not the most attractive beach drawing crowds during obon |
quieter side a short walk away for snorkelling |
Good, but I wish it was all uni! |
Surprising a lot of colorful fish at rocky Kawana Beach 川奈海水浴場, a short walk from Kawana Station. Saw little blue fish and big yellowish green fish amongst many others. There's a hut renting out tubes for 1000 yen, although you can buy them for cheaper at shops in the city. There's a dive shop on the way here from the station selling snorkel sets also. During obon, there were jet skis and a banana boat and quite a few people.
Really amazing sea urchin at the restaurant 海女の小屋 与望亭 overlooking the beach. The sea urchin bowl うに丼 is 2800 yen but will be so worth it - can get a little bit of extra uni 生うに for 1650, as good as the uni in Hokkaido! |
I wanted to rent a tube but didn't know the Japanese word for it. Me pointing at the tube, in Japanese: What is this called in Japanese? Japanese lady: Snoopy Me: I know, but what is THIS in Japanese? Japnese lady, slowly: korewa su-nu-pi desu. ........ In case you're wondering, it's called ukiwa 浮輪. |
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After snorkelling, it was time to head to an onsen 立ち寄り温泉 伊豆高原の湯 a short walk away from Izu-Kogen Station 伊豆高原駅. It was very crowded on a Sunday night during obon but it's such a nice hot spring place that looks even better in person than the pictures online!
Other than the indoor jet pool, small shallow area for kids, and sauna, there are 2 large/medium-sized outdoor hot spring pools on different levels, a cold pool, few beautiful ceramic tubs with very hot water, and an onsen for you to sit in with the whole body clay mask they provide. |
The only thing is that the changing room is quite small and there weren't quite enough showers for such a big crowd. Soap/shampoo/conditioner/cotton buds/hairdryers available but no lotion. The outdoor standing showers were quite nice! There's a relaxation area with comic books. You can use the coupon on their website to get 100 yen off. There's a launderette next door.
Next up is Ito 伊東, which does not seem like the most interesting place but it is nice to take half an hour to have a little wander. K's House below looks like a cool place to stay! There are 7 statues around Ito Station that you can pour warm onsen water over for different types of good luck!
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We headed down to Shimoda 下田 the next day for snorkelling, festival, and fireworks!
