Doing my research ahead of the cruise I knew this would be a special place, but I didn’t know how special.
I woke up in the morning and set up the GoPro. Although I knew where the Sakurajima volcano was compared to the port I was not sure how the ship would dock, and the ship turned around in the opposite direction than expected, but the volcano still came into view as the ship was docking.
Today’s port guide…
Today’s onboard activities:
Immigration information:
Immigration took a little time, but wasn’t unreasonable.
There was a queue for the taxi line. I shared a taxi with some ship mates to the local tram stop at a total cost of 1200 Yen, or essentially $3 a person.
The tram didn’t take the ICOCA card, but did take American Express. It was 170 Yen for the nearly hour long tram ride to the ferry terminal.
It was a short walk to the ferry terminal and I bought a CUTE pass for 1200 Yen at the ferry terminal that covered the cost of the ferry to the Sakurajima (normally 200 Yen each way), all buses, trams, and the island view bus (normally 500 Yen).
I just missed on ferry and had to wait for the next one. The ferries operate every 15 minutes and have both cars and people.
When I got on the ferry I was able to sit up near the front and watch the view as it approached the Sakurajima volcano.
I took a picture of the Ponant luxury cruise ship docked at the downtown cruise terminal and other ferry as it left.
The Sakurajima volcano became more impressive the closer we got.
Once on the island I started taking pictures of the volcano.
I grabbed a quick pork sandwich from the Lawson convenience store as the famous black pork ramen was sold out at the only restaurant in town. The sandwich was only 238 Yen, which is a pretty good bargain.
While eating I walked over to the geothermal footbath. It was quite relaxing and had a great view of the volcano. While I was resting my feet I took the opportunity to take some photos.
I decided I would try to get on the bus at 14:06 as it would take 55 minutes to complete the loop on the bus and I wanted to get off at the observatory at the 4th station (40% of the summit). I did manage to get on the bus without any problem, and it wasn’t very full either.
I was tempted to get off at one of the earlier stops, but was definitely constrained by time, so I stayed on.
The bus actually stopped for 10 minutes at the observatory before continuing on, so it was possible to complete the loop in 55 minutes, but I decided to stay until the net bus arrived 30 minutes later to get some video of the volcano as it was venting.
I could easily see across to both the cruise terminal where the Diamond Princess docked as well at the ferry terminal where the Ponant ship was docked.
There was a nice map and description – in Japanese.
Here’s what Google Translate seems to think it says.
It was a lonely 30 minutes and eventually a bus arrived and parked. The view was quite nice for both the volcano and the city / bay.
I took the bus to the ferry terminal and just missed the ferry, so I had to wait about 20 minutes.
I was fairly certain I would still make the ship, but knew the ferry wouldn’t arrive until 16:00 and all aboard was 18:30. It seems like plenty of time, but the tram stop is a 35 minute walk from the ship (very long pier) and the tram ride is 40-45 minutes because of both traffic and people paying to use the tram.
Since I had some time I took a couple more photos of the volcano from the ferry terminal. It had really started to vent.
I saw this sign inside the ferry terminal showing that they close off part of the road.
Finally the next ferry arrived and I was able to board.
I sat in the back of the ferry to watch the volcano.
The other ferry left as we arrived.
We walked along the cars to get off this ferry.
I walked back to the same tram stop to head back. The tram was pretty empty at first, but then got quite full. The trams don’t turn around, so the drivers need to move from the front to the back (well I guess it is always the front, the tram just moves in a different direction). You can see what the controls look like.
I was getting stressed on the tram as it seemed like it was taking forever, but I did manage to arrive at the tram stop at 17:00 ensuring that I wouldn’t miss the ship unless I got hit by a car.
The walk back was uneventful, although the volcano had a large dark plume of smoke coming from it now. It was quite spectacular. I only wish I could have stayed at the volcano longer.
Finally back at the ship:
When I got back on the ship I set the GoPro for a time lapse video and relaxed in the elite lounge which had a surprise visitor – Stanley, a large teddy bear. Okay, maybe it is more exciting after a few colortinis.
I also got a picture of me with the volcano, because it isn’t every day you get to do that.
I had dinner in the buffet tonight, mostly just crispy pork belly. It was good.
I was still worn out a bit from the day so I didn’t stay out too late.
Today’s timeline:
