Shimanami Kaido (Recap)

The Shimanami Kaido was an epic adventure for me that was only a couple days long but with memories that will last a lifetime. The Seto Inland Sea continues to captivate me and draw me in and I can’t wait till I go back again in the future.

Ferry to Mukaishima from Onomichi

The entire journey took months for me to write various posts and even longer for me to have them put up on this site. I know it is difficult to find all of the posts in an easy way so this post is a simple recap and an index for everything. My posts on Onomichi and Imabari will be added later when they are posted, but I consider them separate from my Shimanami Kaido adventure.

Overview

View of the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge

I spent 2 days cycling from Onomichi to Imabari. On the first day I took the ferry from Onomichi to Mukaishima. I spent a night in Ikuchijima before completing the journey cycling to Imabari. I did a total of 93.87km over 2 days, with 42.77km on the first day and 51.1km on the second. My butt was sore and I walked a little funny for a couple days, but it was all worth it!

Mukaishima

Innoshima Bridge from Mukaishima

Mukaishima was a great starting point for the Shimanami Kaido and I instantly fell in love with the trip. It was 10.18km of nearly full bliss while understanding the atmosphere of the Shimanami Kaido immediately.

Innoshima

Ikuchijima Bridge from Innoshima

Innoshima was the first bridge I crossed. It was an adventure and it opened my eyes into most arduous part of the trip, climbing hills. Innoshima is a place I need to revisit and really do the coastal road as I cut through the middle to see a castle, but I have no regrets doing all 11.03km.

Ikuchijima

Cycling on Ikuchijima (View Behind Me)

Ikuchijima was a wonderful place that provided me with a place to sleep. I really loved that island and found it infinitely relaxing. Doing 19.2km on day 1 included me doing an extra section of the island to get to the Setoda Link B&B. I loved that place and hope to be back there in the future. There is still a lot for me to see on Ikuchijima, but it will require a lot more energy than what I had when I was there.

Omishima

Tatara Shimanami Park

Omishima was the first island in Ehime that I visited. The entire route from this point was not as I would have liked as I only visited a small section of Omishima. I cut along the coast for 7.97km skipping most of the island to the north of Tatara Bridge. I do want to return and see a lot more of this beautiful island and hopefully I can do so again in the future.

Hakatajima

Hakatajima (Near Omishima Bridge)

Hakatajima was the only island where I spent more time resting than I did cycling. Omishima was equally divided between my rest at the Tatara Shimanami Park and cycling, but in Hakatajima, I just had lunch and then took off seeing only 4.34km of the island. There was a lot I couldn’t see due to time but I hope to be back again.

Oshima

Coastal Road of Oshima

Oshima was a bittersweet island for me to visit. I was happy to be on the last island of the Shimanami Kaido but sad that it was almost over. I didn’t really like the central pass but I loved the side trip to the Yoshiumi Rose Garden as well as cycling the coast after that. It took me 16.68km to cross the island and I do regret that I didn’t do the entire coastal road but if I ever do this again you can be sure that I will go there.

Imabari

The Goal!

Crossing over to Imabari meant that my Shimanami Kaido trip was over. I was really happy to be at the end and to accomplish this dream of mine. I was sad that the 7.21km of Imabari wasn’t as beautiful as Onomichi, but in reality Imabari is a bigger city with a lot more industry. Onomichi was a small town with really small streets and Imabari was a typical city, so there really is no comparison between the two. Imabari has its own charm which was still really lovely.