Izu Oceanic Park Diving Center - I.o.p.

Nice place to dive. Installations are very good. There is no restaurants. Bring your own food. Many rocks, diversity of fishes and natural life in dive. Deep up to 27m. Equipment can be fully rented. There are hot shower, ofurô, charged cylinders and tables to assemble your equipment. Available dive master guides that speaks english. Two dives is approx. 15,000 ienes.

As a dedicated diver, I have dove the IOP site almost 500 times. The set up of the tanks and the ability to easily gear up with a short walk to the entrance makes the diving easy to enjoy. There is only shore diving and the site is sometimes closed when the swell comes in from the north east. There are 2 guide ropes which makes entering and exiting much easier (even with cameras) and usually the entrance is from the right side and exit from the left. There is a shop,, shaded (or unshaded) picnic benches and a microwave area to heat up any food. The only down side is the 1 minute walk back to the benches from the entrance which is slightly uphill and if weighed down by your equipment. Once in the water, head to the buoy marker and descend in about 3-5m water. There is about a 2 minute swim to where the boulders slope down to the sandy area (directly in front). The sandy area is about 18m and then continues to gradually drop off. The sandy area is quite wide and you can often find the buried Angle Shark (see pictures) or Stargazers. On the right side, there is a large pinnacle beginning in about 5m and continues down to about 15m and then a nice wall down to 35m where there are often resting/hiding fish. There is also a large rock outcropping (its called "Point 1" by the dive shop). Best season is August (25C) through November (21-22C) where the visibility and fish life is best. If a typhoon passes near the Tokyo area, it will usually take a week before the sand and waves settle down. Winter season (Dec-Feb) brings best visibility (25m+) but cold temperatures (19C-14C). Some of the key diving attractions during the winter season can include the dumpling fish ("dango wo) or the bat fish (akagutsu - lit - red boots) I believe May-July are the poorest seasons as although the water is still cold (17C-19C) the visibility is also poor (3m-5m). However, July - when water temperatures can begin to improve 20C+ by month end, this is the squid mating season where you can easily approach large squid (they are usually very skittish around divers) where they are mating and laying eggs on a group of cut trees/branches set up by the dive shop.