Otaru Dream Beach

Address: 3-75 Zenibako, Otaru, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

GPS: 43.157094564209615, 141.20526165693303

This is a summer party spot. Otaru Dream Beach is just a 15-minute train ride from Sapporo Station and is a popular spot for young people and university students. There are restaurants and bars along the beach offering a variety of affordable food and drink options. Some stay open until early in the morning.

You can swim from late June to August, which makes the bathing season on Otaru beach the longest in Hokkaido. At this time, the coast is very crowded, and sometimes it is difficult to find a free space on the beach if you do not arrive here early.

Getting to this beach

If you don’t have a car, the best way from Sapporo Station is to take a local train to JR Hoshioki station on the Hakodate line. The price is 260 yen one way and takes about 15 minutes.

From Hoshioki station there is a free shuttle bus located opposite the large Co-op store, at the end of the bus station, past the taxi rank. It takes about 10 minutes to the beach. You’ll see a makeshift temporary sign with bus times to and from Dream Beach.

There are regular buses with the first leaving at 9am and the last one at 1:50pm.

From Dream Beach there are also regular buses returning to Hoshioki station from 4pm to 6pm. Make sure you don’t miss that last bus otherwise it’s a bit of a walk back as taxis are difficult to find near the beach.

The free shuttle bus operates from the middle of July to the middle of August.

For train times check out Hyperdia.