In this article, I want to introduce Yonehara beach, which is one of the major beaches on Ishigaki.
I have experienced snorkeling there twice, last year and this year (last month). Today, I am writing based on this article from my Japanese blog which I wrote last year.
Since I took many pics (actually I took many videos and I captured the shots from them) there, I will divide them into several articles, so this article is about the first half of my experience in May 2018.
- Where is Yonehara beach? How can I get there?
- Check the tide times and charts! I recommend that you start between full tide and the lowest point
- Watch the tiny, but strikingly pretty, sparkling fish!
- And encounter several bigger fish (20~40 cm)
- You can see lots of different kinds of fish at once!
- Attention! Don’t be too eager to show off here, the UV here is very strong!
Where is Yonehara beach? How can I get there?
First of all, I need to explain where it is located. Look at the map below, it is located in the central northern part of the island.
By bus – around 1 hour from downtown
If you don’t plan to rent a car, I strongly recommend you stay downtown where you will have good accesses to restaurants, shops and the bus/ ferry terminals.
I took a bus to the beach from the downtown last year, so it’s possible even though you need to study the time table thoroughly.
Ishigaki is not a big city – there are only a few buses per day – you cannot miss the bus! Please be sure to be at the bus stop well ahead of time just in case.
I imagine you can get the time tables in English for the bus from the airport or at the bus terminal, but I cannot find it on the website. So here is my explanation for the table in Japanese. Please note that this time table could change, so you need to obtain the new time table on the spot.
From Downtown to the beach in the morning
You can go there by line 11 bound for Yonehara campsite or line 8 bound for Ibaruma.
Here is the link of the time table for line 11.
1 is the bus terminal of the downtown and 23 is the Yonehara campsite (located on the beach).
There are 2 options.
- 8:30 a.m. (Bus terminal) —-> 9:28 (Yonehara campsite)
- 11:30 a.m. (Bus terminal) —-> 12:28 (Yonehara campsite)
Here is the link of the time table of line 8.
1 is the bus terminal of the downtown and 25 is Yonehara (the beach is located).
- 10:45 a.m. (Bus terminal) —-> 11:41 (Yonehara)
From the beach to downtown
Please make sure to catch the bus to downtown! After swimming in the sea, you should take some time to get ready to go back.
According to this time table for line 11 (same sheet as above), you can go back to the downtown like this.
- 13:22 (Yonehara campsite) ——–> 14:21 (Bus Terminal)
- 16:22 (Yonehara campsite) ———> 17:21 (Bus Terminal)
Usually, you want to take the latter bus, but if you arrive in Yonehara at 9:28 and you feel you have already enjoyed yourself and got tired, you might prefer to get back early.
You can also take the loop line 2, which runs westward. —>Time Table
On the sheet, 25 is Yonehara and 74 is Bus terminal, so…
- 16:06 (Yonehara) ——–> 17:49 (Bus Terminal)
- 18:31 (Yonehara) ———> 20:09 (Bus Terminal)
If you want to do something else after swimming in Yonehara, you can take the second line at 16:06 and get off at Tamatori (38 in the sheet) at 16:53. There is a brilliant observatory place, then you can get on the bus at 19:13 to the downtown.
However, more than 2 hours might be too long there….
Do not forget to buy a day pass or 5 days pass.
Basically, the bus fare charges depends on the distance. However, you can take advantage of a day pass or a 5 days bus pass, which allows you to board for much cheaper prices!
Tell the driver that you want to buy the pass. If you stay in Ishigaki for 5 days or less, you should buy the 5 days pass in the bus from the airport.
Ishigaki Shima Taxi call center
If you miss the bus, a taxi is the best alternative for you.
- 0980-824649
I’m not sure if the operator speaks English, but you can say your hotel name and then she/he will understand. It will be best to ask someone around you for help.
If you are very lucky, someone might give you a lift… but it’s too risky to expect that from the start.
After all, I rented a car this year, and it was 1000 times more convenient….
There is a free parking lot
You might come to the beach by car (it’s the easiest way to explore the Ishigaki Island). I will write about the parking space on the next article.
Check the tide times and charts! I recommend that you start between full tide and the lowest point
Check the tide times and charts here. The sea off this beach is very shallow at the lowest tide, but there are plenty of creatures as well as just sand, so it’s rather difficult to reach the points where the coral reefs are found. It’s not far, you can find some just 10 m off the beach, but you should not walk there because it’s possible to step on dangerous creatures and you might damage the baby coral as well.
Therefore, wearing a life jacket is a must to protect yourself and the reefs. You can rent one from a shop nearby.
Generally, the water is more transparent when the tide is low, so I recommend that you start swimming 1-2 hours before the tide is at its lowest ebb to reach the coral reef points.
Here are the pictures of the beach 1 hour before the lowest tide.
I started diving into the water when the tide was up to my knees. With a life jacket, it is easy to keep control of your body at such a shallow level.
Here is a creature with his funny face. It moves very quickly, and sometimes it burrows into the sand.
Watch the tiny, but strikingly pretty, sparkling fish!
At the level of your knees, the see floor appears like this through the water.
These tiny blue fish can be seen everywhere. Do you also recognise the black one and the white one?
and this is another common one.
At 1m level, the view is like a water tank in an aquarium.
And encounter several bigger fish (20~40 cm)
At first, I was satisfied with the tiny fish around the water plants, but my friend was more adventurous and told me there were some areas with larger fish.
You can see lots of different kinds of fish at once!
I didn’t expect to see so many kinds of fish just 30 meters off the beach!
There are not only checked-skin fish, but also some white based fish visible below.
And some fish are really colourful!
I named the green based fish “KENZO”
The face of this fish looked a bit aggressive, but the way it swims was cute 🙂
I find the pink pretty.
Look carefully and you can find several kinds of white fish in the pics.
These striped fish are different from the other ones. They are a kind of pomacentridae.
And for some reason they like to gather around rocks – actually, this is a type of coral, which (I think) is called poritidae.
I will continue the report of this beach experience from 2018 in my next article…
Attention! Don’t be too eager to show off here, the UV here is very strong!
Since living in England and France, I know well that Western people love to get tanned at beaches.
So you might find it weird to see many Japanese wearing clothes, or at least things like clothes, at beaches – or they could be Chinese or Korean, as nowadays you tend to see more tourists from other Asian countries than from mainland Japan in Okinawa or Hokkaido)
Personally, I also think a lot of Japanese women are too sensitive to UV, so although I only wore a bikini at Cannes in South France, I gave up being fashionable at Ishigaki. I also wore a rash guard there to avoid getting burned there.
If it is very sunny, your sunscreen cream will not be enough. It is much easier to just wear the protectable stuff.
And it also helps to protect you from getting injured in the water.
I have given you enough warnings!
