Seeing Ishigaki by car

Our rental car

Today’s the day we have a comprehensive exploration of Ishigaki by car.  We walked to the port ferry terminal to collect our rental car at 0900.  We had been warned that they would hold the car for fifteen minutes only if we were late.  No-shows or cancellations beyond 1500 yesterday would be subject to a 100% charge, but I don’t know how they would enforce it with no credit card details collected.  I guess things are based on trust and honour here.

It was a Daihatsu Tanto with a few scratches and a badly repaired rear quarter.  Its unusual feature was a normal back passenger door on driver’s side and a sliding back door on the other (kerb) side without a B-pillar.

It wasn’t a very powerful car as I believe it’s powered with a 660 cc engine to keep it within a certain class.  During the day I found the speed limits to be 40-50 km/h so it didn’t matter.  Inside, it was spacious due to its high roofline.

The north-east peninsula

Driving towards the north-east peninsula of the island, our first stop was about 30 mins away at the Tamatorizaki Observation Platform.  The ride took us through the countryside where we saw beef cattle, sugar cane, banana, dragonfruit and pineapple.

The weather was a bit cloudy but it could be worse, I guess.  I used my imagination to brighten up the view of the greenery, white sand and the seat.

It was only several minutes to the Ibaruma Heart Rock, which was a large boulder that appears to have split open to reveal striations in the shape of a heart.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

It was only a few more minutes to the Ibaruma Sabichi Cave where we paid to enter.  Walking through to the fairly large cave system we exited at the far end where the path split into two.  Both routes were along the coast, with various rock formations and greenery.  In higher tide, some of this area would be inaccessible.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

We continued to the tip of the north-east peninsula at which Hirakubozaki Lighthouse was located.  It was around 1130 by now and with low tide and cloud cover, it wasn’t the picturesque vista that I had hoped for.  The weather didn’t seem to be cooperating.

We backtracked and found a nice lunch place which turned out rather pricey.  We got there just in time as it started pouring.  Fried chicken and chips were the only reasonable items.  The chicken was awesome but strangely the chips took forever.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

The central north coast

The rain had given way to sunshine and we continued our drive along the central north coast of Ishigaki island to Yonehara Bay.  The low tide these few days are around late morning to early afternoon, making a real bummer for worthwhile beaching.

Yonehara Beach was just a sandy coral flat.  We tried to slow ourselves down so that we could catch a swim late in the afternoon, so we took a coffee break nearby.

Continuing to Kabira Park Observation Deck at 1430, we were met with the most gorgeous white sand and blue water scene even though the sun wasn’t even out in force.

The water seemed to be just right for swimming in terms of depth and clarity but sadly it was a no-go zone because it was a pearl cultivation area.  However, glass-bottom boats offered 30 min rides around the reef.

The super-skilled captain manoeuvred us above the coral without striking anything.   We spotted a bumphead parrot fish (or perhaps a Napoleon wrasse) a turtle, a shark and coral that looked like a mound of potatoes!

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

As we finished our ride, the weather seemed to have clouded over.  It was a very short ride to Sukuji beach.  The tide by now was better than at Yonehara but still not great.  The area had a jellyfish net, as stingers are a real risk in Ishigaki.  The golden brown sand and cloud didn’t make the water enticing like at Kabira.

We got to our final exploration point at Fusaki beach around 1600 where there was  large resort.  We found free parking and walked through the resort to get to the beach.  It was so so, like Sukuji but this was our last chance to swim today.

The water was warm but still a little refreshing, unlike that at Taketomi Island which barely cooled us down.

Text continues after this gallery.

 

 

We filled the car at a service station near the hotel and experienced “service” unlike in the rest of the world these days.  The attendants rushed to help us, fill us up, give us our receipt and thank us repeatedly!

We parked the car at the hotel briefly for a shower before driving out for dinner at a Sri Lankan restaurant on the other side of the town centre, which would have been a bit far to walk to.  It was a tough decision deciding between that restaurant or trying some of the expensive Ishigaki wagyu.  But we’re not great meat eaters, so Sri Lankan it was!

On the way back to return the rental car, our windscreen was struck by a baseball.  Fortunately, the car was unscathed and we returned it in one piece.

We walked back to our hotel to do a load of laundry using the free machines and dryer at the hotel.