Things to do in Otaru Canal

A lovely guided tour with enough time to see the places visited at each stop. Rick, the guide, was very knowledgeable, spoke perfect English, was friendly, and always attentive to the participants, ready to offer useful advice. This tour is highly recommended for visiting places that would have required extensive planning, as public transportation in Hokkaido is not as widespread or frequent as in the rest of Japan (unless you rent a car).

We had a wonderful trip led by our guide, Donghwan! We chose this tour because it included the Hill of the Buddha, Otaru, and another stop in between. I traveled with a friend on Friday, September 18th. The weather was hotter than Seoul, with strong autumn sunshine. Short sleeves, shorts, and a light cardigan were perfectly sufficient. Our guide provided explanations about our destination just before arrival and also recommended places to visit and eat in Otaru, which was very helpful. If you're considering this tour, just keep in mind that lunch is usually after 2 PM and will be in Otaru!

Mainly booked this tour because I wanted to visit Cape Kamui, which is not easy to reach by public transport. Seeing the famous Shakotan Blue on a clear day was absolutely worth the price and the long journey. The added bonus was getting to see the Shakotan Coast, visit Otaru, and stop at Shiroi Koibito Park all in the same day. As expected, the schedule was quite tight, but this is understandable given the long distances we had to cover and the number of places included in the itinerary. Our guide, Cici, was pleasant and helpful. However, I felt the tour could have been more informative. She provided translations in Japanese and Chinese and read the English descriptions from her notes, but there wasn't much additional interesting information or storytelling about the places we visited. A little more background, local history, or interesting facts would have made the experience more engaging.

We had a fantastic trip visiting Shakotan Blue, the Otaru Canal, and Shiroi Koibito Park. Our tour guide, Hong, was exceptional—his communication regarding meeting points and tour expectations was always clear and well-organized. I was particularly impressed by his ability to fluently speak Korean, English, and Chinese, effortlessly catering to the diverse nationalities in our group. Highly recommended!

Our guide Allen was very helpful and knowledgeable. He shared a lot of local stories & that’s so much better than reading articlesssss about Hokkaido history & culture. Wish we can have 30mins more at Otaru to take a slow stroll to soak in the beautiful town.

A great choice if you want a beautiful, flexible, and well‑organized tour that lets you make the most out of a short travel window. Highly recommended for anyone who wants freedom and variety without sacrificing convenience.

I'm very satisfied. Although the weather wasn't great, we visited every attraction. I'm very grateful to our tour guide, Rou Rou, who was incredibly attentive at every step. We were well taken care of throughout the trip, which put us at ease. I highly recommend this tour to everyone.

Our guide Harimoto was very kind, helpful and thoughtful! she made my families first time im Hokkaido very special. She was very flexible with our needs and on our long ride to our destination told us fun facts about each place and about Hokkaido. We had a lot of fun exploring and hiking and trying Japanese cherries!!

Amazing tour, there is no rush, plently of time to do walk finish the cape kamui and have delicious lunch as well 😊. It was a small tour group so there wasnt much waiting for each other. Great tour will reccommend for others to go in late june, cool weather and blue sky 😊