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Atami — East Izu
Flounder
OverviewAjiro is a relatively unknown dive location, and one that we sometimes want to keep our own secret location. Nestled in a yacht harbor, divers sometimes seem out of place in this quiet spot. One time, one of the yacht owners came back with a giant Black Marlin, a scene straight out of a Hemingway novel. While Ajiro only has a few dive sites, it makes it up in amenities. The diving is similar to Atami, with soft corals, fans, and rocky outcroppings. There are schools of juvenile fish as well as the occasional large flounder in the sand on the ocean floor. The main site, Kitene, is easy to navigate and offers a multilevel dive with maximum depth of 25 meters at the buoy or 30 meters on the leeward side going up to the tip at about 12 or 13 meters depth. The dive boats are also unique, being covered so that divers are protected by ocean spray and wind. For the first dive, while it is still in drydock, divers gear up and climb a ladder to board the boat which is then lowered down the ramp by winch into the water. After the last dive, the boat is winched up and then divers walk down the stairs back onto dry land. The second floor of the building has a nice lounge area where we enjoy lunch while overlooking the bay. After the dives, there is a large outdoor tile pool filled with onsen water, which divers can get into wearing their exposure suits. There are several large rinsing tanks filled with warm water and a covered, closed, drying room complete with forced hot air circulation so that your dive gear can dry even when it is raining. Dive Sites
Getting TherePickup at Atami station (approximate driving time 20 to 30 minutes). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||