Yokohama 'Sea Bass'

A great way to see the city's beautiful bay

Steve Morton Aug 16, 2014 - 1분 읽은 시간

<p>A departing ‘Sea Bass’ about to start its scenic route. From Yokohama station’s eastern departure point you can go all the way to Yamashita Park. Depending on your destination, a one way journey costs from around 300-700 yen. There are regular departures about every 15 minutes</p>

<p>A ‘Sea Bass’ approaching its landing platform with the Fuji-Xerox building in the background</p>

<p>A ‘Sea Bass’ docked at its port alongside Yokohama’s ‘Bay Quarter’ shopping center with the Sogo department store in the background</p>

<p>Developed several years ago, Bay Quarter is an impressive shopping center containing many interesting shops and restaurants. The shape of the building is purposely designed to look like a ship; hence the name 'Bay Quarter'!</p>

<p>A ‘Sea Bass’ passing under a bridge and entering the Bay Quarter area. Several of the buildings in the background include the new headquarters of Nissan Motors, (now part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance)</p>

<p>A friendly send off! I was impressed by how the crew, (despite probably having to do this countless times everyday), seem to make a point of waving passengers off with a smile. Service like this back home would be unheard off!</p>

<p>A view of the NTT-Docomo Communications Tower. The building on the left of this is the Yokohama F.C Marino’s football clubs training ground. During some evenings it is possible to see this team training</p>

<p>Passing under an old railway bridge still used occasionally for transporting freight</p>

<p>The very clean interior of the boat. Like many other things in Japan, ‘Sea Bass’ is obviously cleaned routinely</p>

<p>The spotlessly clean front area of the boat fitted with windows to prevent sea sprays from hitting you in the face on windy days</p>

<p>The open back area of the boat, great for taking pictures and cooling off </p>

<p>An unusual view of the back of Yokohama Intercontinental Hotel with a rail track in the foreground </p>

<p>Yokohama Bay Bridge, by no means inferior to Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge</p>

<p>Minato Mirai as seen from the sea!</p>

<p>A Coast Guard ship docked along the port near Aka-Renga</p>

<p>The ‘Diamond Princess’ Cruise ship docked at ‘Oosan-Bashi’ international sea terminal built specifically for large cruise ships. One day it would be nice to ride one of these ships!</p>

<p>My final destination. The landing point at Aka-Renga with the impressive ‘Diamond Princess’ cruise ship in the background. From here the ‘Sea Bass continues onto its final destination at Yamashita Park located several hundred meters away. From Yokohama’s Bay Quarter to Aka-Renga it costs 620 Yen and takes about 15 minutes; money well spent in my opinion!</p>

Having firmly established itself as one of the nation’s major port cities, it should come as no surprise to learn that Yokohama’s ever increasing list of interesting tourist attractions includes a sea bus service known as ‘Sea Bass’

Covering a semi circular route, Sea Bass departs and lands at four major points along the bay including; Yamashita Park, Aka-Renga, Minato-Mirai and the Bay Quarter shopping center, just 5 minutes from Yokohama Station’s East Exit.

Although this is not the fastest way to travel, the cool ocean breezes provide a relaxing escape from the harsh heat and humidity whilst providing some truly spectacular views of the port city

Steve Morton @steve.morton138

Yokohama based content creator, editor, and researcher. Steven likes, eating, reading and traveling on a streamlined budget guaranteed to make any self-respecting local gulp. When not too busy with work assignments, Steven attempts to not get lost while following Japanese tourist maps.Follow me o...