Originally Posted by
OliverB
I did read some of your past comments about the Atami area (searching the forum) and describing it as similar in feel to Monaco or the French Riviera, albeit not so "nice". It's piqued my curiosity, but I'm not sure whether it's something that's worthwhile when there's so much exciting and uncharted territory for us in Tokyo alone and we're limited in time.
If you go to Atami expecting Monaco, you'll probably be disappointed. There's no glamor and glitz in Atami. For your purpose, I would say it's not worth going, unless you're going there for onsen. Still, I will say that Atami reminds me a bit of Monte Carlo in terms of the layout ... or I should say Monaco reminded me of Atami when I first went there. And as a guy who's not made of money, there's a lot more to do in Atami than Monte Carlo.
Originally Posted by
OliverB
I suppose if we won't be taking advantage of the beaches and seaside due to the off-season, then there's probably not much need to extend an extra night. I thought it might be cool to hike out to Koibito-Misaki Cape... but then I'm a 10-15 minute drive from the Marin Headlands, so I'm not sure how much of a priority we should place on it.
The small vacation towns with their local beach culture would be the most unique to us, simply because we haven't experienced that in Japan before. If they're likely to feel empty and abandoned in winter, then the reality is that we could eat just as excellent seafood (if not much better, albeit more expensive) in Tokyo. That's why I'd appreciate your collective thoughts on whether you feel it's worth the time and added cost. We could always wait to return at a different time of year, if that's recommended. Then again, if it's beach culture that we're looking for, coming from San Francisco, we could surely find more impressive and convenient beach destinations elsewhere, so perhaps we shouldn't even be focusing on this at all in Japan.
I don't think you'll find much beach culture at all in Izu in Nov.