Diving in Japan

Hi all,

Just wrapped up a trip to Izu, Japan. Posted a trip report to my blog and a few images to Flickr

Izu is an interesting place, though it's not on the international diving circuit. Very popular diving area in Japan, since it's near Tokyo.

Cheers,

Tony

great in depth report Tony

Thanks Mike. It's quite amazing what's there. Can't say I'm a fan of drysuit diving now, but I'll make the effort to get into colder water from now on.

Cheers,

Tony

don't do it man!!!! why you think i moved to the tropics

or if you do...

i have one back in Vancouver if you want to buy it :)

Really good report it was great to read.

One question, when can I buy a hood like there?

Thanks Arnon,

If you seriously want a hood like one of those (believe it or not, there were more animal varieties running around), I'm sure I can find out for you. Those two happened to be dive instructors who were working with a friend of mine whom I ran into by chance.

Who knows, you might start an international trend :-)

Mike,

Can I trust that you didn't pee in the suit?

I'm probably going to have one made here in Japan and just leave it here for future use. Don't see much need for it in the tropics!

Cheers,

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for the excellent report. Great photo's too. I was working in Japan for about 3 weeks a couple of years ago and I wanted to dive Izu but for someone without local contacts and doesn't speak Japanese it was a little frustrating and I was never able to pul it off. Hopefully I will get out that way again.

Hi Larry,

If you find yourself headed to Japan again and want some help, let me know. It is a bit difficult b/c of the language issue, but it's not insurmountable. A few of my friends can communicate well enough in English to get by.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony, great report! Now I really regret having gotten certified while I was working in Tokyo and yet having never dived there. Sadly it was my Japanese friends who discouraged me from diving in Izu - "too crowded, bad viz, cold..."... better off going to Indonesia or Malaysia they said... pff... Seeing your pics as well as the pics on Keiu & Michiyo's shop website, I've gotta make it priority to get back up there and drag my Tokyo friends out there.

BTW, one thing you didn't mention is the cost of diving in Izu or Japan in general... ¥¥¥

Hey Pakman,

Yeah, my Japanese friends also generally discouraged me. It can be all those things — too crowded, bad viz, cold water, etc — but what place can't have bad conditions? The thing is, it can be really good too, and I think that divers in Japan discount that possibility too much, which is why people like you and me get generally negative feedback about Izu and other places in Japan.

Of course, diving in southeast Asia is awesome, and I'm not ditching that. But it seems like everyone in the world is going to the same places, taking the same pictures, talking about the same resorts, etc. I love diving in the region, but I'm always keen to try new things, which is why I've been travelling to places that other people don't go.

I get to have unique experiences, and I find that I appreciate the dives in Indonesia, Malaysia, etc more when I do visit.

Diving in Japan isn't for everyone, but for people who've dived lots of places and want to try something new, it's definitely worth considering.

Cost is always an issue. There's no way diving in Japan will be as cheap as a quick hop to Indonesia from Singapore, for example. But it's a totally different experience both underwater and on land, so it's not really apples to apples.

Having said that, it's not all that much more expensive. It depends a lot on where you dive and how you dive. My personal recommendation if you choose to go to Izu is to stick with beach dives and not worry about boat dives, which are more expensive and less productive photographically I think. Choice of accommodation and means of transport will also affect the price. Bottom line is that the price can vary considerably. I have the advantage of speaking Japanese and being able to ferret out the best options relatively easily.

There's also the issue of which dive shop you pick. Most of the dive shops concentrate on diving one area only. Izu has lots of dive sites spread around the peninsula. One of the reasons I chose to go with Keiu is that he's "neutral", in that he's no affiliated with one place exclusively, which meant that we could readily access all the dive sites and be welcome everywhere. We were able to do this, so in hindsight, it was a good choice.

Wind and water conditions vary on the east and west sides of the peninsula, so it's a good idea to be able to access both sides during a trip. Generally, if one side is not so good, the other is ok. We were lucky on this trip, as both sides were great, so we had the pick of all the sites.

Also, I'm big on marine life behavior,etc. Keiu's background and training with Masuda-san proved invaluable. I was able to get questions answered quickly about animals, seasons, behaviors, etc.

I'm sure your friends in Tokyo can help work out the options, or if they're really not keen to go, drop Keiu an email and I'm sure he'll be happy to help. I'll post to my blog when I schedule my next trip to Izu. If it works out, see you there!

Cheers,

Tony

Of course, diving in southeast Asia is awesome, and I'm not ditching that. But it seems like everyone in the world is going to the same places, taking the same pictures, talking about the same resorts, etc. I love diving in the region, but I'm always keen to try new things, which is why I've been travelling to places that other people don't go.

 

I get to have unique experiences, and I find that I appreciate the dives in Indonesia, Malaysia, etc more when I do visit.

I'm starting to feel that way... while I still haven't notched off all the "must do" dive sites in SE Asia, I am itching to try thing off the "beaten track". I might have a potential dive buddy in Tokyo who is partially grounded from overseas dive trips due to a recent wedding... language isn't a problem as I lived in Tokyo for eight years (bit rusty but can get by). Well, have to put Izu on my to do list...