Nishihama

Yaeyama Islands


Just to the west of the port is this perfect beach of snow-white sand with some good coral offshore. Here you will find free public showers, toilets and a camping ground.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Yaeyama Islands attractions

1. Japan's Southernmost Point

2.49 MILES

Cycling along roads criss-crossing fields of sugar cane and tracing kilometres of unspoiled coastline – the southernmost point of Japan's southernmost…

2. Takanazaki

2.95 MILES

At the southeast corner of the island is this impressive 1km-long cliff of Ryūkyū limestone, pounded by the Pacific Ocean. There's a small observatory…

3. Ida-no-hama

19.1 MILES

From Shirahama, at the western end of the north coast road, there are four daily boats (¥500) to the isolated settlement of Funauki. Once there, it's a…

4. Kanpire-no-taki

20.24 MILES

Kanpire-no-taki, a low-scale series of waterfalls, is the turnaround point for hikers who have travelled up the Urauchi-gawa.

5. Mariyudō-no-taki

20.34 MILES

A trek upriver through the damp Iriomote forest leads to the lovely Mariyudō-no-taki, a series of low waterfalls.

6. Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Center

20.6 MILES

If you are at all intrigued by the yamaneko (Iriomote's endemic wildcat), whose critically endangered population hovers around 100, it's worth stopping by…

7. Pinaisāra-no-taki

22.19 MILES

At the back of a mangrove-lined bay called Funaura-wan, a few kilometres east of Uehara, you can make out the lovely Pinaisāra-no-taki, Okinawa’s highest…

8. Tsuki-ga-hama

24.7 MILES

The best swimming beach on the island is Tsuki-ga-hama, a crescent-shaped yellow-sand beach at the mouth of the Urauchi-gawa on the north coast.