Teuri and Yagishiri Islands by Bicycle

Teuri Island (天売島, https://www.teuri.jp/) is famous within Japan as a sea bird paradise. Rhinoceros auklet are abundant on the island (over 600,000 of them), as are the curious-looking spectacled guillemot. Yagishiri Island is less well-known, but has some gorgeous stands of ancient Japanese yew just above the main settlement. On a good day, the views across to Teuri Island from the sheep-grazing pastures at the western end of Yagishiri island (焼尻島) are really amazing. While it is possible to see plenty of birdlife on the circular road that runs around the circumference of Teuri Island, a boat tour gives access to many more species of sea birds. This would be an amazing place on a calm day with a clear forecast with a good quality packraft.

For this particular route guide, we’re assuming a start from Asahikawa City. Arguably this is the most convenient start if you’re arriving by train. As such, in the day-by-day route notes below, it’s on Day Three that we start our journey around the islands. Instead of taking a train to Asahikawa, there’s also highway buses that run from Sapporo City direct to Haboro. Highway buses as well as trains will take bikes so long as they’re partially dismantled (front wheel, handlebars, and pedals removed) and packed in a bike bag.

Ferries to and from Teuri Island

There are two types of ferries from Haboro to the islands –  a fast ferry and a slow ferry. The timetable is a mess of different times for different times of the year (see it here). Google Translate does an OK job at translating the timetable into English (see the translated version here), but fails at the destination names.

Wearing a balloon = Arrival at Yagishiri
From Nannjiri = Leaving Yagishiri
Arrival at the age = Arrival at Teuri
From the auction = Leaving Teuri
Arrive at Azusa = Arrival at Haboro

Tickets have to bought per section. I.e., Haboro↔Yagishiri, Yagishiri↔Teuri. There are no return discount tickets. There’s no direct ferry to Teuri Island. They all go via Yagishiri. As of 2018/11/06, these were the prices (second class).

Slow ferry (Ororon 2)

• Haboro↔Yagishiri (60min): 1,570yen each way
• Yagishiri↔Teuri (25min): 720yen each way
• Bicycles: 850yen per section if you want to roll the bike onto the ferry. That is, 850yen for Haboro to Yagishiri, and then another 850yen for Yagishiri to Teuri (1,700yen total for Haboro to Teuri). Bikes are free if you can pack it down into a bike bag and carry it on as luggage.
• Add an extra ~200yen per section if travelling on the fast boat during the high season (July/August).

Fast boat (Sunliner 2)

• Haboro↔Yagishiri (35min): 2,780yen each way
• Yagishiri↔Teuri (15min): 1,320yen each way
• Bicycles: Bikes cannot be rolled onto the fast boat, but they can be carried on as luggage for free if they’re partially dismantled (front wheel and handlebars removed) and packed into a bike bag.
• Add an extra ~200yen per section if travelling on the fast boat during the high season (July/August).

Summing it all up

Slow ferry: To go from Haboro to Teuri Island return with an intact  bicycle (not packed into bikebag) on the slow ferry (about 1hr 45mins total each way), it’ll cost a total of  7,980yen return (8,360yen in July/August). Tickets must be bought individually at each respective ferry terminal. If the bike is packed into a bikebag, the total return cost would be 4,580yen (4,960yen in July/August).

Fast boat: To travel from Haboro to Teuri Island return with a bicycle packed into a bike bag on the fast boat (about 1hr 5mins total each way), it’ll cost 8,200yen return (8,580yen in July/August). Tickets must be bought individually at each respective ferry terminal.