Boasting to be one of the oldest natural onsen in Japan. This gem is one of my favourite amongst the open air onsens (rotenburo). It is inexpensive and a stunning experience. Breath-taking unbreached sea view while bathing. Bath within 10m from the sea!!!

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This bath is very simple. There’s no shower facilities. You’ll have to master the use of scopes without contaminating the clean onsen. Wash & rinse well before taking a dip.

This place is extremely close to the ocean, visitors are at the mercy of the weather. For example, on a bad windy day. This is what it will look like… Look closely at what the high waves do to the bath… i.e. do not bath when the sea is rough like that. Will end up in the ocean & be lost forever or death on the rocks.

Trivia: Japanese emperor used to bath here too 😛

 

Warning:

There’re visible sea creatures or creepy crawlies… this thing is natural.

Those who are conscious about being naked will feel fairly uncomfortable… in a far distant, there’s an observation tower LOL I personally have not tested their binoculars. I don’t know if people by the tower will really see naked bathing folks.

By all normal standards, photos / phones are not allowed into the bath. Fortunately after a few attempts, there is finally no body else but me.

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Where was I?

Sakinoyu 崎の湯露天風呂

1668 Yuzaki, Shirahama-cho, Nishimuro-gun, Wakayama Pref.
(和歌山県西牟婁郡白浜町湯崎1668)

Official website: http://www.nanki-shirahama.net/onsen-(hot-springs)/

Bath fee: JPY420 (price 2015)

Their price had increased over the years. It was free and since 2009 they’ve introduced bath fees JPY300…

There are free cubbyholes. If you want lockers, they’re outside of the bath next to the ticket booth. There are no large lockers!! It was JPY100 (if I remember correctly).

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Photos were taken over 3 different trips, hence the difference in lighting / weather conditions.

The featured photo was achieved by me running into the path on a camera timer LOL Joy of solo traveler 😀 A couple of failures before getting to these final photos haha

 

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Author

Salut, I am Joyce. 30 something living in Paris. Appreciate little things and share giggles. Prudent, no nonsense reviews. #ExploreLaughRepeat

16 Comments

  1. Planning to visit Osaka next February and was hesitating whether it’s worthwhile to make a trip to Wakayama! But not anymore! Thanks for the amazing photos and sharing of your personal experiences.. Hopefully I can really ignore the “visible sea creatures or creepy crawlies” besides being naked publicly >,<

    • You’ll have such a fab time!!! Thank you for dropping by ???? good luck with going ‘all natural’ ????

  2. Hi Joyce! Did you go to Shirasuna onsen in Shirahama as well? It is mentioned on Japan Guide along with Sakinoyu. There aren’t many pictures of Shirasuna floating about but from what I can see it looks like a pool by the beach and very exposed whereas Sakinoyu looks more like a real onsen! We are thinking about visiting an onsen in Shirahama on our next trip but are not sure which one is more worth it… 🙂

    • Hi T, yes, you are right; it was exactly like a pool! Shirasuna was very crowded and in the middle of the beach (kids and young couples). It was a weird open air onsen where everyone had to wear a swimsuit *LOL* I highly recommend Sakinoyu. Easy access and affordable. For max onsen time, I recommend yuzakikan (onsen hotel) it was 5min walk from sakinoyu. I think the chosei-no-yu is also worth the visit. It’s about 20-30min walk from sakinoyu. I have no photos of this one. All nude and there were other people 😛

      Have a fab time in Shirahama. It’s such a beauty 😀

      • Thanks for the recommendations! Visiting an onsen by the sea looks amazing and we are very keen to try it 🙂

  3. Oh wow, this does look amazing! Reminds me a bit of the Iceland hot springs but at least we got to wear bathing suits! I did use some mud face masks they offered – white faces hehe! I’m sure it felt so surreal to be bathing out in the open but also so au naturel. 🙂

    • I haven’t been to Iceland yet~~ I am super scared of the cold wahaha. It must have been amazing in Iceland hot spring~~

      Wahaha lots of Japan’s onsens are for nudists hahaha

  4. What an amazing Onsen, thanks for sharing Joyce. Great opportunity to take a hot bath and catch tea at the same time!!

  5. I always love reading your posts about Japan. It’s nice to see places a lot of people don’t visit there whilst on holidays x

  6. Love those mini stories, bits and pieces from Japan! With photos too! You must love it much to visit multiple times. I always forget to take pictures or think that I have enough and then find out I got nothing usable.

    • Thanks, Tri. I do love that town, in off peak season only.

      I understand that feeling. Often I don’t take enough photos too. Perhaps that’s the way to enjoy the moment? ????

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