In the summer of 2020, in August, I was looking for a beach to spend some quality time with my partner. And because this season was disrupted due to the corona pandemic, we decided to find a place that is far from the hustle bustle of city life, and not too crowded. Searching a lot we found that most of the beaches in Chiba were closed because of the pandemic and only some in Shizuoka prefecture were open. So, we decided to go the Atami beach, but as you know Atami is such a popular beach that it is crowded even on normal days, let alone when options are scarce. And not to be surprised as we checked on Twitter and elsewhere, we found people posting pictures of an overcrowded beach. We dropped the plan to go the beach altogether.
But then we found this hidden gem of a beach called Nagahama, just 15 mins by train from Atami station. And we were thrilled to know about it more. Once again we searched for the current crowd situation there on social media, and to our surprise, we found that there were hardly any people there! In this peak season, there was a beach just minutes away from the most crowded place on earth and to defy all the reasons, it was empty! I was still skeptical, and never thought that we can hit jackpot, but still my partner and I decided to go there. And we were rewarded in full.
Soon, we unpacked our tent, and set it up, changed the clothes in the clean and well organized changing room area. And then grabbed ourselves an ice cream and a beer from the extremely generous cafe staff there. This beach also has a lot many life guards on duty till 16:00 or 4 pm. But, please note that after 31st August, neither the cafe, nor the lifeguards are present, and we can still go inside the ocean at our own risk.
If you are looking for a tent, I recommend this tent which is portable as well as light weight and at a reasonable cost too, I have been using this for a long time of 3+ years and hence it is durable as well. Also, do remember to take a sunscreen with you as Japanese summers are too hot and the sun is brutal.
Delicious draft beer and ice cream
Access
Take the Ueno-Tokyo Line Local towards Atami from Ueno station and get off at Atami station. It costs 1980 yens, and we took a green car seat, which costs 1000 yens extra. At Atami change again to Ito Line Local towards Izukyu-Shimoda and get off at Izu-Taga station (just 8 mins ride). All in all, it takes about 2 hours for the ride from Ueno station and costs just 1980 yens.