Japan Itineraries: Multi-Day Yacht Routes Across Japan

Japan’s cruising grounds reward both the short getaway and the extended exploration. The itineraries below are designed to be combined: a guest looking at the 3-day and 4-day routes can stitch them together into a full 7-day voyage without repeating a single port or anchorage. Every itinerary is fully customisable – your Boatcrowd charter specialist and onboard captain will tailor stops, pacing and activities to your group’s interests and the conditions on the day.

3-Day Japan Yacht Charter Itinerary: Tokyo Bay to the Shonan Coast

Day 1: Yokohama to Kamakura and Enoshima

Board your yacht at Yokohama Bayside Marina by mid-morning. After a welcome briefing and a champagne toast on the flybridge, cruise south through Tokyo Bay past the container port and the Yokohama skyline – the Landmark Tower, the red-brick warehouses of Akarenga, and the sweeping arc of the Bay Bridge. Your captain sets course for the Shonan coast, roughly 20 nautical miles south-west. As you round the Miura Peninsula, the coastline softens into sandy beaches and forested headlands. Anchor off Yuigahama Beach near Kamakura for a late-morning swim, then take the tender ashore and walk 15 minutes through quiet residential lanes to Kōtoku-in temple, home to the Great Buddha – a 13.35-metre bronze Amida Buddha cast in 1252, sitting in serene open air after a tsunami destroyed its wooden hall in the 15th century. Your chef lays out lunch on the aft deck: perhaps yellowtail sashimi sourced from Yokohama’s fish market, miso-glazed aubergine and chilled sake. After lunch, cruise to Enoshima – the volcanic island that hosted the 2020 Olympic sailing events. The island is connected to the mainland by a 600-metre bridge, but approaching from the sea reveals its dramatic clifftop shrines and the lighthouse (Enoshima Sea Candle, 59.8 metres tall) from an angle most visitors never see. Anchor in the lee of the island for an afternoon exploring the botanical gardens, the Enoshima Shrine (founded in 552 AD) and the sea caves at the island’s southern tip. Return to the yacht for dinner on the aft deck as the sun sets over Sagami Bay.

Day 2: Hayama and the Imperial Coast

Rise early and cruise south along the Shonan coast to Hayama – a quiet, elegant seaside town that has been the Imperial family’s summer retreat since 1894 (the Hayama Imperial Villa sits on a wooded promontory above the sea, visible from the water but respectfully off-limits). Anchor off Isshiki Beach, where the water is cleaner and calmer than anywhere else on the Kanagawa coast, and Mount Fuji’s snow-capped peak rises across Sagami Bay to the west on clear mornings. Take the tender to Morito Shrine on its tiny island – a vermilion torii gate marks the entrance, and the shrine itself is a serene pocket of old Japan just metres from the shore. Lunch at one of Hayama’s chic waterfront restaurants – the town has a quiet reputation as one of Japan’s most refined coastal dining destinations, with fish sourced directly from local boats. In the afternoon, cruise past the rugged Aburatsubo Peninsula to Jogashima, a small island at the southern tip of the Miura Peninsula where a lighthouse built in 1869 (designed by the French engineer Léonce Verny) overlooks the Pacific, and hiking trails wind through coastal meadows thick with wildflowers in spring. Return north to anchor off Hayama for the night, with a chef-prepared dinner of local Sagami Bay seafood and a quiet evening under the stars.

Day 3: Sarushima and Return to Yokohama

Your final morning takes you east across the mouth of Tokyo Bay to Sarushima – the only natural island in Tokyo Bay, just 1.7 kilometres off the coast of Yokosuka. This tiny, uninhabited island (0.055 km²) served as a Tokugawa-era coastal fortification and later a Meiji-period military battery; its crumbling red-brick tunnels, overgrown gun emplacements and atmospheric ruins make for a fascinating morning’s exploration on foot. The surrounding waters are surprisingly clear for Tokyo Bay, with decent snorkelling over rocky reef where wrasse and sea bream congregate. Your chef prepares a farewell gourmet lunch on the aft deck as the yacht cruises north past the Yokosuka naval base and into Yokohama’s inner harbour, arriving by mid-afternoon. If time allows, stroll the Yamashita Park waterfront or explore the jazz bars and ramen shops of Yokohama’s Chinatown – the largest in Asia – before disembarking.

4-Day Japan Yacht Charter Itinerary: The Izu Peninsula Voyage

This itinerary picks up where the 3-day route leaves off, heading south from Tokyo Bay into the volcanic coastline of the Izu Peninsula. Guests looking for a full week can combine the two routes into a comprehensive 7-day charter covering the entire Kanagawa–Izu cruising ground without repeating a single stop.

Day 1: Yokohama to Manazuru and Atami

Board at Yokohama Bayside Marina and cruise south-west out of Tokyo Bay, passing the Miura Peninsula and entering Sagami Bay. The first stop is Manazuru, roughly 35 nautical miles from Yokohama – a small fishing town perched on a forested cape where a 350-year-old camphor tree forest runs down to the waterline. Anchor briefly in the calm eastern bay for a morning swim and a wander through the quiet harbour. Continue south to Atami, one of Japan’s most famous hot-spring resort towns, roughly 10 nautical miles further along the coast. Atami sits in a natural amphitheatre of steep hills tumbling down to the sea, and the waterfront is lined with grand hotels and traditional ryokan that have welcomed guests since the Tokugawa shoguns bathed here in the 17th century. Your crew arranges a private onsen session at one of the town’s cliff-top ryokan – soaking in mineral-rich volcanic water as the sun sets over Sagami Bay is an experience that stays with you. Dinner ashore at a local kaiseki restaurant, or your chef sources the day’s catch from Atami’s harbour for a Japanese-Mediterranean fusion dinner on the aft deck.

Day 2: Ito and the Eastern Izu Coast

A short morning cruise of roughly 10 nautical miles brings you south from Atami to Ito, another storied onsen town where the Englishman William Adams (the inspiration for Shōgun’s John Blackthorne) built Japan’s first Western-style sailing vessels in 1604. The coastal scenery becomes increasingly dramatic: volcanic rock formations, steaming fumaroles visible from the sea, and deep-green forests of cypress and pine. Anchor off Jogasaki Coast – a stretch of rugged volcanic shoreline south of Ito, where 35-metre sea cliffs, natural rock arches and a suspension bridge over a gorge create one of the most photogenic seascapes on the Pacific coast. Take the tender close to the cliff base for a perspective that few visitors ever see. Lunch on the aft deck as your captain cruises further south along the coast, passing small fishing hamlets and hidden rocky coves. By late afternoon, anchor in a sheltered bay near Shimoda, a port town with deep historical significance: it was here that Commodore Matthew Perry landed in 1854 to establish the first American consulate in Japan, and the town’s Ryosenji temple and Perry Road preserve that history beautifully. Wander the gas-lit streets and the old merchant quarter before returning to the yacht for dinner.

Day 3: Shimoda and the Southern Izu Coast

Shimoda’s white-sand beaches are among the finest on Japan’s Pacific coast – Shirahama Beach, a 700-metre crescent backed by low hills, rivals anything in Okinawa for clarity and beauty. Spend the morning swimming and paddleboarding in turquoise shallows, then cruise west along the southern tip of the peninsula to Cape Irozaki, where a lighthouse perches on volcanic cliffs and the Pacific stretches unbroken to the horizon. The western coast reveals Dogashima, a series of sea caves and eroded rock formations that the Japanese call their own ‘Amalfi Coast’ – the Tensodo Cave, with a circular skylight in its ceiling that throws a shaft of light onto the turquoise water below, is the headline attraction. Your tender can enter the cave in calm conditions for a moment that feels genuinely otherworldly. Anchor in the sheltered waters off Dogashima for a late lunch, then cruise north along the quieter western Izu coast, where fishing villages cling to hillsides and the evening light turns the volcanic rock to amber. Overnight at anchor in a calm bay, with your chef serving grilled kinmedai (golden-eye snapper) – the Izu Peninsula’s signature fish, its coral-pink skin and rich white flesh a local treasure.

Day 4: Western Izu Coast and Return to Yokohama

The morning is yours for a final swim off the western coast or a last shore excursion to one of the small onsen villages that dot the hillsides. As the yacht turns north for the return passage to Yokohama (roughly 50–60 nautical miles, depending on your anchorage), the views shift from volcanic peninsulas to the broad sweep of Sagami Bay, with Mount Fuji dominating the north-western horizon on clear days. Your chef prepares a farewell gourmet lunch on the aft deck – perhaps a bento-style spread of sushi, tempura, pickled vegetables and wagyu sliders – as the Yokohama skyline comes into view in the late afternoon. Arrive at Yokohama Bayside Marina by early evening, bronzed, well-fed and carrying memories of a coastline that most of the world has yet to discover.

Guests looking for a longer voyage can combine the 3-day Shonan Coast route with the 4-day Izu Peninsula route for a comprehensive 7-day Tokyo Bay and Izu charter covering two UNESCO-adjacent sites, volcanic coastline, Imperial history and dozens of world-class anchorages – without repeating a single stop.