Usukiso Miyakejima

Usukiso Miyakejima, in Ako on Miyakejima, is a homey fishing guesthouse with 7 rooms, all Japanese-style tatami rooms.

Long a favorite with anglers, it is a place we can recommend to families with children as somewhere to have experiences you can only have on an island. Its finest feature is the spacious garden, with its space for barbecues and hands-on fishing experiences. You can clean the fish you have brought back right there, or fire up a barbecue in the garden. Heading out fishing with your children and then tasting your catch back at the guesthouse is the kind of hands-on lesson in food that only an island can offer, and it becomes an unforgettable memory of a family trip.

Meals are generous home cooking built around the fish in season at the time and vegetables grown by the owners themselves. The family can gather around the fresh bounty of the island, and because the vegetables come from the guesthouse's own kitchen garden, you can feed them to your children with peace of mind.

All 7 guest rooms are Japanese-style tatami rooms. On tatami you can lay a young child down to sleep or bed down side by side as a family, with room to spread out. It is a homey guesthouse, so even a first island trip feels relaxed.

It stands in the Ako district, about 3 minutes by car from Sabigahama Port. A shuttle runs from the port and the airport, which takes the worry out of getting there with children.

Miyakejima is a treasure house of nature that families will appreciate. Cross to nearby Mikurajima for a dolphin swim, bathe at the shallow beach of Okubohama with its beautiful black sand, explore the rocky shore and snorkel at Tsugahama and elsewhere, watch wild birds including the Akakokko, a natural monument, and tour the distinctive volcanic landforms created by eruptions of Mount Oyama, such as Sanshichiyama and Hyotanyama - enough to fill a whole day as a family.

Since this is a homey guesthouse popular with anglers, please check directly when booking about the guest-room facilities, what can be arranged for babies, and how the barbecue is used. Check-in is from 5 a.m. to midnight, and checkout is at 12 p.m.