Niijima

Surfers know Niijima for one beach. Habushiura runs 6.5 km down the east coast, white sand facing the open Pacific, and its waves draw surfers from around Japan and abroad; shops rent boards and teach beginners. For an easy swim, the north end of Mamashita beach on the west side is calm and shallow, and Kurone beach is five minutes' walk from the port. The island's own rock is koga stone, a soft, light volcanic stone that Tokai Kisen says is mined outside Niijima only on Lipari in Italy. It went into houses and walls from the Meiji era to the Showa era, and into the Moyai statues you pass all over the island; moyai is island dialect for helping each other, and the Moyai outside Shibuya Station was a gift from Niijima. Yunohama open-air onsen, five minutes' walk from the port, has six pools of different temperatures set in a mock Greek temple, looking across to Shikinejima and Kozushima. It is free and open 24 hours, and you must wear a swimsuit, not a towel. Bring cash too: there is no 24-hour ATM on the island.