Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The ferry service is unique in one particular way. It is often cancelled. It's a long passage
to the Daitōs and when the shipping line or captain has a three- or four-day forecast that in-
cludes any poor weather or rough seas, they cancel. Although, ultimately, this is due to bad
weather, it's more complicated than that. The problem is greatly exacerbated by the lack of
a safe harbor on either island. Both Kita and Minami are completely encircled by high walls
of jagged rock coral and neither has an adequate port. Rather, on both islands there are sev-
eral unsheltered concrete piers that simply front the open ocean. Ships can only anchor and
offload by means of a cargo crane. The sea's waters rise and fall too greatly for the use of a
gangplank. Even passengers must ride in a crane box to board and disembark the ship.
Depending on wave conditions, the prevailing winds and currents, any given landing may
be on one or another of each of the island's several piers. Or a landing may be cancelled al-
together, and thus a round-trip voyage will have been made for nothing. Because there is no
shelter on either island—and there is no stopping place along the way—when the ferry de-
parts Naha, the captain must be reasonably certain that the weather is presently good, and
will remain good, for the duration of the round trip journey to the Daitō Islands.
Due to the lack of a good harbor, passengers and cargo arriving at Kita and Minami Islands must be un-
loaded and loaded by crane.
Ryukyu Air Commuter (RAC) turboprops fly three to four times a week to Kita and Minami from Naha.
Alternatively, and perhaps because of this, there is fairly decent air service to both islands
out of Naha Airport (
那覇空港
; Naha-kūkō). Although not daily to either, both islands are
