Semi-resort diving an hour and a half from Tokyo!
Izu Oshima is an island about 120 km from Tokyo. To get there, you used to have to board a boat that left Takeshiba port (in central Tokyo) at around 10 in the evening, grab some sleep on board, and reach the island at about five in the morning. Starting this past April, new, faster ships have come to use, and the trip now takes about an hour and a half. The first ship leaves Tokyo at around 8:30 in the morning and the last ship leaves about four in the afternoon, so theoretically, you could do two dives on a day trip. There was not that much room for personal luggage on this ship (called Izu Seven Islands), so I was glad I'd chosen to pre-ship my gear to our hotel. The trip costs 6200 yen one way, which is not cheap compared to round trip air fare from Tokyo (about 11,000 yen), but for divers, boat travel does have the advantage of not having to worry about altitude.
We got to the island at around 10:30, headed for the hotel, tossed our gear into mesh bags and headed for our first dive. Akinohama is an extremely popular dive spot, but fortunately our group was one of the first ones there. I was told to make a giant stride entrycon a beach dive. I hesitated until I spotted a ladder behind me and realized that that was how I was going to exit. The visibility was about 15 meters or so, temp about 18 degrees Celsius, max depth about 24 meters. Lots and lots of fish of all sorts, squid, small rays, and sea slugs. The vis was a bit lower on the second dive, probably due to all the diver traffic. One slightly amusing situation was created by a group of divers gathered under the previously mentioned ladder. Everyone thought they had someone in their group having trouble exiting, but that wasn't the case. They had their huge macro lenses attached to gigantic cameras and strobes, trying to photograph some kind of sea slug, and created an exit traffic jam. I also went on my first night dive that night. Crustaceans, crustaceans, crustaceans. Unfortunately, grabbing lobster without a fishing permit is considered poaching.
Second day, some in our group went out on an early morning dive at six, but I slept a bit late. Had breakfast at 8:30, and headed for Nodahama for two dives. Rocky beach entry after a 200 meter walk down stairs, slopes and rock. There were guide ropes, which were immensely helpful for a beginning diver like myself. Interesting rock formations and again, lots of fish. Vis was a bit poorer at around 10 t0 12 meters, probably partly due to the large amount of traffic (it was a holiday here), max depth about 15 meters.
The island itself is covered with lush green forest and has bicycle paths to enjoy them. Besides divers, surfers and fishermen come to enjoy their respective pastimes. There are not that many upscale hotels (and the place we stayed wasn't one by any standards, either), but there are many small family owned establishments which make up for the slightly dirty tatami mats and sticky sliding doors in dinners with lots of fresh local seafood. (I don't know what they have to offer that would please western palates, though. What can I say, I like fresh uncooked fishc)
I went on a tour with my local dive shop, but I believe there are dive shops in Tokyo that run tours there, and there is also an assortment of shops on the island itself as well. I felt the visibility was slightly better than can be generally found on the Izu peninsula where I usually dive, and there was a larger number and variety of marine life. Exposure protection was the same as for Izu this time of year: dry suit, but I found I could get by with just a long sleeved T-shirt underneath, instead of the usual fleece pullover. I really enjoyed the trip.
Izu Oshima is an island about 120 km from Tokyo. To get there, you used to have to board a boat that left Takeshiba port (in central Tokyo) at around 10 in the evening, grab some sleep on board, and reach the island at about five in the morning. Starting this past April, new, faster ships have come to use, and the trip now takes about an hour and a half. The first ship leaves Tokyo at around 8:30 in the morning and the last ship leaves about four in the afternoon, so theoretically, you could do two dives on a day trip. There was not that much room for personal luggage on this ship (called Izu Seven Islands), so I was glad I'd chosen to pre-ship my gear to our hotel. The trip costs 6200 yen one way, which is not cheap compared to round trip air fare from Tokyo (about 11,000 yen), but for divers, boat travel does have the advantage of not having to worry about altitude.
We got to the island at around 10:30, headed for the hotel, tossed our gear into mesh bags and headed for our first dive. Akinohama is an extremely popular dive spot, but fortunately our group was one of the first ones there. I was told to make a giant stride entrycon a beach dive. I hesitated until I spotted a ladder behind me and realized that that was how I was going to exit. The visibility was about 15 meters or so, temp about 18 degrees Celsius, max depth about 24 meters. Lots and lots of fish of all sorts, squid, small rays, and sea slugs. The vis was a bit lower on the second dive, probably due to all the diver traffic. One slightly amusing situation was created by a group of divers gathered under the previously mentioned ladder. Everyone thought they had someone in their group having trouble exiting, but that wasn't the case. They had their huge macro lenses attached to gigantic cameras and strobes, trying to photograph some kind of sea slug, and created an exit traffic jam. I also went on my first night dive that night. Crustaceans, crustaceans, crustaceans. Unfortunately, grabbing lobster without a fishing permit is considered poaching.
Second day, some in our group went out on an early morning dive at six, but I slept a bit late. Had breakfast at 8:30, and headed for Nodahama for two dives. Rocky beach entry after a 200 meter walk down stairs, slopes and rock. There were guide ropes, which were immensely helpful for a beginning diver like myself. Interesting rock formations and again, lots of fish. Vis was a bit poorer at around 10 t0 12 meters, probably partly due to the large amount of traffic (it was a holiday here), max depth about 15 meters.
The island itself is covered with lush green forest and has bicycle paths to enjoy them. Besides divers, surfers and fishermen come to enjoy their respective pastimes. There are not that many upscale hotels (and the place we stayed wasn't one by any standards, either), but there are many small family owned establishments which make up for the slightly dirty tatami mats and sticky sliding doors in dinners with lots of fresh local seafood. (I don't know what they have to offer that would please western palates, though. What can I say, I like fresh uncooked fishc)
I went on a tour with my local dive shop, but I believe there are dive shops in Tokyo that run tours there, and there is also an assortment of shops on the island itself as well. I felt the visibility was slightly better than can be generally found on the Izu peninsula where I usually dive, and there was a larger number and variety of marine life. Exposure protection was the same as for Izu this time of year: dry suit, but I found I could get by with just a long sleeved T-shirt underneath, instead of the usual fleece pullover. I really enjoyed the trip.
