Hotel Urashima Resort & Spa

A Headland of Its Own, on the Coast of the Kii Peninsula

There's a small headland on the Pacific coast of Wakayama — Yamabu-misaki — that you cannot reach by road. To get there, you board a small ferry from Katsuura harbour. Five minutes later, the boat slows into a sheltered cove on the headland's lee side, and you step off onto a property that occupies the entire promontory: Hotel Urashima.

This is one of Japan's more distinctive places to stay. Built across the headland over decades, Urashima is a large traditional resort ryokan with multiple bath houses, several restaurants, walking paths along the cliff edge, and — most famously — two natural seawater-adjacent cave onsens carved into the headland's rock by the Pacific itself. Bokido, the largest, opens directly onto the ocean: you soak in mineral hot spring water while the surf breaks against the rocks a few metres away, the cave mouth framing a horizon of blue. There is essentially nothing else like it in Japan.

If you've come to walk the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes, to visit the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano, or simply to have an onsen experience you'll remember for the rest of your life, Hotel Urashima is the kind of place that justifies the journey across the country to reach it.

Who Stays Here

• Kumano Kodo trail walkers finishing a multi-day pilgrimage hike and wanting an exceptional onsen finale before heading home

• Onsen connoisseurs specifically travelling for the cave baths — the property's reputation in Japanese hot-spring culture is significant

• Couples on a slower Japanese itinerary wanting a singular, atmospheric stay rather than a generic luxury hotel

• Returning Japan travellers who've done the Tokyo–Kyoto–Hiroshima route and are searching for something genuinely different

• First-time international visitors to Wakayama and the Kii Peninsula combining the Kumano Sanzan with whale-watching, the Katsuura tuna market, and Koyasan

• Pilgrims on the Kumano-mode circuit in the Japanese tradition that has drawn travellers to this coast for over a thousand years

Why Book Direct With VervTrip

Booking through vervtrip.com gets you our best available rate, with our Best Price Match guarantee — find the same room for the same dates at a lower price within 24 hours, and we'll match it.

Direct guests also receive:

• Complimentary upgrade when available at check-in

• Flexible cancellation, for the Refund Policy & Cancellation please read our Booking Policies

• A welcome glass of local rosé on arrival

• Real concierge support — a local team who can book you into the right vineyard or the right Saturday market