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KASHIWA-JIMA - TRIP REPORT |
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by Yoko Iuchi |
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Over
recent years, this small Japanese island has become the most popular dive
site for the Japanese diver. I had heard about this small island when I
started scuba diving in Japan, but have not had the chance to get there.
It is not easy to get to, with a difficult drive along the very narrow,
curving and steep-cliffed mountain road.
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time my husband, Tomas and I were lucky enough to get the chance to
visit with our friend Mr. Miki, who has been diving for long time on
the Kashiwa-Jima area. We usually dive in underwater caves, with our
last ocean dive 12 months ago. We were very excited to be in the
ocean again in this small hidden Japanese dive spot. The
Kashiwa-jima population is no more than 300 people, with most
fishermen or divers. |
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We
met Miki-san at Matsuyama, about 5 hours drive from Kashiwa-jima.
Diving is offered 2-3 times per day. The dive sites are mostly for
advanced divers with a depth from 30ft - 120ft, visibility 40-50 ft
and water temperature 67-68F.
Wild
monkeys can be seen as you cross the mountain road. It was the new
baby season, and we could see many monkeys with babies in their arms
as they came close to the car. |
We
arrived in Kashiwa-jima by crossing a small 30ft bridge, and reached
the 'log house' style dive shop with the best guide in Kashiwa-jima
"Mr. Yano". You can see most of the dive sites from the
dive shop, which Yano-san has built on the small hill overlooking
the water. You can be underwater in 5-10 minutes after leaving the
dive shop.
| We
unpacked our gear and decided to get it salty. Our trip was just in time
for the squid breeding season. Large schools (10 to 20 animals) of 3-4
foot long squid would come close to us and could be seen placing eggs
between the soft corals. The divers gathered to watch the squid. The squid
are beautiful and the divers so small in comparison, making me realize
that we are really a very small piece of nature's scheme.
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The
squid have favourite spots for laying their eggs. Even with the divers
around, they are not discouraged. Mr.Yano told us "they were not
dedicated couples yet. You can see some of the male squid swimming between
several females. Once they become a couple, they stay close and are always
together.
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Mr.Miki
and Mr.Yano asked us if we had ever seen seahorses. Not having seen one
they planned another dive for me. In the first 5 minutes they motioned me
to watch a sandy rock area. I was expecting a 1-2 inch seahorse. He was
actually 7-8 inches long with big eyes and looked like a decoration. I
made eye contact with him. As I moved my head to left, his eyes followed
me.
As
we moved deeper, I was signalled to watch a piece of soft coral. I could
see nothing except the red/pink braches of soft coral. Mr.Yano took out
his special pointing stick. We followed the stick, and at the front was a
tiny
little pink Pigmy seahorse. She was only 2-3mm long with perfect
camouflage. I blinked once and lost her. |
We
completed three dives of about one hour each. Between dives we returned to
shop, downloaded the pictures, completed our log books and checked the
name of the animals which we had just seen. A shower and lunch was
followed by relaxing on the sundeck with a nice view.
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6pm we left dive shop and went back our Japanese style "tourist
home". There is no 'Holiday Inn' hotel in Kashiwa-jima. All of
accommodations are Japanese style tourist houses. Some of them are sharing
rooms with fishermen or other residents. Our room was a large Tatami-room
with Tokonoma (alcove), small sunroom with ocean view and of course TV.
Breakfast is included with dinner an optional extra. The typical Japanese
breakfast and dinner was wonderful with fresh sashimi straight from the
ocean. |
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We
stayed 2 nights and 3 days in Kashiwa-jima. We had wonderful time. 6 dives
in 2 days, all of them were all different and never boring. If you are
going to diving trip to Japan, you may want to add Kashiwa-jima to your
option. It will be a different experience.
MORE PHOTOS FROM
THIS EXPEDITION
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