolphins in the wild is that it all happens so quickly - the guide will drop you off the boat so that you are in the dolphin's path, and you'll get a glimpse of it as it swims by you. This is repeated a number of times, and if you're lucky the dolphins will show interest in you and come closer once or twice- sometimes so close that you can even reach out and touch them if you want. Which you of course should not do, as it will frighten them and make them swim away from you. Either way the dolphins are eager swimmers, and before you know it they will be out of sight again. It is kinda like playing hide and seek, as you know they are out there somewhere even when you can't see them. Instead you'll hear them sing to each other and watch them from afar as they play around on the bottom of the sea.

Curious dolphins

As we kept on jumping on and off the boat in our attempt to get close to the dolphins the whole process got quite tiring to be honest (yes, I got seasick and ended up feeding the fishes if you know what I mean). Still, the few moments where we had a dolphin swimming up close to us or passing by only a meter or so from us really made the experience worth it. Seeing the dolphins in their natural environment was simply amazing!

Dolphins in the sunlight

Yuma's best attempt at taking a selfie with the dolphins

Sometimes you can get really close to the dolphins, but they're often gone again before you even realize it

There are a number of tour operators taking the trip to the coast of Mikura Island. We went there on a trip arranged by the owner of the guesthouse we stayed at, but for those who don't speak Japanese there are other tour operators who might be more suitable for the trip. For more information, please check out the links below.

Other Pages:

Tokai Kisen Co., Ltd.: About Miyakejima

三宅島スナッパー Snapper (Japanese Only) - Our guesthouse and tour operator
Dolphin Club Miyake - A tour operator offering tours in English

Agoda Partner Links:
Hotels in Japan
Hotels in the Izu Islands

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Snorkling

Experiencing the Great Barrier Reef with Reef Magic Cruises

Anette 6:02:00 PM

Our visit to the Great Barrier Reef was definitely the most amazing adventure we have had in Australia so far. We went out on a boat with Reef Magic Cruises to the reef, were we had the opportunity to snorkel as much as we wanted the whole day. It had been a bit windy the last couple of days, and this day was not an exemption, so the number of tourists was significantly lower than normal. Fortunately I've grown up pretty much spending my summers at sea, so the waves didn't really bother me that much, but it seems that other tourists complained about the for them large waves. Also, Reef Magic Cruices have their own great pontoon, so once you step onboard it you aren't affected that much by the waves.

All the snorkling equipment was included in the price. We decided to rent wetsuits as well in order to avoid getting sunburned from the strong light. That turned out to be a good choice, because many of the others looked like they had gotten a little bit too much sun once the day was over.

My stepmother had never snorkeled before, and she was afraid to look down into the water. But once she did she was surprised to discover a whole new world she had never seen before. She later told us it was her best experience on the trip.

The water was really not that deep by the reef, and in some places one could even stand. Which one of course shouldn't do, because you'll probably ending up damaging the corals and get scratched too. But that's how shallow it is. It is somewhat annoying if you get loads of water into your snorkel though, because it is harder to get rid of the water at the same time as you're trying to avoid the corals below.

And there were of course a lot of pretty and colorful fish to look at! My dad used the opportunity to take a selfie while feeding the fish.

In addition to the snorkeling we also had some additional options for entertainment such as a semi-submersible and glass-bottom boat tour where a guide taught us various facts about the corals and the reef's environment.

They also offered additional activities that were not included in the price such as a reef-scenic helicopter flight, guided snorkeling trips around the reef, and scuba diving both for certified divers and trial dives for people without diving experience. My dad decided to try out diving for the first time, and although he thought the dive was too short it seems it was a nice experience.

For those who don't want to do a regular dive, there's also the option to experience helmet diving. On the picture below you can see four helmet divers meeting Wally the great Maori Wrasse.

Although all of these experiences made the trip worthwhile it was Wally that really made the trip to the great reef an unique experience I'll never forget. Wally is a great fish called Maori Wrasse, he is about a meter long, and although he is a wild creature he seems to like human company. We could get out photos taken with him, and he stayed close to the boat the whole day. I brought some crackers with me into the ocean, and he literarily ate the crackers from my hand.

"G'day!"

Wally the Maory Wrasse is almost tame like a pet

All in all it was the experience with Wally that made the trip to the Great Barrier Reef unique, or at least for me. The professional photographer is down there all the time, and she can take photos of you while you're diving with Wally. He is a very friendly fish, and after I had fed him he remembered me and came back to me even when I didn't have any food with me so that I could touch him. I would advice you to be careful while feeding him though, he is a wild animal after all. Don't blame him if you get scratches from his teeth. But he is a fantastic creature, and I felt so honored that he came up to me. Since he lives by the Reef Magic Cruises' pontoon I think it is likely that you'll see him if you go on their trip. I would strongly recommend them, they did everything they could to make our trip wonderful and memorable! Definitely my best experience in Australia.! ;)

Relevant pages:

-The Reef Magic Cruises

-Feeding Wally

Other alternative day trips from Cairns:

-The Kuranda Scenic Railway

-The Butterfly Sanctuary

-The RainForeStation
-The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

-All blogposts from Australia