Ferry to Naha from Kagoshima

My husband and I are thinking of taking the A Line Ferry from Kagoshima to Naha in mid-June. Would you recommend the 25 hour ferry against a 90-minute flight?

Would you recommend the 25 hour ferry against a 90-minute flight?

Hmm. I'm not sure what you expected when posting this question but the short and sweet answer is NO, I wouldn't recommend a 25 hour ferry against a 90-minute flight.

Of course, there may be important information your post is missing, such as the fact that your husband is terrified of flying or the fact that you can't really afford the flight or that your husband simply loves spending time at sea or that your trip to Japan is 6 months long so losing an entire day to get from A to B is no issue.. we don't know any of this. With the information available to us, the answer is simple.

I once experienced taking a ferry from Busan to Fukuoka, and the high wind and choppy sea made me swear not to take another one. June could already be typhoon season in southern Japan, it is worth checking. It is just a reminder that I do not wish anyone to experience what I did. Also, you could be coming from thousand miles away to visit Japan, I would assume your time would be well-spent sightseeing, instead of 25-hour ferry.
Flying to Naha could ve fairly cheap with Peach air if you could do it directly from Osaka.

I just looked & it seems to cost about 140 GBP (Roughly 20300 Yen) return to Naha from Kagoshima. I would much rather spend that than get a ferry. I have done 24 hour ferry crossings (UK to France)that have been lovely & 4 hour ones that have been hell. Give me the plane any day.

Crikey those flights from Kix are astonishingly cheap.

Unless you love boats and being at sea, I would never ever recommend a ferry over an aeroplane. Even if the flight were somehow longer, that would be my choice. I’ve done two hour ferry crossings which were less tolerable than the 12 hours in economy it takes to get from my nearest airport in Europe to Tokyo.

Say what you want about airports, legroom, etc. Short haul flights are painless for virtually anyone these days.

In high season there are plenty of cheap flights from Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka, etc, not just to Naha but also to e.g. Ishigaki.
If you can’t find what you want with a discount airline, there’s always the 10,800 yen flights for tourists with ANA or JAL.

Crikey those flights from Kix are astonishingly cheap.

Even cheaper when they are on sale, which they have very often. My flight to Ishigaki from Osaka was about 円3000.

The reason I had asked this question is because I had read somewhere that this ferry ride could be epic

@Tushita Patel. That's a fair point & it might be but it's a lot of time to spend traveling. I have spent a month in Japan before & even then would not have wanted to spend that much time on a ferry. Of course it is your trip and you can do whatever you want. If you did want to do it then one way with a flight the other might be an idea.

Btw I dont hate ferries. The route from Hiroshima to Matsuyama across the inland sea is fantastic

I am a Japanese and I searched travel blogs about the ferry. You can see how the ferry travel is like, by just seeing the photos. Basically the ferry goes on the Pacific ocean and you might encounter seasick (the probability is very high I think).

https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11251922
https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11251925

To see all the blog you must click もっと見る button.

This person took upper class cabin so the fare for a single travel was 20780 yen while the lower class fare is 14610 yen which is even more expensive than ANA/JAL flight fare.