Shimanami Kaido and Okunoshima

Hello.

We are planning to start early and cycling the Shimanami Kaido in a day, starting from Imabari.

We also would like to visit Okunoshima, however I'm a little worried that we won't have time for this in the same day.

Does anyone have any experience of this that could suggest whether this is possible in a single day, and if not any alternative way?

Many thanks.

How early do you plan on starting?
How did you plan to get to Okunoshima? Cycle to Onomichi then spend 45 minutes on the trains to Tadanoumi Station, then walk to the port, then take the ferry for 12 minutes across? Or were you planning on taking the ferry from Omishima across to Okunoshima and then back to Omishima and continuing on?
What did you plan to see along the Shimanami Kaido or did you just plan to cycle all the way?

We stayed the night half-way along the Shimanami Kaido in Setoda (Ikuchijima), but you can certainly cycle it all in one day if you wish. Maybe if you time the ferries correctly and don't spend too long on Okunoshima it would be possible to access from Omishima.

I don't think I'd try and do it from Tadanoumi at the end of the Shimanami Kaido unless you spend the night on Okunoshima.

I'd also try and check the ferry timetable as they are not that frequent and they stop in the afternoon. From Tadanoumi there's some info from Frog1954 and Omotenashi in this thead:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+90447
With this link:-
http://www.f00-137.121.168.210.fs-user.net/htdocs/?page_id=22

I'm not sure of the ferry details from Omishima but perhaps someone else can locate that for you. I would expect that it is not very frequent!

Enjoy your trip!

The answer to this really depends on how much you cycle. If the answer is not much then you run the risk of feeling rushed for the rest of the day. I would do the ride then spend any time left in Onomichi, it's a fabulous place. I think you will be doing the ride in the right direction. When I did it last year I had the wind behind me all the way & felt sorry for those going the other way. I do ride quite a bit so I took the ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama & rode from there :)

Thanks to both of you for your answers.

We were planning on starting from Imabari around 8-8.30am. To get to Okuoshima, we were hoping to do it as a detour from Omishima. I think the key is to time it correctly with the ferries, so thanks for the links. It is very rushed unfortunately, but we are fortunately both pretty fit and if we do have the headwind behind us, I don't think the cycle will be too tough.

As for Onomichi, we have our accomodation booked there for the evening of the Shimanami Kaido, so I look forward to waking up the next morning to a nice harbour town to explore!