Orange Box Annex <Miyakojima>

The single room has a lot for the price: fridge, TV, Wi-Fi, washing machine and water dispenser. The toilet and shower are shared, but there’s also an area to wash and dry diving gear, so I could take my equipment home dry. I stayed eight days and was very satisfied. It’s about a 15-minute walk from downtown, with an uphill walk on the way there because the inn is right by the ocean. A taxi from the airport costs 1,800 yen. For the return trip, it’s a 20-minute uphill walk, then a 250 yen bus from the elementary school to the airport. Buses don’t come often, so plan for that. Marukane Store nearby has bento boxes and drinks, but not vegetables. For those I walked about 10 minutes to Nakasone Store or Family Mart. If convenience is your priority, staying downtown might suit you better.

I spent seven nights here starting December 18, 2023, on my first trip to Miyako Island. It was rainy and cold during my first winter visit. My eight-tatami Japanese-style room had four sets of blankets, and I used two of them, staying dressed and wrapped up every night. The air conditioner had no heating function.

I stayed March 2-8, 2019, on a solo diving trip, room only. You enter the guest rooms from a shared corridor in this apartment-style building. The first floor has the dining area and front desk, with guest rooms upstairs on the second floor. The location was handy, five minutes by car from Hirara Port. Marukin Store, which sells groceries, daily necessities, cigarettes and fishing gear, is a minute away on foot, with a drinks vending machine outside. Two privately owned izakayas are just seconds away, and FamilyMart is about a ten-minute walk. My Japanese-style room was roomy enough for one person and easy to use. It had wired and wireless Wi-Fi with excellent speeds, air conditioning and heating, a TV, and hangers. Smoking isn’t allowed in the room, so you need to use the outdoor ashtray. In the shared hall there’s a fridge and freezer, microwave, hot water dispenser, cups and chopsticks. Showers with shampoo, conditioner and body soap, and toilets are shared and separated by gender. There are two washing machines with detergent, and divers can wash gear outside on the first floor. The main road and port expansion work made the area in front of the room noisy, though it quieted down at night. You can hear hallway conversations from the rooms, and the corridor wasn’t always perfectly clean. Still, I found it extremely comfortable for a low-cost stay. Thank you.

It’s very affordable and quite comfortable, with Wi-Fi, parking, and a shared fridge, microwave and water server. Downtown is within walking distance, about 1.5 km away. The tatami is worn, the halls get noisy, and there were ants in the room.