In the previous two issues of "Kirk's Take," I provided a general introduction to Fukuoka and information on Fukuoka City Yacht Harbor and Nishi-Fukuoka Marina Marinoa. In this post, I highlight Nagahama Fishing Port.
Nagahama Fishing Port
Although lacking the comforts of a marina, many cruisers prefer Nagahama Fishing Port because it is closer to town....and free. On the downside, it's a wall tie, so you will need large fenders (especially in stormy conditions, although the port is generally well protected from wind and waves) and a ladder to get on / off the boat at low tide.
Nagahama is about 20 minutes east of Marinoa. As shown on the map above, approaching from the west, avoiding the fixed fishing nets (seasonal) and a shallow area, pass through the southern gap in the breakwater and go under the bridge (38m clearance) and then turn to starboard and go into the basin.
Being a fishing port, one cannot reserve moorage here, but there is usually sufficient room for 4-5 40' boats to moor along the western and southern walls of the basin, as marked on the map. It sometimes fills up on Fridays, when some fishing boats come in for the weekend, so arriving mid-week is recommended. Likely open areas are marked with red stars while areas off limits to visitors are marked with black exclamation marks; the red exclamation mark indicates a spot that is semi-reserved for a large fishing boat.
At low tide, it is about two meters from a typical sailing boat's deck to the top of the wall, so it is advisable to arrive at or near high tide.
As shown in the map above, there is almost everything one needs within a 10-minute walk, including:
- Convenience store - blue dot;
- Supermarket - red flag;
- Laundromat - green flag;
- Post office - red dot;
- Drugstore - brown flag;
- Several restaurants, a bakery, and fruit / vegetable shops.
There is a very nice public bath / spa, with restaurant, open until 03:00, about a 20-minute walk away - orange flag.
It is a 10-minute walk to Ohori Subway Station, and from there it is a direct line to downtown (Tenjin), Hakata train station, and Fukuoka airport.
