Summer Travel to Kashiwajima

   Have you ever been to Kashiwajima island? Kashiwajima is in the southwest of Kochi Prefecture. You can see beautiful ocean there. And you can also see many tropical fish even in shallow water below your knees.

   Every summer, I go to Kashiwajima with my family. We enjoy swimming and snorkeling in crystal clear water there. We really love this beach.

   In mid-August, we left home to Kashiwajima at 5:30am. It was still calm and quiet out there, but already hot. It takes about 4 or 5 hours to get Kashiwajima from Nankoku city, so we always leave early in the morning.

   We took the expressway to Tosakure, which is built an extension recently. These days, as the roads to western area of Kochi have been upgraded, it became much easier to drive.

   Around 7:30am, we arrived at Oginohama beach of Tosashimizu area where many people are enjoying surfing. It is a shoaling beach so it is also very popular to families with small children.

   It was much earlier to get there than we expected thanks to the extended expressway. Usually, we go to Kashiwajima via Sukumo area, but this time we went there by Route 321 which goes through Tosashimizu area. Route 321 is a very scenic drive.



Squids hung out to dry

    The road goes along the Pacific Ocean shimmering like jewelry. It is so beautiful. Sometimes you can see squid hung out to dry along the road. These dried squids are very delicious. My favorite way of eating this is toasting a little and eating with mayonnaise, soy sauce, and Ichimi(chili pepper). I hope you would try it!

   Before we arrived at Kashiwajima, we always stop over at the Otsuki roadside station(Michinoeki Otsuki). They sell nice shaved ice with real strawberries in it. After enjoying this strawberries shaved ice, we finally arrived at Kashiwajima.

   After coming out of a tunnel, you’ll see a great view of the beautiful blue sea. The sky is also blue. Everything is so beautiful. We pulled over the car and got out to see that wonderful view for a while without words. Every time when I see this sight, I am really moved and thank to nature. Then we moved to the beach where there are so many tropical fish. We enjoyed swimming and snorkeling all day long. Swimming in the clear water is really nice. We forgot the time. We saw blue fish, black and white fish, orange fish, red fish, shrimp, crab and also coral! You can see these sea creatures without any special equipment. If you would try scuba diving in deeper area, you can see much more different beautiful ones.

   The sunshine is very strong and you’ll forget the time when you are watching fish in the sea, so don’t forget to bring something to protect you from the sun. I recommend wearing swimming suits with long sleeves and long pants.

Posted by K.N 

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