Shirahama

Shirahama lies about 65 km south of Wakayama City and is reached in roughly seventy minutes via the JR Limited Express Kuroshio to Shirahama Station, with departures running roughly hourly through the day; local Meiko buses then connect the station to the beach, cliffs, and onsen districts in ten to twenty minutes. A typical day begins at Shirarahama Beach, whose imported white quartz sand and turquoise water have made it one of Japan's most photographed coastlines since the resort's opening in the early twentieth century, followed by a walk along the dramatic Sandanbeki sea cliffs, where a 36-meter elevator descends to a wave-cut sea cave that once sheltered pirates and can be toured on a lit boardwalk. Lunch options cluster around the Sandanbeki cliffside restaurants and the fishing port, known for fresh maguro tuna and Kishu-grown citrus. The afternoon suits a visit to Senjojiki, a flat expanse of stratified volcanic rock jutting into the sea a short walk from Sandanbeki, before finishing the day with a soak at Saki-no-yu, an open-air seaside hot spring bath set directly on the rocks at the base of the cliffs, one of the oldest hot springs mentioned in Japan's earliest chronicles. May through September is best for swimming and warm-weather beach walks, while the onsen baths and cliff walks are enjoyable year-round; arriving on an early Kuroshio departure leaves a full day for combining the beach, cliffs, and bathing without rushing the return trip.