Kumamoto prefecture has a large coastline as well as several islands. This means one thing: beaches! Although Kumamoto is most famous for its volcanoes, river rapids, and hot springs, it has a number of great beaches that are ideal for a day out.<\/p>\n
Arguably the best beach in Kyushu is Mogushi Beach for its exceptionally-clear waters and white sands. It\u2019s a popular snorkeling spot for all the colorful fish and sometimes even turtles \u2014 during May and June, turtles come to this beach to lay their eggs. Mogushi Beach is never especially crowded, even during the peak season that runs from July to August. It\u2019s during these months that showers are available for use after your swim.<\/p>\n
Location:<\/strong> Ushibukamachi, Amakusa (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\n Yunoko Beach has calm, shallow waters and a playground nearby, making it the perfect place for a day trip with the family. In fact, you should consider staying for a whole weekend to take advantage of the nearby onsen. If you want more than just a beach, a good option is Ashhikita Seaside General Park. This is a playground on the seafront with all sorts of activities, including zorbing (rolling downhill in a large, transparent ball), roller luge (downhill go-karting), and kayaking. All the activities are available to adults and children alike.<\/p>\n Location:<\/strong> 1400 Tsurugiyama, Ashikita (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\n A relatively-unknown spot is Nishime Beach, also called Calm Beach for its gentle waves. The white sands span 300 meters alongside the beautiful blue water. This is the ideal place to go if you want to feel close to nature \u2014 you\u2019ll encounter few people, there\u2019s rarely any trash on the beach, and you\u2019ll be within view of the Mount Sengan hiking trail. Another advantage is that parking is free, although you will need to pay if you want to use the changing rooms, showers, or barbecue area.<\/p>\n Location:<\/strong> Matsushimamachi Aitsu, Kamiamakusa (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\n Perfect for swimming, Hiai Beach (also called Pearl Sun Beach) is another 300-meter stretch of white sands. After you take a dip, you can take advantage of the showers and changing rooms. When the weather is too cold for swimming, Hiai Beach is a great place to take a stroll or have a picnic \u2014 you\u2019ll have views of Mount Unzen directly across the water. The beach is most attractive at high tide, when you\u2019ll see fish darting around the rocks. At low tide, though, it\u2019s possible to walk out to Takamoku Island.<\/p>\n Location:<\/strong> Matsushimamachi Aitsu, Kamiamakusa (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\n Unlike the others on this list, Shirogahama Beach is artificial, created by adding a strip of white sand along the coast. Receiving 100,000 visitors each year, it\u2019s the busiest beach in Amakusa \u2014 although there only tend to be crowds on the weekends. It\u2019s especially picturesque during the sunset.<\/p>\n Location:<\/strong> Ariakemachi Kotsuura, Amakusa (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\n As the weather starts heating up, there\u2019s nothing more pleasurable than a day at the beach. Plan a trip to one of the above spots when you need a dip to cool off.<\/p>\n Hashi photo<\/a>, CC BY 3.0<\/a>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kumamoto prefecture has a large coastline as well as several islands. This means one thing: beaches! Although Kumamoto is most famous for its volcanoes, river rapids, and hot springs, it has a number of great beaches that are ideal for a day out. Mogushi Beach Arguably the best beach in Kyushu is Mogushi Beach for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":48723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,32,43,59,63],"tags":[744,489,465,461],"class_list":["post-48720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-friendly","category-kumamoto","category-kumamoto-2","category-life-in-japan","category-outdoors","tag-beach","tag-kumamoto","tag-kumamoto-city","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48720"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48847,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48720\/revisions\/48847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Yunoko Beach<\/h2>\n
\nLocation: Yunoko, Osako, Minamata (map link<\/a>)<\/p>\nAshikita Seaside General Park<\/h2>\n
Nishime Beach<\/h2>\n
Hiai Beach<\/h2>\n
Shirogahama Beach<\/h2>\n
![Hashi photo<\/a>,](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Takeno-hama_Beach_Toyooka_Hyogo.jpg\"){kind=link}