Yakushima days

Hello,
I intend on visiting Yakushima, hearing different ideas on how long it would be recommended to stay.

I do not intend on doing the long Jomonsugi hike as I have no such endurance but perhaps the Mononoke woods and the Yakisugi land area as well as exploring the island.

I plan on renting a car, perhaps a small camper van as well.

3 full days? Arriving mid or late day 0, leaving early on day 4?

We also spent 3 days with rental car: 1 day Shiratani Unsuikyo, 1 day Yakusugi Land and 1 day driving around the island.

If you want the "rapid" tour of Yakushima, I would recommend using the bus tour, which will have some guided hiking in it. It also dovetails with the Jetfoils going to the Island.

Here is the plan:

Catch the 7:45 AM jetfoil to Yakushima. It will arrive at 9:45. The tour bus will pick you and your luggage up, up and take you on the "A" tour. Links:

http://www.yakumonkey.com/p/travel-by-jetfoil-to-yakushima.html
https://www.scribd.com/document/290087793/Yakushima-Kotsu-Bus-Timetabl...

The hike that you will do is the Yayoi Hiking trail, which is the one in red on the Leaflet.

https://www.scribd.com/document/103686948/Shiratani-Unsuikyo-Leaflet-E...

The tour bus will drop off at several hotel locations.

On the second day, take the "B" tour, and the bus will take you to Yakusugi Cedar Land for more hiking. It will then drop you off at 13:10 (1:10 PM) at Anbo Port, which is just in time to take the 13:30 jetfoil back to Kagoshima.

If you wanted an extra day to explore on your own, you could do the that on the second day, and then schedule the "B" tour for the following day.

The nice thing about this is that your tour and your transport from the port to your hotel is covered by the tour bus.

I hope this helps. Even if you do not want to do such a short trip, I believe the links to the Yakumonkey guide that I gave you will help you plan your trip.

Thank you for yhe links and information.

I had no idea there were tours like that, I ll definitily have them in mind when planning.

While not as convenient as a rental, the buses do work and the four day pass would be an inexpensive way for you to get around and to most of the places you are looking at visiting. As you are not doing big hikes, shorter stays at each place make the bus an option. Depends a little on where you are staying, but there are lots of bus stops.

The bus tour sounds good, but I was glad I rented a car.
I got the complete freedom of the flexibility, and hated the idea of getting "soaking wet" while waiting for the bus.