Five accessible ways to go on an adventure in Ise-Shima

Carrying on a 3,000-year tradition, the Ama woman divers of Ise-Shima dive without oxygen tanks or other scuba equipment as they scour coastal waters for marine delicacies such as sea urchin, abalone and sazae (turban shells).

On this tour, you get to join them and watch the action up close. Adventurers of all ages and abilities can dive together with a working Ama. A diver will accompany your group throughout the tour, starting with the journey from the port of Toba to an uninhabited island nearby. Those who are able to walk will travel in a fishing boat, whereas participants in wheelchairs get to ride a kayak instead. Experienced guides make moving into and out of the kayak easy, and provide accessories such as anti-slip cushions to make sure you’re comfortable during the trip.

Upon arrival at the island, you’ll have the opportunity to splash around in the shallows first to get used to the water and waves. Then it’s time to pull on a snorkel and follow your Ama guide as she points out shellfish under the water, teaches you how to dive for them – assisted or all on your own – and explains how her work helps preserve the local environment. And while all that sounds physically taxing, worry not: there’s no need to swim long distances, and tour duration can be customised to meet your needs and preferences.

This is the perfect tour for adventurers who don’t let a visual impairment slow them down. The four-sense version of Kaito Yumin Club’s popular Sea Bream Spectacular lets you swim among hundreds of fish in a net pen out in the ocean, and ends with a delicious sea bream meal.

The experience at a fishing village in Minami-Ise kicks off with our guide giving you an introduction to the titular species and explaining why the local environment is considered ideal for fish farming. You’ll then get to feel a plump, freshly caught sea bream and form a salt crust for the fish, which will be baked while you’re out at sea.

Riding a small boat to the fish farm housing the sea bream, you’ll feel the spray, breeze and sunshine on your face. More sensory highlights await inside the net pen. Hop in and you’ll find yourself swimming and diving amid of a school of fish. You’ll pick up their scent first, then feel and hear them brush up against you, all while being caressed by the wind and waves.

Once back on shore, lunch awaits – of course in the form of sea bream, salt-baked to juicy perfection and served with rice, miso soup and pickles.

Kayak fishing is a convenient way to take in the gorgeous nature of Ise-Shima up close while scoring a delicious catch. It’s also great fun if you or someone you’re travelling with has a visual impairment. This kayak fishing tour, tailored to adventurers with reduced or no vision and led by expert instructors, makes for a leisurely and exciting way to spend several hours immersed in the marine environment.

Travelling at a relaxed pace together with an experienced co-paddler, you’ll first learn how to manoeuvre the tandem kayak. Your instructors will describe the scenery while you take in the sea breeze, feel splashes of water on your skin, and listen to sounds like the screeches of seagulls and the humming of boats passing by.

Then it’ll be time to bring out the fishing rods and cast your lure. Wait, wait…and there it is – a fish biting on the hook! You’ll feel the rod shake and the line being pulled, and your instructors will help you lift your catch into the kayak safely. Of all the sensations on this tour, the sense of achievement you get from catching a fish might just be the most memorable.

The Ise-Shima area is distinguished by its sawtooth coastline, dotted with countless narrow inlets. The steep slopes around these coves are caressed by warm ocean winds and receive abundant sunlight, making them an ideal environment for growing mikan mandarins. On this volunteering tour, you’ll visit a mikan orchard to help a local farmer produce some of the area’s popular green mandarin juice.

The mikan farm is fully barrier-free and the farmer will point out low-hanging fruit as you get in between the trees, making this experience accessible to participants in wheelchair or with limited mobility. As you go along, the farmer will explain how he came up with the idea of making juice out of the green mandarins he thins out to make the rest of the fruit grow larger and tastier.

Once you’ve picked enough fruit, it’s time to press the juice out of them. The farmer will teach you how to use his juicer, but you’ll be called on to do the work. Your reward – in addition to your host’s gratitude – will be a swig of eco-friendly, freshly pressed and invigoratingly zesty mikan juice.

Wakame seaweed, a kind of kelp, is a popular ingredient in miso soup and many other traditional Japanese dishes. The thin, green and satiny species has long been cultivated in the Ise-Shima region, where seedlings are placed in the sea in fall and left to grow firm and flavourful in the cold winter waters. Harvest takes place the following spring, between mid-January and the end of March.

That’s also the time of year when you can volunteer with wakame farmers, helping them work through a veritable mountain of seaweed brought up from the water. Sitting at a table together with your hosts, you’ll use a small knife to separate the wakame leaves from the stems. It’s work that requires quite a bit of concentration, but you’ll find that time flies once you get a hang of the technique and can chop away at the plants while chatting with the farmers and fellow volunteers.