Probably at the top of most people’s lists of things to do in Miyazaki, is the golf.  The Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort is situated amongst three golf courses, including the somewhat famous Phoenix Country Club. We didn’t play any of them but hired electric bikes everyday and had an awesome time riding through the cycling tracks in between the golf courses the coast. You can hire the bikes from the hotel and ride down to an area of the beaches called Hitotsuba (on Toucan’s Map of Miyazaki).  It’ll take you about 20-30 minutes riding slowly and it’s easy riding especially with the help of an electric bike, which don’t go by themselves, but require much less effort than a normal bike.  If you’re lazy they’re ideal.  This is one of the best things to in Miyazaki and I highly recommend it.

Sheraton Grande Ocean Resort

The beaches down at Hitotsuba aren’t the best looking in the world, they’ve got this dark greyish sand to them and there’s some rock walls they’ve built that I presume are to stop large waves coming in, which aren’t the greatest looking things in the world. However, what makes these beaches so good is there’s basically nobody on them and you’ll have them to yourself or at least with very few other people.  They’re not the best for swimming in, it gets deep pretty quickly but for just hanging out and playing in the sand, they’re ideal. There’s a small kiosk that you can rent kites, badminton rackets and provide you some things to do in Miyazaki,  but note they only accept cash so make sure you bring some.  There’s 3 or 4 different areas you can go to so check them all out.

Aoshima is about a 25 minute drive from the Sheraton and definitely worth a visit and one of the few must-visit things to do in Miyazaki. It’s a small island with these interesting rock formations called Ogre’s Washboard in English.  You can walk out on them and it’s ideal for crab hunting and spotting other sea creatures for kids.  There’s a shrine on Aoshima Island although that wasn’t anything great.  We didn’t because it was a bit hot, but you could easily walk around the island in probably about 30-45 minutes.

Aoshima

We spent the morning there then had lunch at the nearby ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki, which is looking a bit worse for wear but has a large open grass area that’s great for just running around with kids.  The lunch was a bit rank but fills you up and edible.

Other than that, there’s not a whole lot of things to do in Miyazaki so unless you’re planning a golf trip to Miyazaki, it’s probably not a place you’d spend too many days in.  Three nights is a good length stay and despite it not being anything spectacular, I’d go back again because of the lack of tourist, perhaps weekends are different.

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