Ishigaki Island
Gateway To The Yaeyama Islands; Kabira Bay Is A Place Of Scenic Beauty; Within Iriomote Ishigaki National Park · Ishigaki, Okinawa
The main island of the Yaeyama group in the far south-west of Japan, closer to Taiwan than to mainland Okinawa, and the hub for hopping to the outer islands. Its town has an airport with direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka, a harbour terminal with fast ferries to half a dozen islands, and a covered market arcade. Around it are coral reefs, jungle hills and some of Japan's best beaches. Kabira Bay, a Place of Scenic Beauty, has water in bands of turquoise and green around small islands, but swimming there is not allowed; glass-bottom boats show the coral instead. Divers come for the manta rays that gather at cleaning stations such as Manta Scramble, and Yonehara beach has coral close to shore for snorkelling. Box jellyfish are a summer risk, so beaches with stinger nets matter. By ferry you reach Taketomi's water buffalo carts and star sand, Iriomote's mangroves, which became part of a UNESCO site in 2021, and Kohama and Hateruma. The island is known for Ishigaki beef, Yaeyama soba and some of the darkest night skies in Japan. Typhoons hit from July to October.
1 Misakicho, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0012, Japan
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: beaches are open at all times, but managed swimming beaches have lifeguards and nets only in the swimming season, roughly April to October, during daylight. Glass-bottom boats at Kabira Bay run through the day, roughly 9 am to 5 pm, weather permitting. Fast ferries run from early morning to about 5 or 6 pm, with the last boats back from the outer islands in the late afternoon; miss it and you stay the night. Typhoons close everything, sometimes for days. Confirm current times before relying on them.