Ishigaki Japan 3/31/24

Ishigaki Japan

Welcome to Ishigaki, the southernmost city in Japan. We were welcomed at the port for our day in Ishigaki.  Joined by Mary Ann and John, we headed out to our first stop of the day - an overlook point to get some views and perspective of the city, with the obligatory view of our ship.  

Ishigaki Stalactite Cave 

We went “caving” or as some people call it, “spelunking” in Ishigaki.

Ishigaki Stalactite Cave is a limestone cave and a marvelous network of caverns and tunnels that were formed over 200,000 years ago and stretches to almost 4,000 feet. It features a plethora of impressive and diverse stalactites (unique for their unusually quick growth), along with underground rivers and small waterfalls.

Ishigaki Stalactite Cave stalactites grow at an extremely fast rate, the usual growth speed is one millimeter in 10 to 30 years, it is one millimeter in three years in this cave. The stalactites and stalagmites are so prevalent and interesting throughout this cave that it was hard to not take a picture at every turn. There is also a section that they have strewn lights throughout to give an even more interesting dimension to the stalactite and stalagmite formations.

After our cave experience, our tour advertised a stop at local markets.  Much to our dismay and surprise, it was a supermarket!!  Not expecting that - fortunately there was a restaurant next door, and we enjoyed some local cuisine, and then back to the ship and on to Okinawa.