+852 6012 1025 contact@minamibanana.com
In order to locate the listing below, refer to the map here.
Minami Banana interactive map
Yonehara beach and lagoon are natural parks. Fishing is forbidden as well as touching corals or collecting marine organisms. Full rules below:
https://www.env.go.jp/park/iriomote/E_yonehararuru_t.pdf
Access:
The beach is right behind the trees on the left when getting out of the garden. Access is open 24/7. At times the car gate (campground gate) may be closed, but you can still access by walking on the side of it.
Tides:
There is not enough water to swim at low tide sometimes (think 30% of the day), hence it is important to check the tide and levels when planning the day.
Please don’t walk on the coral rocks. Even on areas where most corals are dead. Touching corals makes them die or prevent them from growing again. It has actually grown in recent years in the area. But not on areas where people walk.
You can find tidal data through the link below:
https://www.tideschart.com/Japan/Okinawa/Ishigaki–shi/Isigaki/
Using this chart, you would need at least 0.8m height to swim, 1.0m height to do water sports (SUP, etc.)
Snorkelling:
Yonehara reef is one of the top snorkelling and diving spots on the island.
Within short reach, the nicer coral area is situated to the far left of the beach. (left side when you look towards the water from the house)
The best underwater scenery happens on the reef edge. For good swimmers only with appropriate caution, and only when the sea is flat. It is a 200m swim from the shore, straight in front of the house. Corals are most beautiful there, and you can easily spot sea turtles swimming 10~20m outside the reef edge, when going 100m~200m to the left. (left side when you look towards the water from the house). When going to the reef edge, please make sure of the tide so you can swim out and back in. Don’t walk on the reef. It destroys what we came to enjoy – and may hurt.
Sea turtles come for feeding very early mornings (the first hour or 2 after sunrise) in the shallows, to the right side of the lagoon.
From May to August, you may be lucky to spot turtle tracks on the sand in early mornings as they come lay eggs. They hatch 90 days later (August to November)
You may spot the fishes and identify them later on the wall poster or on the picture book on the coffee table.
For information on the beach, the reef, the Blue Cave, the National Park, Hanashiro san at the Jellyfish neighbour shop are the top specialists. They know literally all spots and resident fish on the reef (e.g. all clown fish anemones). They also monitor and protect the turtle nests, the hatching of eggs. They are the best guides for reef swims, turtle swims, Blue Cave visits, etc.
Currents:
Lagoons fill and empty with tides and waves, generating currents that can take you out to sea. Please stay aware of currents at all times and apply appropriate caution and supervision. In case you get caught in a current:
a- Don’t panic
b- Swim perpendicularly to the current till you get out of it
Sea snakes, jellyfish
Sea snakes (black and white banded sea kraits) are common in the lagoon. While their venom is highly toxic, they are very peaceful and their mouth is very small. They could bite humans between fingers, or ear lobes. While fishes tend to move away from swimmers, sea snakes usually keep their direction, undisturbed. Keep your eyes open, don’t play with them and enjoy the scenery.
Jellyfish stings are serious. While not common, blue bottle and box jelly fish have been reported on the island. Better seek medical help without waiting in case of a sting.
In the area:
There is only one meaningful place without going to town, which is Karimata shoten in Yoshihara (see map). It is open every day, no exception from 14:00 to 21:00.
Karimata san has convenience store basics, and some fresh products from local farmers. Fresh eggs, vegetables and fruits of the day. Sashimi occasionally. Better go early for better supply.
You will find as well roadside booths from locals where you can buy local produce and drop coins in a box.
In town:
Going to town, we recommend the Yurateiku farmers’ market. A permanent grocery shop filled with local produce only.
For supermarkets, Max Valu (Open 24 hours) and Kanehide are the generic options, San-A a bit more upmarket.
For great Ishigaki meat, Misaki gyu on the outskirts of town is the place to go. Best quality and affordable when buying at their shop – where you can eat yakiniku on the spot. Other shops pride on serving Misaki-gyu as their top meat, and may charge you double price.
Our address:
Some drivers may know “Minami Banana”
For others, our address is Fukai 644-40. Next to Yonehara Kominkan (our neighbour towards the main road). Some would know Hanashiro-ya or Jellyfish (our neighbours towards the beach) as landmarks.
Taxi:
Heianzan san: 090 5947-8731
Taxi company: 0980 88-1777
Daiko:
Daiko services is basically people who will come wherever you are and take you AND your car to wherever you want to go. Like a taxi with a spare driver to drive your car.
They are surprisingly affordable.
Alcohol tolerance for driving is ZERO in Japan. Even one drink will push you over the legal limit. Controls are frequent.
So, if you had a drink and cannot drive back, please use this service. If you don’t speak Japanese, the restaurant owner will always make a point to assist.
石垣島 南星運転代行
090-1366-7964
There are a lot of lunch options around. For dinner, you would need to drive to Kabira. As a closer option, Café Stella is open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and can accommodate if you book on other days ! Café Moment at the back of the house is happy to open for dinner upon request.
Please see on the shared map for location.
Possible breakfast/dinner arrangements with our neighbour:
Japanese breakfast or dinner can be provided with our neighbouring ryokan – at times when they are not full. You would need to notify Hanashiro-ya by noon for same-day dinner or next-day breakfast. Please contact us in case of interest.
Walking distance:
Café Moment
Just behind the house. Outdoor seating for lunch and coffee. Café Moment is happy to stay open for dinner and drinks upon request.
Tonkatsu Riki
Close by on the main road. A long-time local favourite. Be prepared to queue.
Jellyfish
Our neighbour on the way to the beach. Open in high seasons. Serves taco rice, yaeyama soba on outdoor seating. As well as ice cream and kakigori.
Kitchen Yonehara Shokudo
Close by. Open during the season.
A short drive away:
You will find a concentration of cafes and lunch restaurants in Yamabare (5min drive to the west, stretch of houses after the red bridge)
Cafe Stella
The best cook in the area. Open every day for lunch except Wednesdays and Thursdays. Dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and upon booking request. It is located in Yoshihara, the next hill after Yamabare.
Sunkiss cafe
The best taco rice on the island. And great Soup curry. Nice view. The waffles are also amazing.
Kato Soba
A local favourite. Very nice setting with a view. Very tasty soba, but above market prices.
Café Laguna
Usually open till 18:00. Convenient for late lunch.
In Kabira (most are open for dinner)
Hama
One-man show. The best cook in Kabira. Open for dinner. Open till very late.
Jinbei
For sushi and seafood. Open for dinner.
Yui
Mostly a bar, with the widest Awamori menu. Great food options. Open for dinner, staying open late.
Kabira-Tei
Good food in a nice setting. Open for dinner.
Umaru
Nice old wooden house. Okonomiyaki and other dishes. Open for dinner.
Koen Chaya
Inside Kabira park, nice place under the trees. Local soba. Lunch only.
Gohan-ya
Nice bento and very nice people, in front of Jinbei.
Garden Panna
One of our favourite spots. Nice garden with a view, very tasty dishes and teas. Original creations using the garden herbs. Lunch only.
Ishigaki shoten
Good Vietnamese, Thai and local food. Lunch only.
In town:
Misaki gyu
Ishigaki beef yakiniku and butchery. The best yakiniku shops in town pride themselves on serving meat from Misaki gyu… Which you can have for much cheaper directly at Misaki gyu !
Funakura no Sato
Izakaya. Nice complex old wooden houses and garden. Better book in the “kissaten” room for a much nicer setting than the bigger hall. Some chilled shamisen animation at dinner time. Count 3kJPY/head. Great for lunch too.
Shiishii Gangan
Small izakaya. Very good and affordable food in a modest setting. Ooshima san made his career as a chef at the Intercontinental. Trust him with an omakase set !
Ishigaki ya
Yakiniku. Great Ishigaki beef. Nice setting. 4000-5000 JPY per head.
Maruha sashimi shop
Sashimi shop with a terrace on the port. Can eat on the spot – they have rice and tempura as well. Open daytime. Great snack when coming back from outlying islands (short walk from the boat).
Kokkara
Kaiseki. Great food in a very private setting within the host’s house. Dinner only, booking only. 4~8k JPY/head. Hard to find in the fields. You’ll need navigation, and better to go before sunset !
Juices, ice-creams, bread, pastries…
Papaya juice shop
Up the hill from home on the east side, next to the entrance to the Yaeyama palm grove.
Possibly the best juices on the island (not just papaya !). Using sugar cane juice instead of sugar.
Pinacolada
Great bakery in Kabira. On par with the best bakeries in Tokyo or in France. Great breads and pastries with original local creations. Open from 9:30 to 15:00. Go early for more choice. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Sunkiss cafe
Amazing waffles. Nice sea view. 5min drive to the west, in Yamabare along the main road. Open irregularly.
Mirumiru
Local Ishigaki ice creams. Our favourite ones on the island. You will find them in a few places (e.g. at the domestic terminal of the airport), but the best spot is their headquarters in the fields on top of a hill in Fusaki, with a sea view facing Taketomi island. Great on a late afternoon before sunset.
Close to the house:
Yonehara beach
(see the specific complete paragraph on it !)
Arakawa waterfall
On the main road to the west. 20min walk / 4min drive.
Great swimmable waterfall with easy access and a swinging Tarzan rope. Amazing to refresh on a hot day. Very beautiful as well. Park on the 3-vehicle car park and go down to the falls by the staircase on the west side of the little bridge.
Blue cave
The seawater cave is accessible from the sea. Nice snorkelling around. Best accessed through a tour with our neighbour Jellyfish.
Crystal beach
Entrance tricky to find (refer to my map). Beware of the steep path down. Go with appropriate shoes (avoid beach sandals). The beach is very scenic and a deep stretch of sand. You can find crystals in the sand brought from the river. Snorkelling is very good and the reef edge is close. Often strong currents as the lagoon opens right in front. STAY AWARE !
Yaeyama Palm grove
Nice outing to go see the endemic Yaeyama palm trees (spot them on the mountain from the house !). And a good occasion to grab a juice at Papaya.
Shiisa park Yoneko Yaki
Park with giant statue / totem creations following the local Shiisa theme. Actually a pleasant park with original creations. Fun for children as well. You can’t miss it from the road. 2-minutes walk !
Fukido gawa mangrove
You can go down from the bridge and venture for a few 100 meters in the sand. Spot mudskippers and colonies of colourful violinist crabs.
Mape – Nosoko dake (Nosoko peak summit)
You can spot the summit from Yonehara beach, the pointy mountain to the north-east.
Easy 20min hike with stunning 360-degree view from the rocky top. Highly recommended.
Kabira Bay
THE landmark view of the island and a view rated 3-star by Michelin. Don’t miss the walk and the viewpoints in Kabira park. The walk along the sand northwards to the next beaches is very nice too, and less crowded.
The glass-bottom boat tour is cheap and surprisingly good, going over the reef of the natural park. A success with children and definitely nice to see if you haven’t done any snorkelling around.
Beaches:
See the map !
Everyone has his own favourites and there are a lot on the island. Some with easy reference and access. Some more secret with sometimes difficult access.
The best beaches are:
The beaches north of Kabira (between Kabira village and club med) are swimmable even at lower tide.
Close to town
Snorkelling:
Apart from the beaches (above), the Shiraho reef has some very nice coral and underwater life.
I went there with a guide on a small boat that I can recommend (difficult to find the best spots on your own).
Shinzato san 090 6863 1717
For snorkelling tours at Yonehara or at the Blue Cave, you may see directly with our neighbour
Jellyfish Tel: 0980 87-7838 / 090 4510 0117
Email:jellyfish644@gmail.com
For boat snorkelling tours in the Nosoko area, Matsumura san is your best option
Tel: 0980 89-2939 / 090 1944-4740
www.fruit-ishigakijima.com
For boat snorkelling tours in the Kabira area, including to see manta rays, we can recommend Euro-divers (see the Diving section below).
Diving:
There is gorgeous diving in Ishigaki. From manta rays spotting, turtles, squids, coral reefs, caves, and a very rich marine life around.
There are a lot of Japanese-speaking-only diving centres – which I haven’t tested.
There are only very few centres speaking foreign languages (they also speak Japanese). Euro-divers is a great choice and my go-to shop. Highly experienced professionals, based right in front of the manta spot at Club Med. Pickup from the house is possible. See leaflet at the end of the house manual
https://en.euro-divers.jp/
SUP tours (mangroves, coastline):
SUP is a great way to discover rocky coastlines, inaccessible beaches, and go deep in the mangroves.
There are a lot of tour companies (no-one will just rent).
Remote island hopping:
The remote island terminal in town is the gate to the Yaeyama.
A day-trip to one of the islands is a MUST DO for any stay. You will rent a bicycle and go around, visit the traditional village and sample the beaches and island curiosities.
Taketomi island:
The most popular. Very picturesque village. Nice shallow sand banks, not great snorkelling. The closest (10min) with most boats, and the crowdiest.
Kuroshima:
A good alternative. More rural, with lots of cattle. Nice snorkelling. Small traditional village, less picturesque than Taketomi. The local museum with little sharks swimming in puddles is worth the visit.
Hateruma island:
More remote. Picturesque beach and good snorkelling at Nishihama. Laidback village. The boat trip is significantly longer (1.5 hours) but still ok on a day trip.
Iriomote island:
Bigger than Ishigaki and very wild. Most of the island is a jungle reserve. The trip up the river through the mangrove combined with a hike to the waterfall is the classic one. Very nice beaches too and worth a stay.
Hiking:
Ishigaki boasts the highest mountain in Okinawa, Omoto san, which overlooks the house.
Hiking in the jungle is rewarding with beautiful flora, fauna, and waterfalls.
There are frustrations though to get views from mountain tops as thick vegetations (and high bamboos from about 300m altitude) are blocking the sight. For views, you’ll need boulders sticking out of the jungle and rocky tops (like Mape / Nosoko Dake summit). We don’t recommend the hike to the top of Omoto san for that reason.
You will find a few hiking paths marked and referenced – Mape / Nosoko dake is one.
Star gazing:
The rooftop and the beach are great spots on a clear night. For more, you can try the astronomical observatory, on a mountaintop close to town. They have some open nights and shows.
http://www.miz.nao.ac.jp/ishigaki/
Mangroves:
The Nagura mangrove (bigger and nicer) and Fukido gawa mangrove (closer) are great natural landscape to discover. For a short walk on the sand down the bridge, or for a SUP tour (see above).
Scenic drives:
Nagura bay:
on your trip to town, you should at least once skip the tunnel and go the west way, using the road along the west coast. Best in late afternoon.
Sakieda peninsula, Hirakubo peninsula are classic scenic drives, with the lighthouses being nice objectives.
Some great views while driving at the tip of the Kabira peninsula along the coast through the Club Med premises (allowed). Some nice rocks to climb up for views and nice (barely accessible) beaches
Yaima village:
Good for children to get introduced to the local culture through simple workshops. Some cute monkeys as well.
Pottery classes :
On rainy days, tried your hand at making Shiisa with all the family. Phone to book and make sure.
Rinka:
7 min drive, charming spot in Yoshihara www.rinka-ishigaki.jp
Kaeruya:
in town. Highly rated classes. Phone: 090-5304-1013, Address: 15-1 Okawa, Ishigaki Shi
Atelier Repos:
in town. Phone: 080-4313-0043, Address: 14-1 Ishigaki, Ishigaki Shi
Glass blowing classes:
If you get a second rainy day. https://ponte-glass.com/
Phone: 0980 82-4620, Address: 1625-35 Arakawa, Ishigaki Shi
Limestone caves:
One in town and one in Ibaruma in the north (same distance)
Nice limestone cave. Similar to any limestone stalactite cave anywhere else in the world but always exciting for children.