Ports are not interchangeable. These are the things that happened here — and only here — told properly, then tied to what you can see, taste and book while your ship waits.
Four hundred kilometres from Okinawa, two hundred and seventy from Taiwan
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A third of the Yaeyamas died in one morning in 1771, and the rocks are still where it left them
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A pattern that is also a sentence, and once was also a tax
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A village of 350 people that decided, in 1986, not to sell
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Japan’s first Dark Sky Place, and the only part of the country that sees the Southern Cross
Read the story →Cruise seasons run spring to autumn, but the port changes underneath them. What each month actually offers — and the traps.
Around 18–20°C. Japan’s earliest cherry blossom, and the Southern Cross begins to clear the horizon.
Comfortable everywhere. Humpbacks pass these waters into April.
Warm without humidity, the sea already swimmable, and the clearest southern sky of the year.
Yaeyama’s rainy season starts before the mainland’s. Heavy, warm and short each day.
The night-blooming flower starts, and is gone by dawn each morning.
Peak sea season. Kabira and Taketomi are at their most crowded.
Ships do reroute. When it is clear, the water is at its best all year.
The highest risk month for this port. Check rather than assume.
The sea holds its heat and the crowds have gone. An excellent month.
Around 22°C while the rest of Japan closes for winter. The reason this port has a winter season.
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