Hozugawa River Boat Ride (Hozugawa Kudari) — Attraction in Kameoka

A once in a lifetime experience, the absolute best thing we did in Kyoto!

This 2-hour trip down the Hozugawa river has something for everyone, with the ride varying between long, calm sections of peaceful water and surprisingly violent but brief rapids. These are always warned about in advance, and there's never much risk, but it can be very disconcerting hearing rocks bumping against the bottom of the boat and having water splashing over the side.

You're unlikely to get too wet, but if you're on the outside there's some light splashing (playfully assisted by the oarsmen!), all quickly drying during the summer. The 3 boatmen we had were genuinely funny and witty throughout, mixing clearly routine jokes with improvised ones based on guests answers. Their constant rowing and steering for 2 hours in melting heat, combined with making conversation and showing landmarks throughout, was truly unbelievable!

Throughout the trip, you'll see lots of landmarks, beautiful vistas, and we even saw a large group of monkeys, some turtles, frogs, herons, and even rafts with more intrepid explorers! There's a very endearing tradition of Sagano Scenic Train passengers, Boat Ride passengers, and people rafting to all wave hello to each other along the way, with a positive atmosphere throughout.

There's an opportunity towards the end to even take photos during a quiet patch, with the boatmen taking photos on your phones. Surprisingly, towards the end a food boat pulls alongside, offering freshly cooked food alongside drinks (including beer!) for cash-only purchase. This is a great end to a truly unique experience, that HAS to be part of any Kyoto trip.

As a tip, when you get off the bus from the Sagano Scenic Train, there's a consistent flood of people up to the boat station. There's not really any need to rush, with regular boats. You'll end up in a queue where staff will take your basic information (such as prebooking) to speed up the final ticket exchange process. After waiting a few minutes, your boat will arrive, and you'll be fitted with lifejackets and cram yourselves into the small boats.

Overall it felt exciting yet safe, with both children and the elderly included in our boat, and a unique way of...

American Family Visiting

There was plenty of parking onsite and the facilities were clean and staff was friendly. There was some English available for tickets, safety videos, and announcements. Purchasing the ticket was easy at the counter. There is no electronic ticket machine. Inside is also a souvenir shop and food/drinks which can be brought onto the boat. Boats normally launch when tickets to fill the boat have been done (this may be different if it is a slow day, it was not slow on our trip).

My daughter and I took one of the first boats down in the morning to beat the summer heat. When it is extremely hot, they put canopies over the boat to try and keep you shaded.

The boaters are very fun people. They provide historical stories, landmark spotting, and other trivia. This is usually told in Japanese as well as English.

The trip down river takes about 2 hours. Bring sunscreen if you burn. The rapids are very comfortable to ride but you may also get wet if a wave splashes over. There are wave guards on the edges people can hold up at appropriate times (they will tell you when).

The boaters are very friendly and they know this river and its path very well. They kept us entertained the entire way. Along the route, you will also stop and have a boat come alongside to be able to purchase food/drinks. Once at the end of the tour, you will be dropped off in Arashiyama. If you need to get back to Kameoka for your vehicle, you can take the JR Saga-Arashiyama to Kameoka Station on the San-in line.

A lot of folks opt to buy tickets for the Sagano Romance Train for their return trip (or vice versa).

I highly recommend this excellent adventure in Kameoka. It was entertaining, informative, and the gorge has some...

Definitely a must ride from Kameoka to Saga-Arashiyama. The boat journey is between 1.5 to 2 hrs depending on the season.

Upon arriving, you would need to write some information on a slip of ticket before proceeding to the counter to purchase your ticket. The ticket consist of simple information such as name, country and # tickets required. After purchasing the tickets, you would need to wait in the area. I learnt that they would wait for the boat to be filled before allowing all passengers to go on board. When there are enough people, they would call your number and ask you to proceed to the river. Even though the website information shows an hourly interval of boat departure, it does not seem to be following that timetable.

During the journey, the boatmen will point out interesting stone structures and have good interactions with the passengers. However they speak mainly in Japanese. Still they are very funny with their actions, making the ride enjoyable! At certain part of the journey where rapids are faster, the boatmen will warm beforehand and ask you to pull the plastic cover to protect yourselves. Along the way, there were also many people doing rafting too! Another option if you are more adventurous!

Towards the end of the journey, a motor boat selling food will come by and you can purchase food or drinks from them. Within the next 5 mins after the motor boat comes, you would have...