Iriomote Island, Japan – Beaches, Jungles, and Wild Cats
Iriomote Island, is a remote island located in south-western Okinawa Prefecture. Iriomote is part of an archipelago known as the Yaeyama Islands. The entire island of Iriomote is a National Park, more then 90% of the island is covered in lush rainforests and mangrove forests. Being the second largest island in Okinawa Prefecture, after Okinawa Island, Iriomote only has 2,300 residents. The most famous resident that calls this island home is the Iriomote Wild Cat.
**This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one of the links or banners throughout the page, whether it be TripAdvisor, Booking.com. Agoda.com, or any other affiliate, I might receive commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, you can visit my affiliate link page here. Thanks for the support!
Iriomote is in Okinawa Prefecture and belongs to the Yaeyama Islands. The Yaeyama Islands are a chain of islands that can be found in Okinawa’s western most side. In fact, Iriomote is closer to the country of Taiwan then the main island of Okinawa.
Getting to the Island of Iriomote
Although Iriomote is a remote island, getting here is a breeze, especially if you live in Okinawa.
Iriomote doesn’t have its own airport, in fact this island can only be reached by boat. Thankfully, the island of Ishigaki has a new airport that is a quick 40 – 50 minute flight from Naha. Flying into Ishigaki was breathtaking during the day, you get incredible views of the coast and coral surrounding the area.
For the first time since being in Japan we flew Solaseed Air, which is a Japanese regional budget airline. I’d have to say, both Jill and I were very impressed with this airline. The seats were cushiony and I actually had quite a bit of knee room. Peach Airlines could really take a lesson from Solaseed Air.
After landing in Ishigaki, take a bus to the ferry port. The bus system worked out nicely, the buses were cheap and arrived/departed often. Bus fare from the airport to Ishigaki port was ¥540 each way. Buses only take exact change, so make sure to set that amount aside right away.
Ishigaki had a real nice ferry port, full of vendors and information stalls. You can grab a lunch here or browse the souvenir shops.
There are two ferries that traverse between the islands of Iriomote and Ishigaki, Anei Kanko and Yaeyama Kanko. By selecting the link, you can view the ferry timetable and prices. Prices were ¥5170 Roundtrip. There are two ports on Iriomote, Ohara Port and Uehara Port. Our hotel was near Uehara so we took the ferry to this port, it was around 50 minutes. Note, this ferry does get cancelled often due to weather, so the ferry might change route and go to Ohara. Amazingly enough, the ferry services provide free shuttle buses on Iriomote that generally drop you off at your hotel. Another warning, the ferry ride was a wild ride, so if you tend to get sea sick easily ( I loved the bumpy ride, but someone else wasn’t as thrilled as I was) either take Dramamine or a puke bag.
Once on Iriomote, talk to the ferry service help information desk and they will hook you up with a shuttle to your hotel, if it is not already provided.
Must Visit Beaches on Iriomote
We stayed on a peninsula just north of Uehara. The deciding factor for this location was Hoshizuna Beach. Jill knew of this beach as it is famous for its star shaped sand. We stayed at Pension Hoshino Suna, which was a hotel right on the beach. Star sand beach wasn’t the only beautiful beach we were able to visit from the hotel. We found ourselves walking Nakano Beach and Tsukigahama Beach on the northern peninsula.
Hoshizuna Beach (Star Sand Beach)
Scoop up some sand, look closely! In the mix, there are tiny pieces of sand that are in the shape of stars. Hoshizuna Beach, is one of Japan’s most popular beaches for this reason. In fact, there are only two other beaches in the world where you can find star shaped sand.
The star shaped sand is created by tiny organisms that are unicellular known as Foraminifera. Like other shells and organisms, once the foraminifera passes on, its shell washes ashore.
Many visitors come to this beach and automatically start collecting sand. But there are other activities that can be done on Hoshizuna Beach. Even in November, when we were here, the water was warm enough for swimming. We brought our snorkel equipment and spent an evening snorkeling. While snorkeling, we saw beautiful coral, a few spider conchs, sea slugs, and some new (to us) fish species. Ever since moving to Okinawa, and snorkeling I’ve noticed how much personality fish have. There were some large fish that would follow us the whole time, it was fun hanging out with them!
We spotted a hermit crab without its shell. The end part of the hermit crab is very soft, making the vulnerable without their shell. We kindly found shells around the beach and placed them near him so he would have real estate options. No idea which home he eventually decided on.
One more thing. While walking toward Nakano Beach, Jill found a Glass Float! I’ve never heard of glass floats before coming to Okinawa. A glass float is basically a glass ball full of air that were used to keep fishing nets afloat in Japan. They were in production in the early 1900’s and stopped around the 1960’s and 70’s. This means, the glass float we found could potentially have been floating around for over a hundred years. They are rare to find, they don’t look like anything spectacular, but still an awesome souvenir.
Nakano Beach
Nakano Beach is walkable from star sand beach. This beach was far from touristy but stretched for miles it seemed. We walked for hours on this beach looking for shells, floats, and gazing out at the blue waters. I renamed this beach to Large Shell Beach, as we found so many clams and spider conchs that were enormous, far to large to pack in our suitcases. The only negative thing about this beach was the trash. Since it opens up to the East China Sea with nothing but open ocean, a lot of trash gets washed up here. I looked at many of the bottles washed ashore and they were all from China.
Tsukigahama Beach
Perhaps the greatest walking beach my feet have ever felt. The sand on Tsukigama Beach was so soft and soothing, I could have walked here from morning until evening. There was no trash here, hardly any shells, just sand, lots and lots of sand. The scenery here was amazing as well, the beach was in a cove like area surrounded by smaller islands, forests, and mountain peaks.
Wildlife
The Iriomote Wild Cat
“Iriomote Yamaneko” – This is the Japanese name for the Iriomote Island Wild Cat. The Iriomote wild cat is only found on Iriomote island and unfortunately, there are only about 100 of them alive today. The Iriomote cat was discovered in 1965.
The Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Center website has a lot more information regarding the Iriomote Cat. According to their website, the Iriomote cat is described as having round ears with white spots behind them and white fur around the eyes. The cat has a flat nose and bushy flat tail. The cat is fairly small, about 3-5 Kg in weight and around 50-60 cm in length.
Of course, on our trip we didn’t see the Iriomote wild cat. They are nocturnal, territorial, and like any cat, they like to hide. Our tour guide for the kayak trip we did, has lived in Iriomote and seen the cat twice, both times by driving at night along the main road.
Iriomote Island has done a phenomenal job when it comes to protecting the wild cat, at least when it comes to awareness and making the roads as safe as possible for the kitty. There is basically one main road in Iriomote, connecting Uehara and Ohara. Along this road there are underpasses so the cat can freely walk under the road. There are also zebra-pattern rumble strips all along the road. When cars drive on the rumble strips, the noise is supposed to scare the cat from the road. There are also warning signs all along the road, not to mention the speed limit is only 40 kph or about 25 mph.
Coconut Crab
This crustacean we actually did see, not once but three times! I’ve yet to see one on the main island of Okinawa, but have been searching for them. Alas, we saw one the first night walking back to the hotel from a local Izakaya.
The coconut crab is considered the largest land crab in the world, weighing up to 9 lbs., these guys are built like tanks. Color wise, they can be brown and deep purple, the three we saw were all purple. They are considered scavengers and eat whatever they can get. I’ve heard they will dig through trash cans on the island and eat rice and other scraps of food that gets thrown out.
They seemed to be camera shy, very hard to get good pictures of them at night. They would slowly back away into the grassy area when they heard the shutter of the camera.
Utara Coal Mine
Out of the 3 days we were here, we had a free day and walked from the hotel to the Utara Coal Mine Ruins. It was an hour walk from the hotel, but once at the trail head it was about 20 minutes to the ruins.
Coal was discovered along the Utara River in 1935 and a year later mining began in the region. The Utara Coal Mine was the largest in Iriomote. After the war, the mine closed down due to lack of resources and need.
In 2007, the ruins became a Heritage of Industrial Modernization in Japan. The ruins are accessible by a 1 km trail, once at the end the trail it became a boardwalk where visitors can walk enjoy the sites of the jungle taking over the ruins without walking through the swampy mangroves.
Kayaking and Trekking to Pinaisara Falls
Visitors come to Iriomote for the nature. It’s an outdoorsman’s paradise! Iriomote Island offers snorkeling, scuba diving, caving, trekking, kayaking, etc.. The island is rural, so a great way to explore the beautiful nature is via a reputable tour company. We booked a kayak and trek tour to Pinaisara Falls through Kazaguruma Tours. This tour company was great! They picked us up from our hotel and supplied us with gear, food, transportation, and the guide even spoke English, which was great because I had so many questions about Iriomote.
It was forecasted to rain the entire day of the tour and it did rain for the first hour. Afterwards, we got lucky as the weather cleared up.
The tour started with a 45 minute kayak trip up the Mare and Hinai Rivers toward Pinaisara Falls.
The rivers were lined with beautiful mangrove forests. Our guide explained to us that Japan had seven different types of mangroves and Iriomote is the only place in Japan that has all seven types in one location.
After about 45 minutes of kayaking, we got our first glimpse of Pinaisara Falls. Pinaisara Falls is the tallest waterfall in Okinawa Prefecture.
Once the kayaks were docked, the trekking to the top of the falls began. The trek was about 45 minutes to the top. Although a short trek, it was steep and definitely no walk in the park.
We finally arrived at the top of Pinaisara Falls and were rewarded with incredible views of the distant beaches and jungle mountain tops.
Our guide was great and cooked us hot bowls of Okinawan Soba while we explored a bit. Soba is a type of wheat noodle served in a soup usually with seaweed, ginger, and pork. It was delicious!
After lunch, we hiked to the base of the waterfall. I always feel going down is more difficult then up. En route to the base we walked by many massive trees with huge root systems. I’m always fascinated by these trees.
After about 20 minutes, we arrived to the base of the waterfall. Visitors have the option to swim in the pool below but we passed on the opportunity, maybe next time! Instead we took a breather and enjoyed the views. The tour company prepared some sweet potato mochi for us as a snack. I typically don’t like mochi, it’s a texture thing, but this was quite good. After a brief stop, we hopped on our kayaks and paddled back the same way we came. We had an incredible time on the tour and highly recommended.
Iriomote Island - Until Next Time
We already have plans to visit Iriomote Island again. We had an incredible time here, the island was full of adventure and beauty. There is a 20 kilometer trek that crosses the island that I wish to conquer one day. The trek is very demanding, visitors must sign in and complete the trail in one day. One day, but for now we can look back at all the fun memories we had while exploring Iriomote.
Enjoying my photos and want to see more? Check out my Picfair Store. 📸
Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇯🇵
Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖
For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com
Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁
Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.
In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘
I recommend checking with Rental Cars.
Train Travel 🚂🚊
For the JR Pass, tickets can be purchased on the JR Pass site.
6 Comments
Steve
Ok, definitely on our bucket list! Thanks for introducing us to this amazing island!
zimminaround
No problem. Glad you are inspired to visit Iriomote. I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to explore more of the island.
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback: