Princess Wakasa Ferry Experience! Tanegashima Trip

■ Boarding Location: South Wharf Passenger Terminal
■ Address: 6 Honkoshinmachi, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 892-0814, Japan

■ Boarding Location: Nishinoomote Port, Tanegashima
■ Address: Nishimachi, Nishinoomote City, Kagoshima Prefecture, 891-3111, Japan
■ Phone Number: 0997-22-1011

07:50 AM, Izuro-dori Station in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture.
Today I’m taking the Cosmo Line ferry “Princess Wakasa” to Nishinoomote Port on Tanegashima Island.
The voyage takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes.
According to my research, the nearest tram stop to the port is Izuro-dori Station.
It’s about a 17-minute walk from there to the Minami Pier Passenger Terminal.
It would be helpful if there were a bus, but since the ferry to Tanegashima departs early in the morning, there are no bus services available.
If you’re carrying heavy luggage, I recommend taking a taxi.
I dragged my heavy suitcase all the way to the port.

08:10 AM — I arrived at the Minami Pier Passenger Terminal.
There are two ferry companies operating out of this terminal:
Orita Shipping for Yakushima and Cosmo Line for Tanegashima.
Their ticket counters are side-by-side, with the Yakushima counter on the left and the Tanegashima counter on the right.
This time, I’m headed to Tanegashima.
After filling out the boarding form, I completed the procedure at the right-side counter and received my boarding pass.

To the left of the terminal building was the ferry “Princess Wakasa” bound for Tanegashima.
I walked up the ramp attached to the ship and showed my boarding pass to enter.
When I handed the pass to the crew member at the entrance, they stamped it on the spot.
Unfortunately, this boarding pass is collected when disembarking, so you can’t keep it as a souvenir.
I was hoping to take it home, but no luck.

Just past the entrance was a large second-class room.
Right beside it were a steep staircase and an elevator.
Heading up the stairs to the 3rd floor, I found the entrance deck and the information counter.
The entrance is on the 2nd floor, most passenger areas are on the 3rd floor, and the outdoor sky deck is on the top level.
I chose to spend my time in a shared room on the 3rd floor.
Background music played throughout the ship—at the time, it was “One Love” by the popular Japanese idol group Arashi.

There was no designated space for large luggage, so you just bring it in with you.
I was lucky to get a corner spot, so I placed my suitcase against the opposite wall to act as a bit of a partition.
The room had several square leather cushions, and I took one to use.
Some had holes in them, so I placed a towel I had brought on top and made it work.

08:40 AM — We departed from Kagoshima Port right on schedule.
Soon after leaving the pier, an announcement played over the ship’s PA system:
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the Princess Wakasa.”
“Thank you very much for choosing to travel with us today.”
“We will now begin our journey to Nishinoomote Port on Tanegashima.”
The sea was rough that day, and we were warned of possible swaying later in the trip.
Apparently, the real rocking would begin once we exited Kagoshima Bay.
I just hoped I could avoid seasickness.

There weren’t many places on board to pass the time.
I occasionally walked over to the central entrance area to check the ship’s location on the monitor or read one of the newspapers available there.
Worried about seasickness, I decided not to stay on an empty stomach.
I bought some ice cream and juice from a vending machine to put something in my stomach.
But this turned out to be a mistake.
It didn’t help at all—in fact, it might’ve made things worse.

Once we passed Kagoshima Bay and the city of Ibusuki, everything changed.
The ship suddenly began to sway violently, and I quickly started feeling ill.
I ended up getting one of the worst cases of seasickness in my life and had to lock myself in the restroom.
I hadn’t expected it to be this bad—it felt like enduring a storm.
At least there was a proper place to vomit, which was a small mercy.
But we were still less than an hour into the journey.
Just thinking “I have to endure another two and a half hours of this” was overwhelming.
Cold sweat poured down, and I stayed in the restroom until I had nothing left in my stomach.
Eventually, I was too exhausted to even throw up.
I set an alarm and lay down.
Before I knew it, two and a half hours had passed.
It wasn’t sleep so much as unconsciousness.

12:02 PM — We arrived at Nishinoomote Port on Tanegashima.
The sea was a bit choppy, but we arrived almost exactly on time.
The view of Nishinoomote Port from the sky deck was beautiful.
Despite the strong wind, I found myself mesmerized by the scenery for a while.
I had a rough time with seasickness, but after resting for about two and a half hours, I was feeling much better.
Honestly, I was just relieved.

12:10 PM — Disembarkation began.
I slowly made my way down the ramp attached to the ship and finally set foot on Tanegashima.
From here, I took a bus departing right in front of the port and headed toward Minamitane Town.
The ride from Nishinoomote Port to the Minamitane Town Hall takes about 1 hour and 12 minutes.
The fare is 1,480 yen.
And so begins a peaceful bus journey through the quiet island scenery.
Thank you very much for reading to the end.