(Sept. 21-23, 2024)
This Sept. we had 2 Mondays off because of public holidays, so we decided to spend all the 3-day holidays going camping at the Izu Islands. Getting on the large passenger ship (Tokai Kisen) on Friday night, arriving on Saturday morning, camp for 2 days, return on Monday. It was perfect!
Kouzushima was the 5th Izu Island that I visited. Unlike many Izu islands that I could get around by rental bicycle, this island is so hilly that we decided to get around only by bus. It has a unique shape with flat mountain top, some caves around and a belt of black-color rock in between. It almost looked like the island in Jurassic Park movies.
Kouzushima was a medium-size island of medium distance (10 hours from Tokyo by large passenger ship). What attracted me was that it has a famous snorkeling spot (Akasaki Promenade), a popular hiking route (Mt. Tenjyo), white sand beach (Tako Bay) and night sky for star-watching. The photos looked amazing that we decided to go there, even though it was supposed to be rainy and windy that very weekend.
By our luck, because of strong wind, the ships arrived from the Miura sub port, instead of Maehama main port. Maehama port is at the west side, about 15min. by bus from our Tako Bay Campsite, while Miura port is at the east side, only 10min. by walk from our Campsite.
Our Tako Bay Campsite by owned by Tokyo City, so the fee was cheap, but the facilities were well, and the land was extensive. We had to make reservation by calls, but after we checked in at the office, we could just camp anywhere. We chose to camp on a beautiful grassland, next to the large cooking/sitting area, toilet and office. The grassland was facing Mt. Tenjyo and has great wind all day, almost nobody around. It was so great!
The sitting area was a octagonal building with tables and openings all around, it was cool and empty there, we imagined that we could even put our mat inside to sleep if it rained or if it was too hot… The cooking area is another building, so clean and no smell at all. It seems that there were somebody cleaning the place regularly. The office was air-conditioned, has a vending machine compartment and somebody stationed in the office from 8am to night. There were also hot shower compartments for male and female separate, 2 showers each. The hot shower were free to use from 4pm to 9:30pm. We could not ask for more. It was probably the best public campsite we ever used. Although the location was a bit far from the shops, it was walking distance from the beautiful white sand Tako Bay. We walked to Takko Bay to watch sunrise, sunset and night view everyday. Also, it was darker there, so if the weather was good, you can see many stars from Tako Bay.
Since there were only 1 bus per hour, we hurried to put up our tent, and jumped into a bus to Akasaki for snorkeling. The bus run along the coastline, so it was a great view of the blue sea, which we do not get to see very often in Tokyo.
In fact, we had to take a bus to Kouzushima Port Visitor Center (main bus stop) first, then wait for another bus to Akasaki, and it was lunchtime, so we had no choice but to chill in the air-conditioned visitor center for an hour. During that time, we found out that there were discounted tickets sold for Kouzushima Onsen Center, normally JPY 800yen became JPY 600, but had to buy the tickets in advance at either Visitor Center or Campsite office.
Akasaki was a quite unique place. There were a network of wooden walking paths stretching along the island’s rocky cliffs just meters above the sea. A jumping stage just a few meter from the sea, and you could enjoy 360degree view of the turquoise waters from the bridges or walking paths. There were many people just lay their things around on the wooden stages, and went off to swim.
The sea wasn’t too deep, less than 10m deep I think, but under the jumping stage it was deep enough, so many kids were jumping off, including myself. Surprisingly between these rocky cliffs, sometimes there were groups of large or small colorful fishes swimming by. Sometimes the large fishes were just inches away from us, even though we were not diving. Also, the area was sheltered by the rocky cliffs around, so even though there were fresh water flowing, the waves and flow weren’t too strong. It was really a perfect spot for snorkeling. After swim, we walked out through the wooden path, there were a shop, free open shower and bus stop just at the entrance of Akasaki. We took a quick shower to wash off the seawater, dried off and immediately took a bus to the nearby Kouzushima Onsen Center.
Kouzushima Onsen Center was a must-go place in Koizushima. It consists of outdoor and indoor onsen. The indoor onsen is not so special, just 2 or 3 pools, lockers, changing room and showers, but the outdoor onsen has the most amazing view. Outdoor onsen was similar to that of Niijima, built along the seaside and natural rocks, so the sea and waves were just a few rocks away. We could sit in the onsen and watch the waves hitting the rocks, it was a special experience. Also, from the bus stop outside, and oversee the outdoor onsen and sunset. We ended up visiting Kouzushima Onsen Center twice in 2 days, and even used the free hot shower at our Campsite.
Also, there was a restaurant inside Kouzushima Onsen Center, which served high-quality rich set meals at very reasonable prices. It also served local fishes and sashimi, so we ended up eating dinner there everyday, and never cooked dinner at our Campsite.
Next day was windy and might rain, but we still decided to hike Mt. Tenjyo since it was the only full day that we had. The weather was expecting to get worse in the afternoon, so we reserved the 9am special bus to the 6th station (60% altitude) of Mt. Tenjyo hiking course, and walked down Mt. Tenjyo to take the regular bus, because we were not sure what time we would get back.
There were a public toilet, some free wooden walking poles at the 6th station entrance. Soon after starting, we hiked up many stairs which we could see the white cliffs and Tako Bay from afar. It was a nice view, but because of the cloudy weather, we couldn’t see very well. Also, when we got higher, the wind became extremely strong (maybe 15-20m/s?), it was like typhoon or worse. We would hardly proceed or even stand still, had to hold on to the rope or fence around. Fortunately, the wind was blowing towards the mountain, otherwise I worried that I would have been blown to the sea. Anyway, I started to regret hiking on such a windy day (that even the high-speed jet ships were cancelled because of the wind that day). We decided to cut short, instead of walking the whole route, we got to the nearest exit and get off Mt. Tenjyo as soon as possible. Still, we managed to visit some of the ponds on top of Mt. Tenjyo, but they were all dried up. Also, the walking path on top of Mt. Tenjyo was actually full of dense natural plantation. We had to divide the weed and make our way through. After 3-4 hours, we returned to 6th station, since was just normal hiking routes from there, we simply walked down Mt. Tenjyo to Kouzushima port, bought discounted tickets, and walked along Maehama to Kouzushima Onsen Center.
In the end, it never rained that day, but the wind were so strong all day. We enjoyed the rare sight of watching such strong waves hitting the shore and the rocks just a few feet from us, when we walked along the coast, occasionally some white sand empty beach, to Kouzushima Onsen Center. It was a pleasant walk. Actually, we enjoyed that more than taking a bus.
We spent a lot of time chilling out at Kouzushima Onsen Center and enjoying the view from Tako Bay on Kouzushima. Although ther were not many shops or restaurants, it was a great place to visit, especially away from the crowdedness in Tokyo.
