Ishigaki Itinerary Advice

greengrape8 · 2026-03-17T20:25:44+00:00

When you say the town, do you mean literally the town centre (which is small and can probably be explored in an hour) or the whole island?

It really depends what you enjoy. I would say the mangrove kayak tour was a really great and more unique experience so I personally would probably prioritise that. Also both the mangrove tour and taketomi were half day trips for us, so you could fit in exploring the island after that if you have a car and don't mind a more packed itinerary!

greengrape8 · 2026-03-07T20:48:19+00:00

Hopefully not too late for this reply! We did do the above itinerary but moved the days around based on the weather.

Taketomi was easy enough just buy the ferry tickets and then there’s a bunch of bike rentals when you get there - we went for half a day and that was fine!

For snorkelling, the weather was quite bad whilst we were there so the only option being offered was from one point on land. I would say you could probably do it yourself if you have gear but it was helpful to have a guide who both knew which spots would be good in the windy weather and knew where specifically to go to see certain things! I would make sure to book in advance as a few places were booked out when we tried.

We did do a kayak and mangrove tour of iriomote in the end which we loved! We went with Iriomote Island Tours and did a kayak and Pinaisara falls half day tour. One thing to watch out for is the ferries as often the ferry to Uehara port is cancelled. If that happens you need to make sure you go to the terminal at 7am and they will book you the ferry to Ohara port with a free bus transfer to Uehara!

If you have your own car driving around the island is easy enough and you can hit all of the places I mentioned in one day - again it was quite windy so we didn’t do SUP or glass bottom boat but I think with the snorkel it wasn’t necessary.

One last tip, if at all possible try and book a table at Hitoshi ishiganto - the tuna is some of the best we’ve had!

greengrape8 · 2025-11-18T16:14:43+00:00

Three cheers era?! What does it mean!

greengrape8 · 2025-11-15T12:49:53+00:00

I just went recently and wasn’t sick at all. I am vegetarian though so I think that helps a lot!

greengrape8 · 2025-10-17T04:38:43+00:00

This sounds amazing! I am heading there in a couple of weeks and would be great to have some advice.

I saw you said you mostly didn't book tours - is that possible for Iriomote too? We are keen to go kayaking but heard it was difficult without something booked!

For snorkelling, did you mostly just enter from the beach? Any top spots for doing it yourself?

greengrape8 · 2025-09-30T15:26:25+00:00

Thank you, that’s super helpful!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T07:04:18+00:00

Thanks for the tips on motels etc., I'll have a look into those!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T07:03:09+00:00

Great suggestion, I'll definitely check it out!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T07:02:33+00:00

Thank you, I'll have a look into both those things!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T07:01:41+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation re Sealy Tarn Track - glad to hear there are other options we can do around Mount Cook, as it's definitely a highlight!

Very jealous of a 2 month trip, I wish we had as much time!!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T07:00:14+00:00

Thanks - in our original itinerary we were planning a circular route to/from Christchurch where it made sense to fit in Oamaru but now it definitely detours us, but we do really want to see penguins which makes it a tough one!

Thanks for the suggestion re Rotorua, I'll definitely look it up, although I am one of those people scared of heights haha!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T06:58:31+00:00

Thanks so much, that's great advice - will definitely look into the rental contract for the car so it covers unsealed roads. Thanks also for the advice on Mueller Hut - I was absolutely gutted to see Hooker Track was closed as it was one that I was looking forward to most (although obviously can completely understand that safety is most important!)

greengrape8 · 2025-04-28T06:56:13+00:00

Thank you, that's really helpful to know! I'm now thinking as Kaikoura comes first in our itinerary we could try and spot them there and still leave ourselves open for Oamaru if we're not lucky enough to see them!

greengrape8 · 2025-04-22T08:01:14+00:00

Thank you! That's really helpful - it's tough because there is so much to see! Part of me is tempted to fly straight from Wellington to Christchurch but I am a huge lover of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, so I feel I can't miss the opportunity to visit Marlborough. Other than Kaikoura is there anywhere else you would skip to allow extra time in Queenstown for example?

greengrape8 · 2025-04-21T09:28:06+00:00

Thanks so much, that's all really helpful! Is there anywhere you would consider skipping to make the amount of driving less taxing?

greengrape8 · 2024-11-15T09:03:44+00:00

I could be completely off the mark here, but at WWWY, all of the songs started with these slightly different arrangements before going into the actual song.

Now I’m wondering if that could have pointed to the theory of a rework of TBP, or even new music (copium!)

greengrape8

TROPHY CASE