December 4, 2025
Day 93 — Tomori Beach to Naze
We awoke to more of the mixed weather we had had the previous day. A bit of sun and cloud, wind out of the north. This is what it is like on a small island in the Pacific in early December.
The Coral Palms had a breakfast buffet — not one of the all time greats, to be sure, but that was to be expected given the location, season, and modest number of guests.
We were in no huge rush — the itinerary was simply to wend our way back to Naze, where we had a hotel booked near the ferry terminal so we could fumble our way there at 4 am in time to board the ferry to Okinawa.
We said goodbye to the fading charm of the Coral Palms and decided to head north along the coastal road to the cape and lighthouse at the most northerly point of the island. It was a pretty ride, with occasional beaches off to our right. The last bit was through a tunnel of coastal vegetation until we emerged a few hundred metres shy of the windy cape. There were stairs leading up to the point where the lighthouse was located, so naturally we went up to have a look around.
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The view from the lighthouse was breathtaking — almost literally, as it was pretty windy. The surf was absolutely pounding against the rocky shore, the sort of spectacle you could watch all day waiting for the next big wave to crash. It was also a bit wild thinking how far this was in any direction from any substantial landfall.
After a short break on a nearby beach, we saddled up to head southwest to Naze. Though this was with the wind, like always there was a big old hill to get up to start the trek. The first bit of the ride was a great scenic ride along quiet roads through the countryside then down along the windswept shore, passing the occasional small fishing village.
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After a nice ride through these environs it became clear to me that I was desperately out of calories and would end up gnawing off part of my Brooks saddle if steps were not taken immediately. We stopped at the first purveyor of foodstuffs — a roadside shack selling grilled sandwiches of all things — where we sat and watched surfing videos while I was slowly brought back to life by a double pork Cubano.
Shelter for the evening was at the Port Towers Hotel, which had several positive features. Primarily it was less than a hundred metres from the ferry terminal that we had to be at at 4 am, it had a public bath, and it had a restaurant on the top floor. It was however one of the more clapped out hotels we’d been in in Japan, but as we were checking out in mere hours, little did we care. And the 10th floor restaurant was a surprising treat. After my calorie depleted brush with death in the afternoon, I ordered what was the equivalent of the hungry man special, which basically had all the entrees in a set meal. It also had chicken rice, a local specialty, which consisted of shredded chicken, seaweed, nori, spliced omelette, mushrooms, rice and broth.
I managed to make it through the whole thing. We then scuttled off to our room to toss and turn into the wee hours until it was time to head out into the dark to catch a boat.
Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 4,654 km (2,890 miles)
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