Where to Stay on the Shimanami Kaido: Onomichi or Setoda?

The bases along the route

Onomichi: the night before you start

Onomichi Nishiyama is in Sanba, east of central Onomichi, about 10 minutes by car from JR Onomichi Station (or by Onomichi Bus to the Sanba stop). It has 11 rooms: eight in six detached buildings and three in the main building. Guests can borrow its NAGI bicycles, made in Onomichi, free between 6:00 and 23:00 for up to six hours at a time. The official rental terminal is at Onomichi Station, about 130 m from its south exit, and the route begins with a boat: Onomichi City asks cyclists not to ride the Onomichi Bridge but to take one of the two short ferries to Mukaishima, about five minutes and ¥110 in total for one adult with a bicycle (¥100 without a bicycle).

Setoda on Ikuchijima: a mid-route base

Setoda is a mid-route base, about 30 km from Onomichi: on Shimanami Japan’s intermediate course, Onomichi to Setoda Port is about 30 km and three to four hours. Azumi Setoda is here. The stay rents standard and electric bicycles (book ahead; numbers are limited), and its guests use yubune, the bathhouse across the street, free from 7:00 to 22:00. Setoda can also be reached without riding: Setouchi Cruising sails from Onomichi in about 40 minutes, six times a day each way, at ¥1,500 per adult and ¥500 for a bicycle, and the Shimanami Liner bus stops at Setoda BS on its way between Fukuyama and Imabari.

Imabari: the end, with no catalogue stay

The route ends at Imabari, about 70 km from Onomichi, where Shimanami Japan has two terminals, Imabari Itoyama and Imabari Station. The catalogue has no stay here. Bikes can be returned at any terminal, and some designated Imabari hotels accept returns from their own guests. From Imabari, Chugoku Bus’s Shimanami Liner runs back to Fukuyama; from 1 October 2026 every seat must be reserved, and a bicycle travels only bagged, loaded by its rider.

Bikes, bags and bridge tolls

Bridge tolls. Bicycles cross the Shimanami bridges free from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2028, with no paperwork; mopeds are excluded. Rental bikes. Shimanami Japan rents and takes back bikes at ten terminals, and a bike may be returned at a different one from where it was hired. A cross or city bike costs ¥3,000 a day, battery-assist ¥4,000 and an e-bike ¥8,000 (same-day return), with helmets free; riding after dark is not allowed. Bags. Shimanami Japan points riders to two same-day luggage services, Sagawa Express’s hands-free cycling and Onomichi Base’s Shimanami Tebura-bin. Seasonal boat. In autumn 2026 a cycle ship links Onomichi and Imabari on 16 weekend days between 3 October and 29 November.

One day or two?

Shimanami Japan gives the full 70 km as four to five hours for fast riders and about ten hours for beginners or a slow pace, and bikes must be off the road by dark. Split at Setoda, the first day is the 30 km of its intermediate course; from Setoda the ride continues to Imabari, or the boat goes back to Onomichi. Shimanami Japan’s intermediate course is built that way: ride from Onomichi to Setoda and take the boat back to Onomichi.

A detour: Tomonoura

Tomonoura, a harbour town east of Onomichi, is off the route and reached from Fukuyama: about 30 minutes by Tomotetsu bus from stop 5 at JR Fukuyama Station. Migiwatei Ochikochi there runs a free shuttle from Fukuyama Station’s south exit (reserve by the day before) and does not take children of elementary-school age or younger. Until 15 November 2026, on weekends and holidays, Setouchi Cruising sails between Onomichi and Tomonoura in about 55 minutes.

For the other districts of the Inland Sea and San’in — Kurashiki, Miyajima, Nagato and Izumo — see Setouchi & San’in rated stays by district; for Naoshima and the art islands, the Setouchi art-island stays.