On the 4th day decided to do a bit of sightseeing. Public transport was limited and taxi’s weren’t a cheap way to travel to I decided to I hire a scooter. The old boy running the shop didn’t like the idea of a UK licence and was quick to shoo me away, but when I mentioned I had an international one he seemed happy. Funny though because he didn’t even check either license.

 

I was able to cover most of the island in 3 hours. I turned down so many side streets and lay-bys and found endless uninhabited small beaches, partly because it was still so early on in the year.

A number of bridges connecting some of the smaller satellite islands so was easy to see each part. Beautiful white sand beaches, turquoise waters were a common sight. This place would be awesome in the summer.

On my last day it was raining heavily in the morning with some pretty epic thunder.

Late morning when the weather had improved a little the dive company were kind enough to take me to a Limestone cave and sightseeing dinner. The limestone was pretty amazing. A hidden cave accessible only by swimming to a small hole in the coastal rock face. 

A pumpkin like limestone deposit dominated the entrance and we climbed up the neighbouring coarse surface, steep incline. What followed was a series of naturally formed limestone steps which each had a mini concave pool of water. The steps let up to 2 different fresh water sources which the locals believed to be a deity. Reaching the top we spotted a shed snake skin which was quickly dismissed by my guide.  Hilariously When he went to show me a deep pool in the corner I pointed out to him there was a snake coiled up right next to him on the wall. He swiftly jumped away like scooby doo into shaggy’s arms. Wasn’t overly keen on them myself as had no clue if it would bite and poison me. I was then put in a situation where I had to encounter one. To get out you have to slide off the pumpkin and there was another snake swimming in the water were I was suppose to land. He seemed pretty keen for me to press ahead. I opted and insisted to wait for the all clear.

  

Miyakojima is a beautiful small island that was great to explore over land and in the sea. Shame I couldn’t really spend much time on the beach. Definitely got me thinking about trying into diving more from London. Diving Leisure London maybe? Let me know if anyone else is interested!