By ship
Ishigaki Port ç³å£æ¸¯ is located at the center of the city near the bus terminal. There are two parts: the central RitÅ-sanbashi é¢å³¶ããã°ã, for services to nearby islands, and a second unnamed pier at the southeast corner of the port for long-distance services to Yonaguni and slow boats to Hateruma. The port information office is next to RitÅ-sanbashi pier 1.
Since Ryukyu Kaiun took the last passenger ferry out of service in 2006 and Arimura Sangyo went out of business altogether in 2007, there are no scheduled services to Taiwan, mainland Japan or islands outside the Yaeyama group. Star Cruises (http://www.starcruises.com/ operates cruises from Keelung near Taipei between late April to the end of October, but this is not a ferry service.)
There are extensive services daytime only to the other islands in the Yaeyama group:
Taketomi ¥580, 15 min, departures every 30 minutes
Iriomote Åhara Port ¥1540, 35 min and Uehara Port ¥2000, 40 min; summer months only, departures roughly hourly
Kohama ¥1030, 25 min, departures roughly hourly
Kuro ¥1130, 25 min, 5 departures daily
Hateruma ¥3000, 70 min, 7 departures daily
Prices and times above are one-ways on fast ferries and may vary slightly from company to company. Return fares are usually 10% cheaper.Slower service with regular ships is somewhat cheaper but connections are less frequent:
Hateruma ¥3000, abt. 2 hours, 1 departure per day weekdays only
Yonaguni ¥3400, 4-5 hours, 2 departures weekly
The major operators are Anei KankÅ (http://www.aneikankou.co....), Hirata Group (http://www.hirata-group.c...) and Yaeyama KankÅ Ferry (http://www.yaeyama.co.jp/...). There are free courtesy buses from the larger resorts to some ferries, enquire locally.
By plane
Ishigaki Airport ISG is the largest airport in the Yaeyama Islands. There are frequent connections to Naha and Miyako, some direct services to major Japanese cities like Tokyo, and daily flights to Yonaguni. There are buses to the port every 20 minutes. The fare is a flat ¥200 and the trip takes 15-20 minutes depending on the direction; there are both eastbound and westbound services, but both terminate at the port. You can also use the Free Passes for this see Get around. A taxi to central Ishigaki will cost you around ¥800 but takes just 5 minutes or so.