Dreamy Ishigaki Beaches

We decided to go to Ishigaki for spring break this year. It's one of the Yaeyama Islands in the south western Okinawa prefecture. We decided to go with friends and it was so much fun for us and the kids. Day One We got up early to fly down, and got our grocery shopping done before we headed to our airbnb. My first impression of the island that it was so rural! It reminded me a lot of Hawaii, except that it was much flatter and more wild. There were no tree trimers or lawnmowers cutting the grass around the roads. I love the wildness of this island. Our place ended up being right near a little palm grove, which while it was small and probably not a must see, it was peaceful and made it feel very tropical. Since we were tired we decided to just put our swim suits on and head to Yonahara beach. The kids swam and played with friends while I walked the beach and looked for shells(which were plentiful). Day 2 We had light rain in the morning so we decided to walk down to a cave near our place, Blue Cave. It was a 5 minute walk to the beach. The path split right before we got there. To the left was the most beatiful cove with perfect sand. We enjoyed the view for a bit and then headed to the path that went to the right. It wasn't quite as beautiful as the other beach, but it had a cave and wonderful snorkeling. The coral wasn't amazing but there were a lot of cool fish. The cave was cool and opened up into the ocean. It was fun to swim into it. It was big enough it even had a couple of its own salagtites, stalagmites, and a large flowstone. We had the beach to ourselves all day except some tour groups that would come in wetsuits swim over to the cave and then leave. For dinner everything was closed. So we booked over to a burger joint in town and made it just intime to get some takeout. After we walked along the streets and found this little hole in the wall ice cream place where they hand mixed flavors into our ice cream with flavors like mango, pineapple, and sweet potato.

Day 3 Started the day out with a short visit to Arkawa Falls, which we thought would be a short hike and ended up being right next to the road. But it was some beautiful little falls. Then we headed to Kabira Bay to do a glass bottom boat tour. The coral was beautiful and very diverse with bloes, yellow and white corals. There were also plenty of fish, some snakes, and a sea turtle as well. Louis kept saying he wanted to see a shark. We went through the whole tour and the right at the end we passed a shark. So everyone was happy. Then we walked along the beach of Kabira Bay, which was beautiful (I love beach walks). This was one of my favorite things on the whole trip. We even found some beautiful shells, and my friend found a whole conch shell. We ate lunch in a light rain in a beautiful garden restaurant (they wanted to move us inside, but really it was just lovely outside. I had delicious beef curry and a veggie chowder, with Okinawan sugar cookies for dessert. It was delicious. And I even found my traditional Okinawan kokeshi doll for my collection. Then we drove to see the beautiful Oganzaki Lighthouse. It was so windy that we didn't stay to do the little trails there, but if it hadn't been we would have stayed. And then last but not least we stopped at Ishigaki Yaima Village, which was set up with traditional houses and had some cultural activities, but really the most exciting thing was the squirel monkeys they kept and they climbed on us. It was fun for all.

Day 4 We took a ferry to Taketomi Island. It was the cutest little island. It seemed completely flat, hardly even a hill. The town was in traditional Okinawan style, with lovely flowers in bloom. We first headed to the star sand beach, because it was the farthest walk. At first we couldn't find the star sand at all and then we bought a little souvenir bottle of it and realized how small it really was. Then it was much easier to find. After we walked along the coast to a fun sand spit and the kids splashed and played for a good while. After we walked into town and decided to do a water buffalo cart ride. It was a cool experience to be pulled along after such a strong animal. We were also serenaded by our driver with traditional songs. After we headed back to Ishigaki on the ferry and founf the most delicious taco rice food truck.

Day 5 We took the morning to drive around the northern tip of the island. We stopped at a couple of beautiful look outs and then went to Hirakubozai Lighthouse. Then we went to a beach recommended by our friend's hotel manager. And it was spectacularly beautiful. It had these sea stacks with white bell flowers growing on them and it just seemed too idylic to be real, and yet it was. We walked along the beach and enjoyed the views. Then we headed back to our place to eat a quick lunch and then headed back to Yonahara Beach to swim and snorkel with a bunch of our friends who also went to Ishigaki for spring break. The snorkeling was even better than around Blue cave, with much better coral and plenty of fish, Even the kids were able to walk out and see clown fish. It was also nice to get together with so many friends. For dinner we got more taco rice, yum! And then we drove back to our place and let our kids swim in the pool. They LOVED it. They swam and had a blast until late.

Day 6 Our last day we woke up to rain and it just kept coming, but we decided to be adventurous and still try going paddle boarding in a river sorrounded by mangroves (a big thank you to our friend's the Walkers, who brought their paddle boards for us to share). It was so cool to just see mangrove trees and roots all around and pretty much nothing else. It made for an erie atmosphere. I'm glad we decided to do it still, because I had not seen anything quite like it. After that we drove out to a sculpture park filled with brightly colored statues that had a cheerful feel. After we took a drive through Banna, and ended up at a really fun playground area. We ate a picnic dinner, saw soe HUGE fruit bats, and saw a beautiful sunset. This last night definately had the best, clearest weather of our entire trip.

Day 7 We packed up and headed to the airport. Pace found the t-shirt he was looking for and the flight went smoothly. Then after wrestling some Tokyo traffic we made it home. With just a day for Jake to pack up and head to Hawaii for a cless. Phew Goodbye, beautiful Ishigaki, we will always remember you and your beautiful beaches and fish