Contents
♦ Welcome to Kohama Island
♦ How to get to Kohama Island
♦ Rental bicycles are convenient
♦ Restaurants information
♦ There is no supermarket
♦ Resort hotels are recommended
♦ Kohama Island ATM information
♦ Emergency medical care
♦ There are no trash cans
♦ Free Wi-Fi
Welcome to Kohama Island
Kohama Island in Okinawa Prefecture is a small island with a circumference of about 17km, which can be reached in about 30 minutes by ferry from Ishigaki Island. There are two large hotels (Haimurubushi and Hoshino Resorts) on a small island, and there is also a golf course.
Many visitors to Kohama Island stay at these hotels. The purpose of their visit to the island is to stay at these hotels rather than for sightseeing.
However, there are also tourist attractions. There is Ufudaki Observatory in the center of the islands, and you can overlook the beautiful sea and the island.
It takes 2-3 hours to visit the tourist attractions of Kohama Island by rental car or scooter. In the case of a bicycle it takes 4-5 hours.
The climate is almost the same as Ishigaki Island.
How to get to Kohama Island
There are no flights to Kohama Island. The only way to get to the island is by ferry from Ishigaki Island. Therefore, you need to fly to Ishigaki Island first and then transfer to the ferry. It takes about 30 minutes by ferry from Ishigaki Island.
It takes about 30 – 40 minutes by bus or taxi from Ishigaki Airport to the ferry terminal (Ishigaki Port Ferry Terminal). The ferry terminal is far from the airport, so plan your trip considering the travel time.
How to get from Ishigaki Airport to Ishigaki Port is summarized on another page.
More information about the ferry, such as how to take the ferry and discount tickets, is summarized in “How to take a ferry from Ishigakijima to other islands“.
How to get to Kohama Island
1. Ishigaki Airport (Ishigaki Island)
2. Ishigaki Airport (about 30-40 minutes) Ishigaki Port (Ferry terminal for Kohama Island)
3. Ishigaki Port (about 30 minutes) Kohama Island
Ishigaki Port Kohama Port Ferry schedule
Ferries to Kohama Island are operated by two companies. It is Anei Kanko Ferry and Yaeyama Kanko Ferry.
Please check the schedule of each company.
It is recommended to take the Yaeyama Kanko Ferry to Kohama Island. When we went there in April 2022, Yaeyama Kanko Ferry had more ferries in operation and the ferry was bigger.
Anei Kanko Ferry : schedule
Yaeyama Kanko Ferry : schedule
Ishigaki Port Kohama Port Fare
The ferry to Kohama Port is operated by two companies, but the fare is the same.
The fare changes according to the fuel price. Please check the fare of each company.
Anei Kanko Ferry : fare
Yaeyama Kanko Ferry : fare
Adult fare
one way : 1,240yen～／round trip : 2,380yen～
Child fare (Elementary school students)
one way : 630yen～／round trip : 1,200yen～
*If you make a reservation from each company’s website, you will get a 5% discount on the fares.
Anei Kanko Ferry reservation (Anei Kanko Ferry website)
Yaeyama Kanko Ferry reservation (Yaeyama Kanko Ferry website)
The ferry shakes
The ferry from Ishigaki Island to Kohama Island is a medium-sized ferry like the one in the photo above. It sails in the open ocean for about 15 minutes, but it may shake depending on the sea conditions.
If you get seasick easily, we recommend that you take motion sickness medicine. In addition, you should sit in the backseat of the ferry, which has relatively little shaking. The ferry is a non-reserved seat, so you should go early to the boarding gate to wait for the ferry and sit in the back seat.
Motion sickness medicine is sold at the shop inside Ishigaki Port Ferry Terminal.
Electric bicycles are convenient
Transportation on Kohama Island
・Rental bicycle
・Rental motorcycle
・Rental car
These can be rented on the island.
There are no route buses or taxis.
Kohama Island is not large, but there are many hills, so a scooter is the best means of transportation. But you need a drivers license to rent it. Therefore, we recommend electric bicycles. I’ve never been on a scooter, so I used an electric bicycle.
How to rent these is summarized on another page “The best transportation and how to use it on Kohama“.
Two-wheeled vehicles are more suitable than cars because there are places where parking is not available and roads are narrow.
There are three rental shops in front of Kohama Port. You can rent cars, scooters and bicycles at any shops. You can rent them without making a reservation.
Rental shops
Gami Sun : 090-3128-4270
Yui : 090-1948-2167
Kohamajima Rental Car : 0980-85-3571
Restaurants information
There are several restaurants in the center of the island or around the port. You can eat lunch and dinner on the island. But business hours are ambiguous. When I visited a restaurant, there was a restaurant that told me, “We are still preparing, so please wait 30 minutes.” That time was usually the time the restaurant should be open.
*Business hours may have changed.
BOB’s CAFE
It is a small cafe in front of the port. It’s about 3rd floor high, so you can eat while looking at the sea.
A hamburger called Kohama Burger is popular. The Kohama Burger (left) is made with hamburger steak, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and cheese, and is a satisfying size.
Taco Burger (right) uses ground beef instead of the hamburger steak used in Kohama Burger, and the taste is different.
Both of them are delicious, but I preferred the Taco Burger.
| Business Hours | 11:00 to the last ferry |
|---|---|
| Closed | Mon. |
| Menu | Kohama Burger : 900yen Taco Burger : 900yen |
| Map No. | 1 |
| Web | Facebook (in Japanese) |
| Official |
Cafe Coyote
This is a cafe in front of the port.
It has seats inside and outside the cafe, and you can have lunch while looking at the harbor. The cafe is about 1.5 floors high, so it’s not an ocean view but a harbor view. However, the sea breeze was comfortable in the outside seats.
I ate taco rice. It’s a little spicy and the cheese is plentiful and delicious.
| Business Hours | 11:00 to unclear |
|---|---|
| Closed | Thu. |
| Menu | Taco rice : 750yen |
| Map No. | 2 |
| Web | Facebook (in Japanese) |
| Official |
COFFEE HOUSE Yashinoki
This is a small cafe in the central area of the island. It also sells T-shirts and miscellaneous goods.
I ate brown sugar sundae. This is vanilla ice cream with homemade brown sugar syrup on top. Brown sugar syrup is pretty sweet, but it’s just right for a tired body after cycling.
The cafe has a place to park scooters and bicycles, but there is no place to park the car. You should park your car in a place that does not interfere with traffic and use it.
| Business Hours | 11:00 to 4:00pm |
|---|---|
| Closed | Wed., Thu. |
| Menu | Brown sugar sundae : 550yen Beef and tomato sauce & rice : 890yen |
| Map No. | 3 |
| Web | Official (in Japanese) |
There is no supermarket
There are no supermarkets, convenience stores or drug stores on Kohama Island. There is a small store (called Shoten) on the island, but there aren’t many items for sale and the prices are high. When we visited the island, only one store was able to confirm that it was open.
Vending machines for drinks are located in areas with lots of homes and near tourist attractions.
Sunscreen is essential when visiting Kohama Island’s tourist attractions by bicycle. You should buy it on Ishigaki Island before you go.
Map No. 3
Resort hotels are recommended
There are two large resort hotels on Kohama Island. They are “Haimurubushi” and “Hoshino Resort“. Most visitors to the island purpose to stay at these hotels.
If you’re staying at one of these resort hotels, you’ll have nothing to worry about during your stay as everything you need in these facilities.
However, there are guest houses on Kohama Island in addition to these resort hotels. These are recommended accommodations for those who want to talk to the inhabitants of the island or who want to stay at a reasonable price.
Kohama Island has restaurants (izakaya) where you can eat dinner, but no convenience stores. Therefore, if you have what you need for your stay, you should buy it on Ishigaki Island before going to Kohama Island.
Kohama Island ATM information
There are no banks on Kohama Island and no place to exchange foreign currency. But you can withdraw money with the credit card or cash card issued by overseas financial institutions at the post office.
There is an ATM in the Japanese post office, and there is one post office on Kohama Island.
The payment method on the island is cash in most places. Therefore, you should prepare cash on Ishigaki Island before going to the island.
The post office is located in an area with many homes in the center of the island.
Kohamajima Post Office
| Business Hours | 8:45 to 5:30pm (Weekday) 9:00 to 5:00pm (Sat.) |
|---|---|
| Closed | Sun., Holiday |
| Address | 59,Kohama,Yaeyama-gun Taketomi-cho,Okinawa |
| Map No. | 1 |
| Web | Post Office Website |
Emergency medical care
There is only one clinic on Kohama Island. It is not a 24-hour medical examination system.
You will call the clinic directly during the office hours and the Ambulance Service (119) during the non-office hours.
The clinic is located near the post office in the center of the island.
Office Hours
Weekday : 8:30 to 11:30、1:30pm to 4:30pm
Closed
Sat., Sun., Holiday
Phone Number
0980-85-3247
119 (Ambulance Service)
Web
Kohama Clinic Website
Map No.
2
There are no trash cans
There are no trash cans on Kohama Island. There are no it put even at Kohama Port. You will need to bring back any garbage you bring in.
You should take a garbage bag to this island and bring your trash back to Ishigaki Island to keep this beautiful landscape.
Free Wi-Fi
Kohama Island belongs to Taketomi Town. Therefore, you can use the free public Wi-Fi provided by Taketomi Town on Kohama Island. However, the Wi-Fi hotspots are only the following three places, and we think that they can hardly be used for your sightseeing.
Wi-Fi hotspot : Kohama Port Ferry Terminal, Ufudaki Observatory, Uminchu Park
Taketomi Town Free Wi-Fi ID ： Taketomi-Free-Wi-Fi
PASSWORD : No password
