Monte Carlo 5 on a journey from Taiwan to Okinawa, Japan

This new Monte Carlo 5 power yacht was delivered to Taiwan early this year and is being actively used by her new owner. Our local broker, Richard Hou shares experience on the short journey they organised with the owner to cruise from Taiwan to Ishigaki Island in the Okinawa archipelago.

“This was the first time I visited Ishigaki island, and I’m very grateful to be invited by the owner of our MC5 to join his party and cruise. The distance from Keelung, Northern Taiwan to Ishigaki island is around 140nm and it took us 8 hours to get there. Thanks to some good weather and favourable winds, we were sliding on the waves averaging 17 knots of boat speed. We played cheerful music and had a few beers on the way.

When we arrived we needed to undergo a three-step immigration process including quarantine, coast guard checks and customs. After the whole procedure we are good to go for some sightseeing!

The first thing one has to do when visiting Ishigaki is to enjoy a good Ishigaki beef barbeque, using locally reared Japanese cows, famous over all of Japan. The flavour is just different and is definitely worth a try. As a refreshment, Ishigaki beef goes well with Orion beer, a local beer brewed in the Okinawa region. For our second day, we sailed northward and dived into the pure blue seas (for which the Okinawa archipelago is so famous). It was a beautiful trip for all of us and I can’t wait to go back to Okinawa one day soon. We are very blessed to be so close to it here in Taiwan. I definitely recommend this cruise to our boat owners—Ishigaki is the perfect place to enjoy their yachts.”