Shioya Blue Cave

塩谷青の洞窟

Hokkaido Paddling / Sapporo Area

Photo of Rob Thomson Founder of Hokkaido Wilds

Posted on May 17, 2024

by Rob Thomson and Haidee Thomson

Posted on May 17, 2024

by Rob Thomson and Haidee Thomson

0 0

7km

Distance

0.5 day(s)

Time

4/5

Remoteness

5/5

Water clarity

5/10

Difficulty

Jun-Oct

Best season

The Blue Cave 青の洞窟 on the Shioya-Otamaoi Coast 塩谷オタモイ海岸 just west of Otaru City is a large sea cave at the base of towering 150m+ high cliffs, easily accessible by sea kayak or SUP. When inside the cave, light shines under the water from outside, giving an illusion of blue luminescence in the water. The two-hour return trip takes in some of the Shakotan Peninsula's 積丹半島 most dramatic coastal scenery, with plenty of bird life along the way. Just beyond the Blue Cave is the narrower but long (70m) deep Sekiryu Sea Cave 赤龍の洞窟. While the Blue Cave is frequented and entered by tourist boats, the Sekiryu Cave is only large enough for paddlers to enter.

We visited this route on Aug 03, 2022

Last updated Jul 30, 2024

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Need to know details

Location

Shioya Bay 塩谷湾 is a popular surf and tourist beach about 6km west of central Otaru City in southwestern Hokkaido. In the Hokkaido sea kayaking world, it’s best known as the home beach for Blue Holic Kayaks.

Put-in Location: Google Maps

Put in towards the northern half of the Shioya Bay beach, around here. Generally speaking, the beach doesn’t often get much surf in the summer, so launching off the beach is not an issue. There’s a public accessway to the beach nearby, and two portaloo public toilets. There’s no parking at the entrance to the beach, but it is acceptable to temporarily stop on the side of the road to unload boats and gear. All public parking in the immediate area – e.g. at Takaishi Inn – requires a fee to be paid (around 1000yen per day).

Take-out Location: Google Maps

The take-out is the same location as the put-in – at the northern half of Shioya Bay beach.

General notes

The biggest selling point (and reason why there’s at least two paddling tour companies in the area) of the Shioya Blue Cave is the beautiful blue luminescence that glows from under the water when in the cave. Light shines from outside the cave, under large overhangs under the water, and reflects back up into the cave. When you’re in the cave, draw your paddle along the water’s surface. The water around the blade of your paddle will glow blue.

Relatively beginner-friendly, settled weather in the summer, a truly colossal sea cave, and some of Hokkaido’s best coastal scenery – we’d go so far as to say that this short section of coast around the Blue Cave is up there with the best short-day paddling locations in the world. The only caveat is that this is still a very exposed coast with no protecting land masses. Check the weather carefully before setting off.

Route description

Push off from the northern half of Shioya Beach, and head north past the entrance to the Shioya Fishing Port 塩谷漁港 – watch out for fishing vessels coming and going. You’ll first round Tate-iwa Point, which may be windy and choppy. Relief from conditions comes quickly, however. The large bay just east of the point is usually well sheltered. If you’re a beginner unaccustomed to exposed-coast paddling, and paddling around Tate-iwa was scary for you due to wind or conditions, consider carefully whether you want to continue or not. This would be a good place to call it a day if you’re not 100% sure.

If things are looking and feeling good, continue on another 600m to Mado-iwa 窓岩, a large arch-like point. At high tide, it’s possible to paddle through the arch. From Mado-iwa to Blue Cave, it’s just another 300m paddling around the point and you’ll see the ginormous opening to the cave at the base of a very tall (120m) cliff. It might not be obvious at first, but the cave has two entrances. One large one to the looker’s right, and a smaller one to the left. Watch out for tourist boats – the local rule is to enter the cave on the right-side entrance and exit out of the left. Entrance to the cave is group-by-group, order determined by who got there first. If in doubt, paddlers should always give way to motorized vessels.

Enter the Blue Cave through the right entrance, and paddle through. About half way through, you’ll see light from outside the tunnel shining through the water under the cave’s ledge. Hence ‘Blue’ Cave.

From the left exit of the cave, you can paddle another 700m or so to the east to check out the very deep Sekiryu Cave. While the Blue Cave doesn’t require headlamps, the Sekiryu Cave certainly does. It’s at least 50m long. It gets narrow towards the middle of the cave, but then widens out at the end, wide enough to easily turn a 5m-long sea kayak around. Only attempt to enter Sekiryu Cave if the sea state is calm.

From Sekiryu Cave, either paddle another 400m to the east to check out another rock arch, or head back the way you came to Shioya Beach.

Route Timing

Trip time: 3hrs 0min

If paddling all the way just past Sekiryu Cave and back (about 7.5km total paddling), expect to be on the water for about three hours (this includes very leisurely breaks). If you’re just paddling to the Blue Cave and back (about 4km total paddling), expect a trip of under two hours.

Transport

Public transport:

Shioya Beach is accessible by public bus from Otaru JR Train Station. You’ll want to get off the bus at Shioya Kaigan Bus Stop 塩谷海岸バス停. Buses run every 30 minutes, and the trip takes 30 minutes from Otaru Station to Shioya Beach. Google Maps has timetable details.

By car:

Shioya Beach is accessible by car, and conveniently there’s an expressway exit just above the beach (Otaru-Shioya IC 小樽塩谷IC). This makes it a quick 45mins from central Sapporo to the beach. There’s no free parking areas in the Shioya Beach area, however. The parking lot open earliest in the season is in front of Takaishi Inn 民宿高石 at the northern end of the beach – it’s a 3-minute walk from there to the put-in. They charge 1000yen per day. There’s also a parking lot in the center of the village, which also charges around 1000yen.

Physical maps

ELECTRONIC CHARTS
Japanese-language ENCs are available on the Japanese-language new pec smart smartphone app (Android | iPhone). 960yen per month for a subscription.

PRINTED CHARTS

The Otaru-Kamui Misaki 小樽—神威岬 yachting chart covers this section of coast in 1:150,000 scale. It’s available as a physical chart (Y-Chart H-119W – buy online). Another option is the S-Guide for Otaru (DH811W-06), available as PDF download (buy online here). The scale is spotty though, with only the main fishing ports included in small scale. The JHA/Japan Coast Guard 1:200,000 nautical chart for this area is Mashike Ko to Iwanai Ko (W28 – buy online). A printed 1:50,000 scale bathymetric chart (Otaru; 6323-3) is available here.

Print: HokkaidoWilds.org 1:25,000 TOPOMAP+

Official Topo Map: Otaruseibu (小樽西部) – map no. NK-54-20-1-2

NOTE: The official 1/25000 topo map(s) above can be purchased for 350yen from Kinokuniya bookstore next to Sapporo Station or online (in Japanese).

route safety

The Shioya to Otaru section of coast along the Otamoi Coast is very inaccessible. There are sections of up to 6km where escape from the sea is nearly impossible – think 120m high cliffs straight into the sea and/or steep bluffs. Any coast access to these eastern sections is via closed-to-the-public trails that are no longer officially maintained. Also note that the Otamoi Coast cliffs are rough conglomerate rock – rockfall is common, so take care when approaching cliffs. As is the case with most Hokkaido sea kayaking routes, this section of coast is exposed to the open sea; check weather forecasts very carefully before setting off.

See our tips for keeping safe while canoeing, kayaking and packrafting in Hokkaido here.

Weather forecast

Windy.com weather forecast for Shioya Blue Cave

Tide

Tide information for Oshoro

CampSites

None

Onsen nearby

The large Yu-no-Hana Onsen Temiya 湯の花温泉手宮殿 (770yen, location) on the way to the Otaru Aquarium in Otaru City is a good spot for a post-paddle soak. There’s a massive restaurant/relaxation area on the second floor.

Extra Resources

See our full Shioya-Otamoi Coast paddle route (20km) here.

Guide Options

For tours in English, contact Sunny Side Up Sea Kayaking at Shioya Beach (location, website). If Sunny Side Up is full, then try contacting AT Kayaks. AT Kyakas is based much further west along the Shakotan coast, but may be able to offer a tour to the Blue Cave if timing allows. Alternatively, try contacting Blue Holic Sea Kayaking – they’re the oldest and most experienced sea kayak tour company in the area and know it very well. Depending on how busy they are, they may not be able to offer tours in English. For SUP tours, there’s K&M Sup Garage. We’re not sure if they offer tours in English.

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Video by urato

Show Full Route Notes

Route Trip Notes

We’ve paddle around the Shioya area multiple times now; it’s our go-to place to paddle particularly when we want to show newcomers or those new to sea kayaking what the Shakotan Peninsula can offer. Distances are short, so despite the committing nature of the shoreline, it’s the sort of location that allows for management of conditions.

One such occasion was when Haidee’s sister came to Hokkaido for a visit. She’d not done much kayaking at all before, but thoroughly enjoyed the short day out.

It was early summer, and the beach wasn’t too busy. We headed out to the Blue Cave and paddled another 1km or so east before heading back to the beach. Conditions were perfect.

Another occasion was with Mari and Greg of EzoLife fame. Very proficient whitewater open-deck canoeists, this was Mari’s first time in a sea kayak. Greg had spent plenty of time in whitewater kayaks, but hadn’t spent much time in sea kayaks.

This time was one of the few times I attempted to get decent photos of the inside of the Blue Cave. It’s notoriously difficult to get a good photo of the blue light that shines under the water. The cave is dark, the entrance is bright, the kayak is moving around….