It’s got beautiful beaches, stunning blue water and rave reviews from travellers who’ve fallen in love with it. Welcome to the little island that’s tipped to be the next big thing in travel: Ishigaki.
The island, in Japan’s Okinawa region, has just taken out the No. 1 spot in TripAdvisor’s list of destinations on the rise for 2018. The island, recorded the biggest year-over-year increase in positive review ratings, search and booking growth in the year to 2017, according to the travel site.
The 229sq km island has a population of about 48,000 and is a short hop from the main Okinawa airport, Naha. Ishigaki in Japanese, means “stone wall”. Contrary to its name, Ishigaki is an island in Okinawa and is therefore surrounded by water. Home to sandy beaches and coral reefs, the destination is a popular diving spot. Also great for food lovers, Ishigaki is known for its soba noodles — called Yaeyama soba — made of flour instead of the more traditional buckwheat.
Guide book publisher Lonely Planet describes the island as “blessed with excellent beaches and brilliant dive sites”, with “an attractive, low-lying geography that invites long drives and day hikes”. Or in the words of one TripAdvisor reviewer: “This place is stunning.” Labelling one of one of the island’s prime attractions, Kabira Park, a “bucket list item”, the review gushes: “The vibrant green trees, the unbelievable shades of blue and the cute white boats makes this place look like one of the many commercials you’ve seen on TV for magical vacation destinations! All your friends will be jealous of your amazing pictures!”
The TripAdvisor rating comes as the Okinawa islands skyrocket up the popularity charts among international travellers.
New flight connections are seeing major growth in travel to the Japanese prefecture — a collection of more than 150 islands between Taiwan and Japan’s mainland — with recent tourism figures revealing the region is poised to overtake Hawaii based on visitor numbers.