The Izu Seven Islands in Japan are a chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean below Tokyo. We often include two other inhabited islands and use the collective term Izu Islands. You can enjoy hiking, ocean activities, and fresh seafood there. Moreover, these islands haven’t really been discovered yet by foreign tourists. This makes it an interesting destination for those who are looking for quieter, off the beaten track areas.
How To Get to the Izu Islands
While the islands feel like they are worlds away from urban Tokyo, it is surprisingly easy to get there. For some of the islands, you will need to spend some time to get there though if you want to travel cheaply by boat. If budget constraints are not an issue, you can also choose to get there comfortably by airplane.
The Izu islands are accessible by ferry from the Takeshiba Pier in central Tokyo or by air from Chofu Airport (Haneda Airport only for Hachijojima), Tokyo. Let’s see which 5 islands are most popular to visit!
Izu Oshima (91km², 6,000 people)
This is the biggest island of the group with an active volcano called Mt. Mihara (758m). On this nearest island from Tokyo, you can enjoy hiking on the lava. The island is home to many camellia flowers. The Camellia Park has 450 species of camellia and they make camellia seed oil for cooking and cosmetics. It only takes 105 minutes by jetfoil boat (from 7,340 yen [one way] depending on the season) and 8 hours (4.5 hours for return) by ferry (from 4,530 yen [one way] depending on the class and season).
Niijima (23km², 3,000 people)
This island attracts a lot of tourists because of its beautiful beaches for swimming, surfing, and scuba diving, and you can also enjoy hot springs here. It takes 3 hours by jetfoil (from 9,340 yen [one way] depending on the season) and 10.5 hours (7 hours for return) by ferry (from 6,090 yen [one way] depending on the class and season).
Kozushima (18.5km², 1,800 people)
You can hike to the summit of the mountain of this island (572m) which erupted in the 9th century. You can also enjoy beautiful beaches, scuba diving, and hiking. It takes 5 hours by jetfoil (from 9,340 yen [one way] depending on the season) and 12 hours (8.5 hours for return) by ferry (from 6,460 yen [one way] depending on the class and season).
Miyakejima (55km², 2,300 people)
The volcano on this island makes for beautiful sceneries. You can enjoy hiking and bird watching here. At the beaches, you can snorkel and scuba-dive. It takes 6.5 hours (6 hours for return) by ferry (from 6,810 yen [one way] depending on the class and season).
Hachijojima (69km², 7,300 people)
This island is quite remote from the mainland (287km), but it is the most populated island amongst the Izu Islands. The shape of the island looks like a gourd with two volcanoes. If you go on a hike, you can enjoy the magnificent view. It takes 10.5 hours (10 hours for return) by ferry (from 8,540 yen [one way] depending on the class and season).
Your Japan Tour
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