The weather was getting warmer and the sky is turning bright blue, my wife and I decided to join a day tour to Shakotan and Cape Kamui, located in the western coast of Hokkaido Island. We left our house from 7:30 in the morning and we spent the whole day for the day tour. It was an amazing experience despite the amount of walking and sunburn we got! There are many places in Sapporo that are waiting to be explored, do not forget, If you need help arranging private tour in Hokkaido, you can use our trip planner!

Shakotan and Cape Kamui Day Tour: Rendevzous

The meeting point is on the north part of Sapporo Station. Apparently we were some of the first tour participants who arrived first. We departed Sapporo at exactly 9 am in the morning. We first headed to Shakotan, and the journey from Sapporo to Shakotan took around one and half hour by Bus (with toll road). I managed to take some good pictures on the way!

Road Station Space Apple Yoichi Rest Area

After staying in the bus for around 1 hour, our group stopped in a rest area called Road Station Space Apple Yoichi. This rest stop is not your normal rest area with shops and restrooms. This rest area also has a space museum (with paid section). Because we did not have much time in the rest stop, I did not enter the paid museum area, but at least I took some pictures here. There was even a free sun-viewing activity outside the museum (yes, sun-viewing!).

Shakotan Observation Deck: Arrival and Tunnel to Deck Area

After departing from the rest stop, we spent another 30 minutes in the bus until we finally arrived in Shakotan Observation Deck. We were actually lucky to be able to arrive by bus, since we saw a huge number of private car lining up to get into the designated parking area. After we arrived, we did some quick photo session, and then proceeded directly to the observation area through a tunnel. The observation area was quite crowded since from this area, you can get a great view of the Shakotan beach.

Shakotan Observation Deck: Demisaki Lighthouse

After taking a lot of pictures in the Observation Deck Area, we exited through the tunnel and proceeded to Demisaki Lighthouse area to enjoy more scenery from higher place. We spent around 10 minutes hiking to the lighthouse area. It was around 300 meter hike from the tunnel area, so it was quite tiring, but when we reached the lighthouse, we were awarded with more great view from higher vantage point! On the top, there were longer path leading somewhere, but since we only had around 1 hour viewing time, we stopped in the lighthouse area and return to the parking lot for the next destination.

Leaving to Cape Kamui

Returning to the parking lot area, we enjoyed quick lunch inside the bus and immediately left to Cape Kamui. The journey from Shakotan Observation Deck area to Cape Kamui took around 30 minutes and I was able to take some pictures from the bus. You can also enjoyed some great seaside scenery during this 30 minutes trip.

Cape Kamui: Arrival

Arriving in Cape Kamui area, you will be greeted with a small reception building containing shops and restrooms. The walking trip from the parking area to the lighthouse area will take around 1 hour, and including the viewing and walking back to the parking area, it may take another 1 hour, so it is highly advised to go to the restroom in the parking area before proceeding to the lighthouse area. You can also buy some ice cream near the parking area to get extra boost of sugar so you can get extra energy to complete the hike.

Cape Kamui: Walking to the Lighthouse Area

After enjoying some quick snacks and using the toilet in the parking area, we proceeded to hike to the lighthouse area to get great view of the infamous Cape Kamui. Even though the trails are well maintained for walking purpose, it is better to wear sport shoes so you will be more comfortable during hiking. Some parts of the trails look a bit dangerous, so please keep your belongings and your children under your direct supervision all the time.

We encountered a relic of what appears to be a ship radar, this is one of the nearest observation deck from the parking area. And if you check the red circle in one of the picture below, that is the lighthouse area we were trying to reach, and you can see how much distance we needed to cover by walking on that day!

Some parts of the track can be quite dangerous and intimidating, specially ones with the steel bridge. But just make sure you stay on track and never cross the line, you will be just fine. Do not drop your phone, otherwise there will be no way to retrieve it if it falls down the cliff.

Even though the journey to the lighthouse area was quite tiresome, but when we reached the lighthouse area, you will be awarded with amazing view of Cape Kamui, especially from the observation deck, just a bit in front of the lighthouse. Since the sun was quite strong on that day, everyone was using the lighthouse as temporary rest area.

Another thing that I found interesting was there were some money scattered around the observation deck, ranging from Japanese yen to even some foreign currencies. Some people said that it is some kind offering to the sea God. I was not a superstitious person and I care about environment, so I decided not to put any money there and just simply enjoying the amazing scenery. There was also some kind of metal map engraving in the observation area that was a bit weathered.