Wakayama SE · NachikatsuuraNo.329★★Open in map →
Bokido
— a bath inside a sea cave
A hot spring bath inside a natural sea cave on the Kumano coast, reached by a short boat ride across Katsuura harbour. The cave opens directly onto the Pacific.
Nanki-Katsuura is a hot spring town on the Kumano coast, and its most famous bath is not in a building. Bokido is a genuine sea cave in the cliff face below Hotel Urashima, cut by the waves and later floored with hot spring water. The rock is unfinished — you bathe under a low, dark, arching ceiling that opens at the far end straight onto the Kumano-nada sea. On a calm day the light off the water fills the cave. On a rough one the waves hit the rock below and the spray carries in over the bath. Getting there is part of it: the hotel occupies a headland with no road access for visitors, so you cross the harbour from the town pier on the hotel's own boat, which takes about five minutes.
Why it stays quiet
It is famous nationally and appears on Wakayama's official tourism pages, but it sits four hours from Osaka at the far end of the Kii Peninsula, and most foreign visitors to the area come only for the Kumano pilgrimage routes and move on.
Background & history
The cave was cut by the sea before it was ever a bath. Its name — written with characters meaning roughly 'the cave that makes you forget to go home' — is traditionally said to come from a visiting nobleman who, soaking there, remarked that he had forgotten about leaving. The bath sits on a headland outside Nachikatsuura, a fishing town that is also one of Japan's main tuna landing ports and the coastal gateway to the Kumano pilgrimage routes.
What to look for — in walking order
- The cave mouth
- the far end opens straight onto the Kumano-nada sea; spray reaches the bath when the swell is up
- The unfinished rock ceiling
- low, dark and arched — sea-cut stone, not construction
- Genbudo, the second cave bath
- another cavern bath on the same headland, usually on the same ticket
- The harbour crossing
- the five-minute boat ride from Katsuura Pier, with the headland cliffs ahead
How to enjoy it
Go on a rough day if you can choose. In calm weather the cave is beautiful and quiet; in a swell the waves hit the rock just below and the sound fills the cavern, which is the version people remember. Aim for early afternoon so you are not rushing the last limited express north.
How to actually get there
- Shin-Osaka Stn → Kii-Katsuura Stn (JR Kuroshio limited express, ~4 hr, few services a day).
- Kii-Katsuura Stn → Katsuura Pier (on foot, ~5-7 min).
- Katsuura Pier → the headland (hotel boat, ~5 min), then to reception for a day-use ticket.
- JR Kuroshio limited express + hotel boat
- Shin-Osaka Stn →(JR Kuroshio limited express, ~4 hr)→ Kii-Katsuura Stn. Only a few Kuroshio services a day run this far, so book a seat and check the day's departures. From the station walk about 5-7 minutes to Katsuura Pier, then take the hotel's own boat across the harbour (~5 min).
- Boat, then the limited express back
- Take the hotel boat back to Katsuura Pier and walk to Kii-Katsuura Station. Northbound Kuroshio services are infrequent and the last useful one leaves in the late afternoon, so check the day's timetable before you set out — this is not a place you can leave late.
Before you go
- Cash
- Day-use bathing is about ¥1,300 for adults, paid at the hotel reception. JR tickets take IC cards and credit cards; carry some cash for the town.
- Closing days
- Day-use bathing generally runs 9:00-19:00 with last entry around 18:00. Bokido itself switches between men's and women's hours during the day, so check the sign at reception when you arrive rather than assuming.
- Another way
- The hotel's other cave bath, Genbudo, is a second lava-rock cavern on the same headland and is usually included in the same day-use ticket.
- After you get off
- From Kii-Katsuura Station, walk 5-7 minutes to Katsuura Pier. The hotel boat runs from there; when the boat is out of service for maintenance a shuttle van is substituted, so check the hotel site before you go.