Its burning hot and candle meltingly humid, so its time for beach trips before the stinging jellyfish emerge in the middle of August in Japan. We moved to Mishima, in Shizuoka last September, so we haven't really had much of a chance to check out the summer beaches in Izu yet. Hopefully this year will be different. There are some stunning beaches in Izu, mainly near the southern tip near Shimoda. The beaches there are crazy busy, but beautiful and the seas around the peninsular are clear and brimming with life, not just human either. Our first beach visit was to Ito Orange Beach. The main road separates the beach from the town, and there's a car park at one end of the beach, which is where we stopped. We walked along the beach which is about half a kilometer long and set up shop near the other end, which seemed a little quieter. It wasn't too busy last Saturday, when we went, although a bunch of high school kids showed up and started smashing up water melons in the later part of the day. Its not the best beach, being near the main road, with some detritus at the tide line and the water was teaming, at least close in to the shore, with little lumps of jelly, which could possibly be a bloom of small jellyfish. If so, then the waters will be swarming with them when they get bigger next month. The water, however was pretty clear, we saw some fish swimming around too. This is amazing for me, coming as I do from the perpetual darkness of the mud flats surrounding the south-east of England. I really like Ito. Its a small to middle sized town, with restaurants, a station, many hot springs and public baths in the town, as well as some shrines, temples and historic places too, all pretty close to each other and the beach. Half way through the day, we left the our beach tent and walked into town for lunch. After we had finished at the beach later, we walked into town for a dip in one of the many and cheap public baths in town. I don't know what Ito was like before the Corona Virus, but now its a relaxed, quiet place, the beach also being not too crowded and relaxed. Its about an hour from Tokyo, if you come by bullet train and change at Atami for the local train. I really enjoyed the day. The beach has a beautiful view across the Sagami Bay with islands dotted around looking towards Yokohama and Tokyo. This beach is on the East of Izu, meaning that the sun is behind you in the afternoon, good if you're starting out on your sun burn quest for the year. Here are a few of pictures...
