English Guided Tours

Nature Tours in Iriomote Island

“Hanauta“

We are a nature guide shop
based in Uehara area on Iriomote island in Okinawa prefecture.

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Our Tour Services

We provide following tours:

  1. Full day – Easy Mangrove Kayaking and Rainforest Walk
  2. Full day – Advanced Waterfall Kayaking
  3. Half day – Easy Mangrove Kayaking or Easy Rainforest Walk
  4. Full day – Advanced Sea Kayaking to Ida Beach (Summer Only)
  5. Full day – Easy to Moderate Sea Kayaking (Summer Only)

Our tours are all in private!! We can make a suitable tour plan for you depending on your conditions and wishes.

The details of each tour are described under “Tour Menu”.

Our Vision

Hanauta serves opportunities for ALL group of people to enjoy the Iriomote’s beautiful nature.

Our tours are open for various group of people such as below:

  • various age group, infant to elderly,
  • people who are first time in kayaking, snorkeling and trekking,
  • people with disabilities and
  • people in minority groups etc.

In order to make all participant comfortable, we run our tour as “private”.

Three Concepts of Our Tour Service

1) Our tours are all in private!!

We make a suitable tour plan for you after consultation about your wishes and health condition etc. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about other groups of guests during your tour. People who have not much experiences in outdoor activities, families with small kids and elders are also welcomed to our tour.

2) Cozy and taking time for our guest.

We are a small shop run by a family. We tend to interact with our guest like a family. Also, we prefer stopping when you find something attract you and using time for observing fauna and flora, breathing fresh air, having a tea/coffee in beautiful sceneries and even having a nap if you wish so!

3) Considering and acting for environmental and social issues.

We set our own checklist to act for environmental and social issues. For example, we provide rental water bottle for our guests (to reduce plastic bottle garbage) and outdoor cooking lunch (to reduce garbage from take-out foods’ packages), use environmental friendly washing detergent and laundry soap, have our own food compost box etc.

Hanauta Tour Guides

Hiroko HIRANO

Nickname: Sue
Kayaker/Painter
Language: English and Japanese

Atsushi HIRANO

Nickname: Atsu
Kayaker/Tree Climber
Language: Japanese

Tour Menu

  1. Full day – Easy Mangrove Kayaking and Rainforest Walk
  2. Full day – Advanced Waterfall Kayaking
  3. Half day – Easy Mangrove Kayaking or Easy Rainforest Walk
  4. Full day – Advanced Sea Kayaking to Ida Beach (Summer Only)
  5. Full day – Easy to Moderate Sea Kayaking (Summer Only)

1. Full-day Easy Mangrove Kayaking and Rainforest Walk (Operated Year Around)

You can enjoy both kayaking in mangrove forest and trekking in rainforest in one day.

About 90% of Iriomote Island is covered with these forests. Don’t miss out your chance to get into it!

For this tour, kayaking and trekking locations will be chosen by our guide considering the weather condition and you group’s experiences etc. In some cases, we kayak along the river and start trekking upstream to a waterfall. In other cases, we transfer two locations by a car in between the two activities.

You will get to known better about Iriomote’s ecosystem by the end of the day.

This menu is open for all group of people including children under 9 years old, people over 65 years old, people who have no experiences in kayaking, trekking and other outdoor activities. We can adjust your tour plan and move flexibly on the day.

2. Full-day Advanced Mangrove Kayaking and Waterfall (Operated Year Around)

You can try an adventurous day by this course – visiting a waterfall in remote area of the island by kayak.

There are so many waterfalls you can explore in Iriomote Island. Most of them are located far far away from the community areas. You can only access them by kayaking and trekking by your own.

For this tour, you will most likely kayak 6 – 7 km (1.5 – 2 hours) plus trek non-paved track 0.5 – 1 hour for one way. (Twice of this for return.) The scenery will change as you paddle through – you get to see both aspects of mangrove river as well as fresh water.

Then, you can also enjoy sub-tropical forest and waterfall. Trekking could involve walking on slippery rocks and walking in the river water. The waterfall you visit will be chosen by our guide considering the weather condition and you group’s experiences etc. If you wish to visit “Mizuochi Waterfall”, there is no trekking activity.

Let’s get pumped up by kayaking and get wet at a waterfall!

This menu is the best option for people who love adventure and/or have experiences of kayaking, trekking and outdoor activities. We expect you to be decently fit and used to these outdoor environment.

It is NOT recommended for children who can not concentrate on kayak for 2 hours and/or who can not walk non-paved way by themselves. It is also NOT recommended for those who have health issues as the destination is very remote and no phone network. However, please do not hesitate to talk to us if you wish to participate.

3. Half day – Easy Mangrove Kayaking or Easy Rainforest Walk (Operated Year Around)

You can enjoy either kayaking in mangrove forest OR trekking in rainforest in half day.

If you are in Iriomote Island and have some free time, don’t miss out your chance to get into forests!

For this tour, please let us know which you are interested in, kayaking or rainforest walk. The activity locations will be chosen by our guide considering weather condition and your information.

For kayaking, you will paddle along mangrove forest approximately 1 – 2 km (around half hour) one way and then, relax in mangrove forest before return.

For the rainforest walk, you will visit rainforest, walk along/in a river, and possibly visit a waterfall. Please note that you are expected to walk un-paved way that includes a little bit of rocky and slippery points. If you are not comfortable with walking in such ways, please chose kayaking.

You will be able to feel the richness of Iriomote’s nature even in half day.

This menu is open for any group of people including children under 9 years old, people over 65 years old, people who have no experiences in kayaking, trekking and other outdoor activities !!


4. Full day – Advanced Sea Kayaking to Ida Beach (Operated Summer Only)

You can enjoy beautiful tropical ocean and spectacular coastal geography along your kayak trip to Ida Beach.

“Ida Beach” is one of the beautiful beaches in Iriomote Island. It is located in the remote area and you can only access there by ship or kayak. The seabed sediments around Ida Beach is white because they are originated from corals and shells. This makes the color of water stands up! The color changes between green and blue as you paddle. You can even see the coral and fish from the kayak when we reach the coast.

For this tour, you will most likely kayak 5 – 6 km (1 – 1.5 hours) one way. (Twice of this for return.) We expect you to be decently fit and being comfortable with oceanic environment. There are some points you need to paddle above deep water. You can also try some snorkeling from the beach if you wish.

You will never forget the color of water and the geographic scenery you meet in this course!

This menu is suitable for people who love ocean. It is better if you have some experiences of kayaking and other marine activities but you are welcome to challenge if you are enthusiastic and decently fit.

It is NOT recommended for people with health issues, people easily get sea sickness, children who doesn’t last concentration for 1.5 hours on kayak. However, please do not hesitate to talk to us if you wish to participate.


5. Full day – Easy to Moderate Sea Kayaking (Operated Summer Only)

You can enjoy your time at a beach and beautiful coastal scenery along your kayak trip.

In this course, we can try kayaking and visiting a beach. At the beach, you can swim, wonder around, have lunch and relax etc.

The destination will be chosen by your guide depending on weather conditions and your information. All beaches in Iriomote Island remain undeveloped and beautiful. The coastal geography is spectacular, so as the color of water. Most beaches are not crowded – usually the beach would be just for your group. You may meet one or two groups during the peak seasons. Even so, we can share the place without distracting each other. This is why you can enjoy your own beach time.

For this tour, you will kayak less than 5 km (less than 1 hours) one way. (Twice of this for return.) You can also try some snorkeling from the beach if you wish.

It will be unforgettable memory that you cannot experience in any other places in Japan.

This menu is suitable for people who love ocean. As long as the weather condition is good, this menu is open for all people who have no experiences of kayaking and snorkeling.

It is NOT recommended for people easily get sea sickness, children who doesn’t last concentration for 1 hours on kayak. However, please do not hesitate to talk to us if you wish to participate.


Tour Time

Full-day: 8.30am – 3.30pm (approx. 7 hours)

Half-day: 9am – 12pm / 1pm – 4pm (approx. 3 hours)

Time may be slightly shifted depending on the tidal condition.
Time include transportation, preparation and instruction time.

Price

Full-day:
Above 12 years old: 14,500 yen per person (*17,500 yen if you are participating only by your own)
Under 12 years old: 12,500 yen per person

Half-day:
Above 12 years old:
9,500 yen per person (*12,500 yen if you are participating only by your own)
Under 12 years old: 7,500 yen per person

Notice on High Seasons: if you are participating only by your own (only 1 person) during high seasons, the two person’s price will be required (e.g. 29,000 yen for a full-day tour). High Seasons include June 15th – 30th / July 1st – 31st / August 1st – 31st.

Additional Fees for Special Requests:
* Early morning start: +1000 JPY per person (*tour duration is still 7 hours)
* Long hour course: +2000 JPY per person (*more than 8 hours or 20km in distance)

The price includes: Life jacket, Marine shoes (18cm-30cm), Waterproof bag (20L), Snorkeling sets (for Sea Kayaking Course), Transportation , Tea/Coffee, Lunch (for full-day tour only) and Water bottle with noncaffeine tea or water (if requested).

* Transportation service is provided between the Uehara port and Shirahama village.

* Lunch service is for full-day tour only. You can request lunch service for half-day tour by 1,000 yen additional fees per person.

How to make a reservation

Making a phone call

090-2256-2822

In your Email or message, please write down following information as much as possible. This will help reservation process smoother.

  • Name:
  • Phone Number:
  • Date you wish to participate:
  • Interested tour menu:
  • Number of participants:
  • Relations of participants:
  • Place you will stay the night before the tour day:
  • Place you will stay after the tour:

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