The Okinawa of Tokyo! The Best Beaches I’ve Ever Seen In Japan 🏝️

The Okinawa of Tokyo! The Best Beaches I’ve Ever Seen In Japan 🏝️

You might think that Tokyo doesn’t have any decent beaches, and that’s because you’re thinking of Tokyo like this. What most people don’t know is that the prefecture of Tokyo actually extends all the way out to include a bunch of islands south of the mainland. Some of these islands are home to wild, untamed nature, and some of them, like Niijima, have the clearest water and best beaches I’ve ever seen in my nine years living in Japan. This tiny island actually blew me away. And the best part is that it’s only three hours away from Tokyo by boat. It’s actually really cool because it’s a jet foil boat, so we’re going really, really fast, but it’s really smooth. We just picked up the rental car, actually, the owner of the hostel/hotel that we’re staying at tonight. They just came and, like, picked us up from the terminal just because they’re kind, which is really nice. It’s way hotter here than Tokyo. It feels like, I don’t know, like the sun is stronger for sure, which is perfect for the beach. it’s a beautiful day. So excited. Chris and I both hiked Fuji yesterday. Mistakes were made. Oh boy. Oh, look at that. Look at that line. Maybe it’s better in the shade? I don’t know. Oh, ouch. The shame I feel as an Australian to get a sunburn. It’s crazy. I feel so guilty. What’s wrong with me? It’s supposed to be a really nice, like, observatory over here. It’s about 40 minutes walk away. You can drive there, but I’ve heard it’s like a nice hike, so let’s see. Whoa! Whoa! Hot damn. That’s beautiful. Oh, my gosh, look at that water. Why are you standing like that? This car is way too small for this. It really looks like we’re not supposed to be down this street. But this is actually the road. This is actually the entrance together. Technically, it’s a two lane road. However, there’s no way to turn around. The name of it on Google Maps is シクレット入口 like secret entrance. So funny. Wow. I’m so ready to swim. Oh my gosh. Ah! What is this little Totoro entrance? Why did I say it like that? Totoro. Totoro. Totoro. Totoro. Oh my gosh! No way! Oh my gosh, this is crazy. I’m gonna say it. This is the best beach I’ve seen in Japan. This is the best Japanese beach. Okinawa has beautiful beaches, but there’s tons of people. Yeah. So true. Honestly, it really feels like I’m in Australia. It’s so weird. It’s just so beautiful. It’s so long. It’s like the biggest, like, longest beach for sure, I’ve ever seen in Japan. This is like an Australian beach. What the hell? As much as it kills me to say, though, I don’t think that I should swim here somewhere. Like the tide is coming in. Some of the waves are getting bigger, and it kind of looks like there’s a bit of a riptide out there, like the water is getting carried that way pretty quickly. There’s obviously no like lifeguards or anything here. So take it from your friendly neighborhood Australian. Don’t mess with riptides. Yeah, no, I’m not going to swim. Unfortunately. It looks so beautiful though! We’ve just been running around for like the past two hours taking like, all of the photos and videos and drones and FPV. It’s so tropical. Wow. So cool. It’s just got really cool architecture. And of course, it’s got, like, the best view. Oh my God. I can’t get over how much this just looks like. I don’t know, like Hawaii or some kind of very tropical island. Oh, that’s it? Yeah that’s the onsen! What the heck is this? Wow. Oh my gosh, what is this place? This is an outdoor onsen with real natural onsen water that just so happens to be bubbling up here, right by the coast, right next to, like, the most insane view. I’ve never seen an onsen like this before. Holy moly. I’m not quite sure. Like what this is. It’s very unique to this island. It’s just this kind of, like, Greek looking building, ancient ruins kind of thing. It’s too good. I can’t not get in. This is actually so nice. Generally speaking, If there’s an onsen where you’re allowed to where a swimsuit that means that you’re allowed to go in with someone else. And it also means… generally speaking, still have to double check. But it usually also means that tattoos are allowed as well. Ya know, in hindsight, hiking Fuji before going on a big trip. This wasn’t my best idea. I’m so tired. So the hotel we’re staying at the hotel. It’s more of a hostel called Nabula. Nabula? It’s quite nice. It’s very like modern and renovated inside. The rooms are kind of unique, I mean, it’s a hostel, so you can have up to four people in the room and they’ve got, like a full kitchen that you can use and you can use their barbecue, which is very nice. Also, you can rent bicycles from here. I’ll see a lot of people riding bikes around and like pretty much everywhere we’ve been, since we have a rental car, it only takes like five minutes to get anywhere. So I think if you if you couldn’t rent a car, I think you could just ride a bike everywhere. Ithink you’d get around, so easily. I recommend this hotel. Nice. Comfortable. Good morning. Another beautiful day on Niijima Island. So one of the things that you can do on this island, that you can also organize through the accommodation that we stayed at yesterday, is kayaking on a clear kayak, which should be beautiful because the water here looks amazing. Konnichiwa! You’re doing great babe! This is so much cooler than I thought it was gonna be. It’s so beautiful. Why aren’t all kayaks clear? This is so cool. It’s actually incredible to see. And, I mean, it helps a lot that this water is just incredibly clean and clear. You can actually see little blue fish and everything. It’s crazy. I really want to swim? Still haven’t swam yet. What am I doing? I haven’t swam yet. It is beautiful. Love it. Yeah. We’re sitting in like a bay where there’s, like, boats and machinery and stuff like that. Yet it’s still like, it feels like it’s clearer than water than Okinawa. I don’t know, it’s like clean. The sand is clean. There’s not, I don’t know, random trash in it. It’s just beautiful. So you got these mountains in the background? Are you kidding? And this is in Tokyo?! I keep forgetting. I forget how close we are to Tokyo. I mean, we’re in Tokyo! This is so weird. It’s so weird. I love this! There’s not a lot of, like, cafes and restaurants around here. Especially not open for lunch time. But one place that is open, it’s called Mikasa. Sorry, I was trying to read that, but it’s backwards anyways. It’s called Mikasa. And it’s like an onigiri, bento box kind of place. So you get to choose two different onigiri and they’ve got side dishes and everything. It looks, looks really delicious and they’ve got like a menu in English and stuff. So far everything’s been quite like English friendly. Even if people don’t speak it, they’re very helpful. And they’ve got lots of English signs and everything, so we love to see it. Mhm. That’s really nice. Oh that’s tasty. It’s like a little bit bitter but it’s nicely seasoned so it’s got a good balance. I’ve never had this before – this pickled egg. Oh wow. It’s good. Not bad. Do you think I would like it? I think it’s because I’ve grown up with them, it’s alright. But I enjoy it. Mhm. So the green vegetable that was on top of my little onigiri just before it’s called Ashitaba. And it’s like a leafy green that grows on Niijima. And we found this kind of like agricultural center. They sell like various things that’s all grown on the island. And they have an ashitaba milkshake. So we got that one and a strawberry one in case we hate the ashitaba. It’s really good! Really? Wow. It’s like ice cream. Wow. Well, kind of just tastes like ice cream. I’ve decided, uh, we don’t need to go to Okinawa anymore. It’s a three hour ferry from Tokyo. It’s, like, somehow better, I don’t know. I gotta say, this island really surprised me. Like, I’ve been to a lot of places in Japan. I’ve been to a lot of, like, beachy areas like Amami, Okinawa, Yakushima, all those little ones. And this island is so different. And I’ve been thinking about it, I’m like, “what is so different about it?” It’s just less touristy. Like not talking about foreign tourists or anything, like, even Japanese tourists, there’s less of them here. Therefore it feels less commercialized. It’s just a little town that happens to have some of the most beautiful beaches in this country. And it’s also just three hours from Tokyo, like, it’s so close and accessible and like easy to get around. You can just ride a bike everywhere. Everyone’s really chill. But yeah, I had a really great time here. Thank you Niijima for having us. Beautiful island. You guys have an amazing island. Crazy places. I wish we could stay longer and just, like, spend forever at that beach. Anyway, I’ve been talking too long.

After having travelled to Japan’s most famous tropical locations (Okinawa, Amami, Miyakojima etc), I wasn’t expected Niijima to hold a candle to them, but I was wrong! I can’t believe that the best beaches in the country are in Tokyo…

Thank you Tokyo Metropolitan Government for sponsoring this video!

To book the ferry to Niijima, click here: https://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/en/
Nabla Hostel: https://hostel-nabla.com/
More weekend trips from Tokyo: https://youtu.be/QQdG-lR4yy4?si=KqVlCKrNFv4S5Yid

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