River Diving with Guests from Japan and China!
Today, we went river diving to look for Japanese giant salamanders with guests who joined us yesterday and another guest from China!
As the air temperature has been dropping, the river water is getting colder too. It was around 14°C today.
One of our guests who dived in a wetsuit yesterday switched to a drysuit today. It seems they didn't feel cold at all! (^^)
We Found a Japanese Giant Salamander in Koza River!
Our main goal today was to find a Japanese giant salamander, and luckily, we managed to see one again!!
Adult Japanese giant salamanders are quite difficult to find at this time of year, but we achieved our goal!
It was hiding in a spot that was a little difficult to see. But eventually, it showed us its face, and everyone got to see its face and hands!!!
Baby Japanese Giant Salamanders Are Growing!
And of course, we also checked on the baby Japanese giant salamanders we've been watching.
They are slowly growing!
However, the babies are hiding inside a very narrow hole, which makes taking good photos really difficult...
The black shapes in the photo are actually the babies, but... well, the photo didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped!
We have another Japanese giant salamander dive scheduled for next week, so I'll try to get better photos then!!
At Aqua Vista Kushimoto, we also offer river diving trips to look for Japanese giant salamanders in Koza River.
Searching for wild Japanese giant salamanders is a completely different experience from diving in the ocean!
Since they are wild animals, sightings cannot be guaranteed. But why not explore a different underwater world with us?
Today's team included five close friends from Kyushu, Japan, and one guest from China.
Once again, diving brought people from different countries together! (^^)
Tomorrow: PADI Nudibranch Specialty Course with International Guests!
Today was all about river diving, but tomorrow will be all about nudibranchs!
We'll be running the PADI "How to Enjoy Nudibranchs" Specialty course!!!
And all the participants are international guests!
I'm really happy to see that more international divers are discovering the fascinating world of nudibranchs! (^^)
Tomorrow, we'll head out on the boat and spend some serious time searching for nudibranchs. It's been a while, so I'm really looking forward to it!!!
Our drysuit courses have been so popular lately that our Nudibranch Safari has been getting a little less attention.
But we've started our Nudibranch Safari this month, where we focus entirely on searching for nudibranchs during our dives!!
If you love nudibranchs, we'd love to have you join us!
See you next time!!
Today's Diving Conditions
Weather: Sunny
Air Temperature: 12–20°C
Water Temperature: 14.4°C (Koza River)
Visibility: 15 m (Koza River)
Please note: A drysuit is required for river diving!
Recommended Exposure Protection
Drysuit (for Giant salamander diving )
Announcements
◾️ Diving Tour
• Shiretoko Drift Ice Diving Tour 2027, Hokkaido | Join On-Site in Shiretoko
◾️ Event Information
• Drysuit Diving in Kushimoto | Free Drysuit Rental Campaign 2026
• Nudibranch Safari in Kushimoto | Seasonal Macro Diving Event
◾️ Media
• We are one of the guide shops responsible for posting seasonal ocean updates from Kushimoto on “海旬”.
• Instagram is regularly updated!
• Our YouTube channel is now available!
• A video of Japanese Giant Salamander was featured by diving_partner on their platform.
