Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you're on Zamami during the whale migration season, you'll most likely find a whale
“spotter” at one or more of these observatories. They station themselves at these high points
and scan the seas with high-power telescopes or binoculars. Once a spotter sights a pod of
humpbacks or sees their water spouts, he or she will call the captain on board the whale
watching ship with his radio or cell phone to alert him to the whales' location. It's these spot-
ters who pretty much ensure that tourists get a sighting of whales, for they usually have paid
about $100 for a half day's outing and would like to get their money's worth.
To the north and east of Zamami there are a couple of minor but named rocks, and im-
mediately to the south there are three fairly good-sized islets worth describing. In fact, the
ferries must skirt around several of them in order to approach the island's harbor. We'll list
them below, from north to south, then east to west.
UGANIWA
(
男岩
; Ugan-iwa; also called Otoko-iwa, lit. “Man Rock”). This sheer stone spike
is visible at the far right-hand side in the photo opening this section on Zamami Island
(page
161
). It's a straightup, sharply pointed slab of rock 2,950 feet (900 meters) due north of
Zamami's north-easternmost point at Cape Kuruzaki (
黒前崎
; Kuru-zaki). Ugan is approx-
imately 300 feet (90 meters) in diameter and roughly 410 feet (125 meters) tall. It's an im-
pressive sight. Locals call it “Penis Rock.”
ACHINERA HIRASE
(
アチネーラ平瀬
; Achinēra Hirasé). This large rock and a couple of
sidekick stones are located less than 500 feet (150 meters) of the south-easternmost tip of
Zamamijima. The islet is essentially round, about 820 feet (250 meters) in diameter and
covered with thick green vegetation. It's abruptly sheer and rocky, it has no beaches and it is
uninhabited. There is a handful of rocks surrounding it and they measure anywhere from 80
to 165 feet (25 to 50 meters) across.
