Before we got to Yakushima, we had to make a pretty big decision: were we going to drive, or were we going to take the bus? My friends, who previously visited, had taken a private tour and that was something that wasn’t in our budget.

It was pretty close, but since we wanted some flexibility in our itinerary, we decided to rent a car. We ended up renting a car from Budget Rent a Car since it was the cheapest and located fairly near our port. The service was definitely worth the price – even though we didn’t mention that we were taking the ferry, they managed to guess that’s how we were coming based on the time we rented the car and were waiting at the port when we disembarked. We were given a free ride back too, something that we hadn’t expected either.

I think quite a few people would go to Yakushima and get around by bus, but if you have the budget for it I’ll definitely recommend renting a car. It’s really convenient and you’ll no longer be at the mercy of the bus timetable.

What Driving in Yakushima is Like

Driving in Yakushima is surprisingly easy. There is one main road around the island and only one stretch of road that isn’t open 24/7 (more on that later). The speed limit is pretty low, between 30km/h to 50 km/h, probably because there aren’t many traffic lights. I only saw traffic lights in Miyanoura and Anbo. But apart from that, there are other small villages around the island; speed limits will be lower there and do keep an eye out for people crossing the road!

If you’re going to the waterfalls or hiking areas, you will need to turn out from the main road into a smaller road towards the mountains. Personally, we didn’t have a problem figuring where to turn, but if you can opt for an in-car navigation, you should definitely do so.

Four places that we really enjoyed driving to were:

Senpiro no Taki & Ryujin no Taki

Senpiro no Taki and Ryujin no Taki are both located near each other so you can visit both if you want. If I had to pick one, though, I would pick Senpiro no Taki in a heartbeat – it is a lot more impressive, even though the viewing platform is further away compared to Ryujin no Taki.

The parking lot for Senpiro no Taki has some pretty good views – take a look at the ocean from the viewing platform nearby! There’s also a shop with some souvenirs and drinks if you need a break.

Seibu Rindo (西部林道)

This isn’t really a tourist spot but rather, is a 17 km stretch of road on the west side of Yakushima that passes through the forest. It’s a beautiful stretch of road and you’ll be able to see lots of Yakushima deer and monkeys, as well as other wildlife. You’ll also be able to see the coastline, which is absolutely beautiful as well.

We drove from Anbo to Nagata and it took us about 50 minutes to pass through. If you’re driving in that direction, you’ll be able to see a lot of sunset viewing spots in the Nagata area after you exit the path. However, I wouldn’t really recommend timing your drive to coincide with sunset hours (especially during the summer!) because the road is closed from 5pm to 7 am.

Apart from the restricted timing, you should also be aware that the road is extremely narrow – it’s only got space for one car, but there’s two way traffic. If you’re not sure about the rules of giving way or you’re worried about that, you may want to give this a miss, or ask someone else to be in the driver’s seat. For what it’s worth, we met a lot of cars going in the opposite direction from us, so you might have an easier time going from Nagata/Miyaunoura towards Anbo/Ohko no Taki.

Outdoor Onsen

Yakushima has two outdoor onsens that are fairly near the main road: Hirauchi Onsen (unisex) and Yudomari Onsen (divided by gender). Since they’re located at the coast, they’re affected by the timing of the tides. The guide books should have the timing of the tides so do take a look if you plan to go.

If you’re wondering where to get the guide books: we received one from Budget Rent a Car when we picked the car up, and we saw another at our hotel! It’s one of those books that also have recommended routes and the phone numbers of various locations for the in-car navigation – definitely useful for driving around!

Ohko no Taki

Ohko no Taki is one of the top 100 waterfalls in Japan and for very good reason. It’s got an amazing drop and you can get very close to the waterfall as well. We met a very friendly uncle here who showed us how to climb on the rocks to get closer to the waterfall. But please exercise caution here: we were also shown photos of the waterfall banks being absolutely flooded after heavy rain and it’s definitely not a good idea to climb on the rocks then!

Overall, we had a really great timing driving about. I’ll share more about our itinerary in my next travel post – to be very honest, I wanted to share that last so that I could link to all the previous posts! Else it would be way too long and I wouldn’t know where to stop.

Featured Image: Photo by Me