Three dives in Hasama underwater park.

The only underwater temple in Japan !

Kaitei jinja is the only underwater temple in Japan. It was built near Tateyama, in Chiba and lies between 18m and 12m underwater. The temple itself lies in (or near) Hasama Underwater Garden (波左間海中公園) which manages the access to those diving sites. The owner is a local celebrity called Arakawa Hiroyuki, famous for his friendship with a huge kobudai (asian sheephead wrasse).

Usually you may make three dives here, starting with the temple area. A fun and simple dive, during whch you’ll enjoy the shrine, a big torii, and lots of fishes and especially the kobudai which you may call by banging a hammer on the concrete base of the torii. It sure feels a bit like a tourist attraction, but it is definitely fun.

The second dive was definitely more problematic. It was supposed to be a “whale shark dive”, and we saw one indeed. The problem is that this shark was held captive in a big net. Divers are brought in by boat and get to dive at 7m deep maximum for about 30mn to admire a whale shark circling around all day long. Sad…The only relief is that that the shark is freed when the diving season ends, in late October.

The third dive however is a pure delight. A little deeper too, around 25m below the surface. You’ll dive on an artificial reef nicknamed “the dream”. A huge metallic structure now crowded with colorful corals and a lot of fishes. A memorable moment, truly beautiful even on a day of average visibility.

As the reef is quite deep, it is hard to enjoy the colours without a light. Don’t forget to bring strobes or led panels.

A few more pictures of this dive :