Japan Underwater Uncovered

Japan doesn’t instantly strike you a a scuba diving destination. But, this archipelago with 34,000 kilometers of coastline has more than 2,000 diving points and more certified divers than any country except the United States. Only a handful of western divers have experienced the great quality and variety of marine life Japan has to offer, but Japanese divers have been uncovering world class dive sites here for ages.

Japan is reckoned to have more than 700,000 divers, around 100,000 of them active and being underwater doesn’t dampen their love for photography as you’ll often see them getting carried away with the pursuit of taking pictures to the point of not enjoying the dive itself. And the popularity of the sport originates from the rich waters around Japan itself. From swimming with manta rays and diving the lost world of Yonaguni, a sunken site of ruins believed by some to be a civilization dating back to well before the Pyramids in the southern islands of Okinawa, ice-diving in the northernmost region of Hokkaido, Japan offers everything from tropical coral reef diving, wreck diving, ice diving and whale spotting and divers can expect to encounter an unusual combination of tropical and temperate species like the spider-crab that can grow to have a leg-span of as much as 4m and the giant jellyfish.

Here’s a look into some of the diving Japan has to offer-

Izu Peninsula (Izu Hanto)
Easily the top diving destination in the country the Izu Peninsula is an hour’s drive from the capital Tokyo and has the largest concentration of dive sites (and divers). The peninsula lies on the Philippine plate where the north and south-flowing currents meet, bringing both tropical and cold-water fish to the waters around its rocky shores. Each town here has a number of shore and boat dives for divers of all levels ranging from cave diving to wreck diving or simple coral watching. The Izu Oceanic Park(I.O.P) on the east coast is one of the oldest dive sites of Japan and Ose-zaki (Cape Ose)on the west coast are the two most popular sites among them. A word of caution though- Often times, you have to wait in line for entry if you go to particularly popular sites closer to Tokyo on holiday weekends. Other dive spots on the Izu Peninsula include- Atami, Ajiro, Kawazu and Shimoda.

Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands)
Japan’s Southern Islands of Okinawam attract divers from all over the world, with its rich coral reefs, landscapes and variety of sea animals. The water temperature ranges between 20C to 30C (70-86 degrees!) – the only place in Japan where you can go diving in wetsuits all year around! Beneath the waves at the Kerama, Agumi, Chiibishi and Kamiyama Islands, coral gardens and vast plots of staghorn coral, interspersed with gorgonian fans, table coral and other species greet you along with their bright and plentiful resident fish and other inhabitants.

The outer Ryukyu Islands include Ishigaki, Miyako and the famous Yonaguni, known as the Japanese lost world of Atlantis. The main attraction for all divers that visit Yonaguni is the underwater ancient ruins that lie at varying depths of 5-40 meters just off the southeastern edge of the island, forming one of the earth’s greatest mysteries. In addition to the ruins (Read more about the ruins here- Dive the Japanese Atlantis at Yonaguni), Yonaguni is also famous among divers for its abundance of hammerhead sharks, (often in groups of 100 or more) which congregate around the island and can be spotted on most dives in areas of strong current mostly during the winter months. Since most dive sites are located on steep cliff-like drop-offs, divers can spot the large pelagics, schools of Big eye Trevally, Barracuda, Dogtooth Tuna, Marlin, Sailfish, Turtles, large Cuttlefish down to the macro inhabitants such as Pygmy sea horses, fire dart gobies and nudibranchs.

Hokkaido
Not your average, tropic island diving, Hokkaido is a popular Ice-diving destination for the more adventurous divers. To top it off, the giant ice flows drifting down from the Sea of Okhotsk making dives her drift dives, beneath the ice! With water temperatures hovering between 0 and -2 degrees, and anywhere between 30 centimeters and two meters of ice skimming the surface, safety procedures are strict. The sea bottom under the ice flow is quite interesting with unusual life not seen else where. The superstar of the ice diving community is the Sea Angel—or clione in Japanese. A cross between a jellyfish and an underwater firefly, these tiny creatures hover under icebergs and drive divers wild with their placid cuteness. With Batman ears and a translucent body, they are extremely photogenic. Not as colorful as reef diving, the looming quiet delicacy of the floating “bergs” lends a dramatic and other-worldly quality to the experience here.

With over 2,000 dive sites around Japan, we can’t make justice of it in a single post, but we’ve tried to highlight a few of the options out there. For more on diving in Japan, look out for future dive destination posts on Aquaviews.

*Photo Credits: photos by mamitan, ianmyles, TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋) , jpatokal on flickr

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