I’ve crossed the Ōnaruto Bridge many times but never stopped off. Fixated on haikyo as I am, I tend to avoid the tourist sites. But this is quite a unique phenomenon!
![asia, japan, japanese, naruto, natural, nature, ocean, sea, shikoku, tokushima](https://offbeatjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/naruto-strait-akashi-bridge-tidal-whirlpools-1200x800.jpg)
Water … whirlpools. Just take a boat trip for an hour or two, and find yourself in the middle of the Naruto Strait where the tidal currents slosh against each other.
![asia, japan, japanese, naruto, natural, nature, ocean, sea, shikoku, tokushima](https://offbeatjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/naruto-whirlpools-tidal-phenomenon-1200x800.jpg)
Depending on the season and time of day, you can see exuberant whirlpools, great and small, up to 10 metres wide and 2 metres deep.
![asia, japan, japanese, naruto, natural, nature, ocean, sea, shikoku, tokushima](https://offbeatjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/nartuo-whirlpools-tidal-vortex-1200x800.jpg)
I went out on a boat offering to show you the phenomenon from an underwater observatory. But there’s no denying that there wasn’t much to see … apart from the bubbles on the windows.
![asia, japan, japanese, naruto, natural, nature, ocean, sea, shikoku, tokushima](https://offbeatjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/naruto-whirlpools-tidal-japan-1200x800.jpg)
This is one of the world’s rare phenomena (a priori, there are only three places where this kind of thing happens) so I recommend stopping off there if you’re passing. Visit the Uzusio website beforehand and you’ll find good prices and schedules, as well as tide tables and weather forecasts 🙂
Generally, the best time to catch the whirlpools is in spring or autumn.
![asia, awaji, bridge, hyogo, japan, japanese, kansai, kobe, natural, nature, ocean, sea](https://offbeatjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/akashi-bridge-japan-transportation-structure-1200x800.jpg)
So are the Naruto whirlpools really worth it? Enough to make a detour on a journey between Osaka and Hiroshima, for example? Well no. Unless you’re really keen on whirlpools.
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