I just spent a few days down south on tropical Shikoku island, with 2 aussies & 3 Japanese lifeguards. Our mission was to do water safety patrol for a swim event at Anan beach, but we had plenty of spare time to check out a few other beaches & hunt for local speciality udon noodles.
Anan beach was beautiful - far less developed than where ive been so far. The sea was glassy as most of the time, and below the surface it was pretty clear too and about 26deg :) Almost too hot for any strenuous swimming! A few of the people doing the event were donning their wetsuits, but there was no need for that, except to keep off the glaring sunshine. It was hitting about 35deg out of the water, so it was great to get in & cool down a bit, even though the warm salty water quickly turned my skin all prune-like.
There were different swim events on that day - a 50m fun splash, 1.5km & 3km courses just offshore and a 6km swim across from the far side of the inlet. Only a dozen swimmers took on the 6km challenge, but a couple of hundred completed the other events. The best effort i think was a 10 year old boy who swam the 1.5km event with his father constantly at his side. He was one of the last finishers, but probably got the most applause :)
The event part that evening featured some local traditional dancers in wicked kimono & hats that looked kinda like oversized taco shells. They had a band providing authentic rhythyms as the girls & boys alternately swirled around the improvised stage. Following their performance, it was on for the whole crowd, dancing around on the sand, imitating the moves we had been in rapture at minutes earlier. Everyone seemed to love it that us 3 gaijin (foriegners) got into it & attempted to mimic the locals' style.
The next day we headed south a bit to go on a 'leisurely swim tour' with some of the competitors. We didnt really know what we were in for though... we were expecting a bit of snorkelling, lazy in the sun etc. But the swim group had planned a 3km route from one bay around to another. And we were volunteered to look after the swimmers on the way. I was lucky tho, because id brought my fins, thinking that would make the snorkelling easier - but they defintely made the 3km distance a bit less taxing. There were a few little fish to see along the way, as well as some unfriendly jellyfish. I just got a little sting, but Emma got attacked by what she presumed was an army of sea-lice. They seemed to thrive in the tropical water there. We had a stopover half way through the swim in this beautiful, isolated bay. The beach area was only small, but was all of golden sand, and hemmed in by tree-covered slopes. But because the little bay was so shallow, the water was kinda hot - maybe close to 30deg. Enough to make you swim nice & slow!
Ive got a few photos from this adventure online
