Day 4 in Shimoda: I don’t remember very well the beach vacations that we took as a family when I was growing up in Tokyo. I do remember distinctly the crowds and the trash strewn about the beach. Our experience this time around is very different. It must be somewhat faulty memory and certainly the time of the year – rainy season versus summer.
Another wonderful breakfast at the hotel and we were off to explore the famous beaches (at least one of them) of Shimoda. We took the free hotel shuttle bus to Shimoda Station and then we switched to the local bus to Shirahama (leaving from bus stop 9 from the station). The day started off cloudy but we were actually pleased with cloud cover since from the pictures, the beaches do not seem to have any shade available.
By the time we got to Shirahama, a 10 minute or so bus ride from the station, it had started to drizzle. Since the plan was to get wet anyway it wasn’t too much of a problem except for our cameras, phones etc…Luckily we spotted some umbrellas with platform benches at the other end of the beach where we sheltered our cameras and things from the drizzle.
The beach was pretty and the sand soft. There were a few surfers in the water and about 10 or people on the beach – that’s it. This is a huge beach and we pretty much had it all to ourselves. The girls had fun playing in the waves. We didn’t last too long though…without the warmth of the sun and the light drizzle, a little over an hour was about all the water play that the girls could withstand. Packed lunch, ice cream at the convenience and we were back on the bus back to the station.
I was looking forward to a mellow afternoon of reading when we got back from our beach trip but not the girls. With some snack to fortify them, they were off to the pool – in the rain!
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