The Season for Island Travel Has Arrived Again @ Shikinejima 🏝️
Haisai (^^)/
My no+e thank you for visiting m(_ _)m
It's been over a month since the trip, but since I was in the middle of writing this, I thought I'd turn it into an article.
So, just as the Obon holiday period ended this year, the season for our family's island travels arrived 😁
From Saturday, August 16th to Tuesday, August 19th, we went on a family trip to Shikinejima in the Izu Seven Islands.
It had been 7 years since our last visit to Shikinejima in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic!
・About Shikinejima
Shikinejima is a small remote island belonging to the Izu Islands of Tokyo, located in the Pacific Ocean about 160km south of Tokyo. It has an area of about 3.7 square kilometers and a circumference of about 12km, making it small enough to travel around on foot or by bicycle.
🌿 Features and Attractions
A nature-rich island: Surrounded by a ria coastline, it features highly transparent seas and white sandy beaches. Activities such as fishing, swimming, diving, and hiking are popular.
Hot spring spots: Natural hot springs that gush out from the rocky coast, such as Jinata Onsen and Ashitsuki Onsen, are scattered around. There are also mixed-gender outdoor baths where you wear swimsuits, which is an irresistible charm for fans of hidden hot springs.
Access: There is no airport. It takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes by high-speed jet ferry from Takeshiba Pier in Tokyo. It takes about 10 hours by the large passenger ship "Salvia Maru" (departs at 11:00 PM, arrives at 9:00 AM the next morning).
If you want to go by your own car, it takes about 3 hours and 15 minutes by the car ferry "Azeria Maru" from Shimoda Port in Izu.
For ship information, visit Tokai Kisen Co., Ltd. | Ship travel and tours to the Izu Islands
🏞 History and Geology
The island was born from volcanic activity about 16,000 years ago and is covered in rhyolite (Koga stone).
There is a theory that it was connected to Niijima during the Edo period, but it is now recognized as a separate island.
Shikinejima, where time flows slowly, is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and heal your mind and body. If you are considering a refreshing trip between work tasks, it is a quiet environment that is also suitable for workations.
・Photography equipment used this time
・Camera & Lens
① M.ZD ED 12-100mm F4.0 IS PRO for OM-1
② LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15mm / F1.7 ASPH.
③ Google Pixel 8 Pro
④ TG-6
(The images were processed by removing noise from the RAW data with DxO Pure RAW3, then SILKYPIX Developer Studio Pro12 was used to edit the brightness and color, adjust horizontal and vertical alignment, and perform some cropping. Therefore, these are not JPEGs straight from the camera manufacturer (≧◇≦))
1. First, about the camera
I bought a new camera before this trip.
The new addition is the Pixel 8 Pro.
There's plenty of room for criticism like "That's not a camera, that's a smartphone," but since I bought it as a camera, it is a camera 😝
I did bring the OM-1 on the trip just in case, but I managed almost entirely with the Pixel 8 Pro, to the point where I probably could have done without it.
I only used it on the day we returned just because I had gone to the trouble of bringing it.
2. Departure
As is the case every year, the departure for the island trip on the Salvia Maru is at 11:00 PM.
Since we were leaving on a Saturday, we started moving during the day.
First, after visiting our ancestors' graves in Asakusa, we walked to the Skytree because it was being lit up in Toy Story colors.
Walking through the hot streets of Tokyo while rolling a huge suitcase.
While killing time at Solamachi, we had an early dinner at Rokurinsha.
My younger daughter finished it for me (≧▽≦)
After dinner, I took pictures of the Toy Story color illumination.
It seems the Toy Story color illumination is running until October.
After watching the light-up for about an hour and feeling satisfied, I headed to Takeshiba Pier in Tokyo Port, the departure point for Tokai Kisen.
Boarding began around 10:30 PM, and we departed on schedule at 11:00 PM.
The night view looked better when taken with my Olympus OM-1.
After stopping at Izu Oshima, Toshima, and Niijima, we arrived at Nobushi Port on Shikinejima around 9:00 AM.
I took the inn's car, which was waiting at the port to pick me up, to the place where I would be staying for the next three days.
(On Shikinejima, inns generally come to pick you up at the port, but it seems that the number of room-only inns has been increasing recently, and it appears there is no pickup service for those, as quite a few people were walking from the port to the town.
If you ever have the chance to travel to the Izu Seven Islands, it might be a good idea to check about transportation.)
On this day, I decided to rent a bicycle and head to Tomari Beach.
On the way, I picked up a bento for lunch at Miyatora.
Tomari Beach is just as beautiful as it was seven years ago, with water that is incredibly clear and transparent.
For information about Tomari Beach, please visit the Shikinejima Tourism Association website.
I spent the whole day playing at Tomari Beach until evening.
I was able to see many fish while snorkeling.
Spangled emperor, yellow boxfish, azure damselfish, blue damselfish, sapphire devil, sergeant major, convict surgeonfish, goatfish, blue parrotfish, moorish idol, and many more.
After leaving Tomari Beach, I went to Matsugashita Miyabi-yu, an open-air hot spring where you can wear a swimsuit.
For information about Matsugashita Miyabi-yu, please visit the Shikinejima Tourism Association website.
I have been longing to visit this hot spring for seven years.
My heart and body were healed by this long-awaited hot spring.
After the hot spring, I returned to the inn for dinner.
After dinner, I went to a local shop for the island travel tradition of post-meal dessert: ice cream.
That concludes the first day.
Next time, I'll cover the second day, including Ishishirogawa Beach and Nakanoura Beach.
Thank you for watching until the end <m(__)m>
See you again soon (^^)/