We left our house at about 2:30 and arrived at around 5:30 – here’s what it looked like just before 6:00.

Not very busy!

There was only one lonely longboarder hoping to catch some waves.  Usually as the morning passes, the waves get bigger and most importantly, the crowds get bigger – or is it the other way around??  Anyways, here’s a picture that was taken around 8 am:

Already getting a little crowded for my liking.  (Especially when 5 or 6 guys are aiming for the same wave)

Here’s a picture of me riding the soup in knee-deep water.  Fun!

Finally, a picture of the beach at around 3:30 – a lot less people than a few weeks ago.

Instead of a day trip, we decided to spend the night at our favourite hotel.  It is only 100 metres from the beach – so it’s easy to carry all our gear to the beach.  He had a wonderful dinner.

It was a mix of Japanese and Western dishes.  We were so stuffed!!

On Sunday morning, I was up bright and early.  I was hoping to have a good session before the crowds got too bad.  I was also hoping that the surf conditions would be better than the day before.  When I got to the beach, it was empty!  Not a single person in the water.  I decided to practice paddling until the waves got bigger (which never really happened)

Here are two pictures of me fooling around:

Doing a little bodyboarding!

Riding the soup.

On the way back from the beach, we discussed that every time that we plan to stay over in Tatadohama that the waves are tiny.  Must be some kind of jinx!

Even though we had a good parking spot, I couldn’t sleep soundly.  I could hear the sound of an idling diesel engine.  Quite annoying and certainly not good for the environment.  I think that the majority of surfers respect the environment so I was surprised by this.  Of course, it is during summer vacation so I imagine that a lot of people are city slickers making their annual trip to the beach.  Anyways, I didn’t sleep so long and was up and about around 5 am.

Here are some pictures I took around 5:30

Not many people in the water yet, but already people are setting up their tents for the day.  (Camping is not allowed on the beach).  The waves didn’t look so great, but as the tide went out, I expected that the waves would get better.

Here’s a picture that was taken at 6:30:

As you can see, the waves were bigger than they were at 5:30.  The waves continued to get better and I enjoyed surfing until about 9:30.

This is a panorama photo taken around 10:30.  (Click on the photo to see it full-size – you won’t be disappointed. )

Here’s a closeup shot of the middle of the beach:

If you look closely, you can see a red and yellow flag.  This flag is put up at 9 am.  To the left of the flag is the swimming area and to the right is the surfing area.  I would estimate that about 70% of the beach is for swimming and 30% is for surfing.  (FYI, bodyboarders with fins must play in the surfing area and bodyboarders without fins must play in the swimming area)

Here are a few more photos of the beach:

We’re busy for the next couple of weekends, but we’re looking forward to going again next month.

BTW, when we left the beach at around 11 am that diesel van was still idling.

We arrived at 3:15 am, managed to find a parking spot and quickly went to sleep.  The sunrise is early these days, so I was unable to sleep for very long.  I was up and about by 4:30 am and was in the water by 4:45 am.  As you can probably imagine, I wasn’t the only one out there.  There were 5 or 6 surfers already in the water but with each passing minute, more and more people entered the water.  Most of the people seemed to be riding longboards.

I forgot the memory card for the camera, but I knew that there is at least one website that posts daily pictures of Tatadohama, so I knew that there would be at least a picture for the blog.

Here’s a nice panorama picture that was taken at just after 7 am.  As you can see, there are already quite a few families and sunbathers at the beach.  Quite a different scene than my local points of Yoshida and Kashima.  (Mind you, I haven’t been to Kashima during the official beach season).

I knew that the website site posts pictures that are taken around 7 am, so I was determined to stay in the water until at least 8 am!  As the tide went out, the number of waves decreased drastically so it there was lot more waiting than surfing.  However, my determination was rewarded.  Here’s a zoomed section of the above panorama photo. If you look closely, I’m in the clump of 6 surfers on the left side of the photo (the 2nd from the left to be precise).

Here’s another picture that was taken much later in the day, but it will give you an idea how many people visit this beautiful beach.

We actually left at around 11 am after having enough sun, waves and crowds for the day.  Looking forward to returning to Tatadohama next month!

We left at around 3 am, but decided to take the route along the ocean instead of driving through the mountains. It is an extra 20 kilometers but it certainly is an easier drive – especially in the early hours of the morning.

The forecast called for a 30% chance of rain, but it turned out to be mostly cloudy. I actually got a bit of a sunburn on my head and face. I will wear my surf hat next time.

How were the waves? At 6 am, the waves were pretty good, but as the tide went out, the waves went with them. Here’s a picture of me playing in the soup at the end of the session…

That’s right.  I went to Tatadohama.  Went by local roads – left at around 3:30 am and was in the water just after 6 am.

How was the surf?

If you look closely, you can see a big grin on my face!

Was the water cold?  You betcha! I estimate that about half of the people out there this morning were wearing boots.  I stayed in the water for around 2 hours and that was enough for me – for some reason, I seem to lose a lot of body heat through the top of my head.

Was the beach crowded?  At 6 am, there were 10 or so surfers in the water.  This is what it looked like just before 9 am.  (Just for the record, Kazumi took the two pictures of me, and the picture below was stolen from this website.

Not a very high quality picture, but it was inspiring enough for me to dig out the surf gear. I finally got in contact my friend in Hamamatsu and decided to meet up yesterday. The water wasn’t so cold – just wore my suit and boots – didn’t need gloves and the hood. Had a good time, but unfortunately the beach is so far from the parking lot that I didn’t have the energy to go back to the car to get my cellphone to take some pictures. Maybe next time.

This is a picture from a few days ago from Tatadohama. I think we’ll be going there soon!