From Mitsuhama Port to Nakajima by car ferry, driving around Prefectural Road 41, the Nakajima Loop Road

The ferries to Nakajima go to Oura Port (east line) and Konoura Port (west line)

“Enjoy nature on a drive around Nakajima!”, from the Chuyo Regional Office of Ehime Prefecture, describes the trip from Mitsuhama Port to Nakajima like this.

三津浜港から車ごとフェリーに乗り、およそ1時間15分で中島に着きます。中島へ行くための航路は大浦港行き（東線）、神浦港行き（西線）と二通りあります。このコースでは車移動になるのでどちらの港からスタートしてもOKです。

Translation: “Take the ferry with your car from Mitsuhama Port, and you will arrive at Nakajima in about 1 hour 15 minutes. There are two routes to Nakajima: to Oura Port (east line) and to Konoura Port (west line). Because this course is by car, you can start from either port.”

Source: 中島一周自然満喫ドライブ！（中島） - 中予地方局 - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ

In Nakajima Kisen’s timetable, the first east line ferry leaves Mitsuhama Port at 6:55 and arrives at Oura Port at 8:15. Subtracting gives 80 minutes, which is 5 minutes different from Ehime Prefecture’s “about 1 hour 15 minutes” (80 minutes is a calculation, not an official number). For the west line ferry, there are 2 sailings: one that leaves Mitsuhama Port at 9:10 and arrives at Konoura Port at 10:02, and one that leaves at 16:40 and arrives at 17:47.

The rules for the procedure for putting a car on board at Mitsuhama Port are in Boarding a ferry by car from an Ehime port, check-in deadlines and vehicle deck rules, and the number of sailings and fares are in Car ferries and island routes, number of sailings and fares. This article covers the Nakajima side, which is not written there.

Nakajima Kisen’s timetable page adds notes about cars to the tables for the east line ferry and the west line ferry. They say that cars can get on and off in Matsuyama only at Mitsuhama Port, that at some ports cars cannot get on or off depending on the tide level (with Oura Port’s phone number), and that Mitsuhama Port and Konoura Port cannot be reserved. For the ports that can be reserved, there is this sentence.

その他の港は予約できますが、出航30分前までに港に来てない場合はキャンセル扱いになる場合がありますのでご注意ください。 ただし、予約は車両のみです。

Translation: “Other ports can be reserved, but if you have not come to the port by 30 minutes before departure, it may be treated as a cancellation, so please be careful. However, reservations are for vehicles only.”

Source: 船の時刻表　～　中島汽船株式会社

Oura Port, where you board for the return, is one of the ports that can be reserved, and Mitsuhama Port, where you board on the way out, is one of the ports that cannot be reserved. The heading of the timetable is “Timetable from Saturday, February 1, 2025”, and the page does not say how long it is valid.

About suspended sailings, the “Current operation status” on Nakajima Kisen’s top page says “Some high-speed boat sailings are suspended. Please check the timetable.” The notice dated January 28, 2026 says the following.

昨年2月より一部運休しておりました便につきまして、1月中の運航再開を目指しておりましたが、船員不足が継続していることから、運航再開の時期を延期させていただくこととなりました。

Translation: “For the sailings that have been partly suspended since February last year, we had aimed to resume operation within January, but because the shortage of crew continues, we have decided to postpone the time of resumption.”

Source: お知らせ　～　中島汽船株式会社

This sentence says only “sailings”, and does not say whether they are ferries or high-speed boats. On the timetable page, the sailings marked as suspended are in the table for the high-speed boat, and the ferry table has no note of suspension. The Hoshifuru Terrace Himegahama page of Matsuyama City says the following.

車・バイク・自転車が積載できるのはフェリーのみで、三津浜港をご利用ください。高浜港では車等の積載はできません。

Translation: “Only the ferry can carry cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, so please use Mitsuhama Port. Cars and the like cannot be loaded at Takahama Port.”

Source: ほしふるテラス姫ケ浜（姫ケ浜荘）　松山市公式ホームページ PCサイト

The road on the island is Prefectural Road 41, the Nakajima Loop Road, managed by Ehime Prefecture

In the table of Ehime Prefecture’s “Contacts for roads managed by Ehime Prefecture”, the Nakajima Loop Road is listed as a main regional road of the Chuyo Regional Office. The column of numbers and the column of route names are lined up in the same order, and matching the 10th of each gives 41 and Nakajima Loop Road (this is read from the order, and the number and name are not on one row in the table). In the map data (OpenStreetMap) too, the road that goes around the island has the route number 41 and the name “Nakajima Loop Road” (中島環状線).

Ehime Prefecture’s model route page writes this road only as the “prefectural road”, and does not give the route name or number.

About the road in the mountains, Ehime Prefecture writes the following.

姫ヶ浜がある長師地区から県道を北上して行くと、北端にあるのが粟井地区です。そのまま県道を道なりに行くと、島の東側から西側へ山越えをします。山道からは瀬戸内の絶景が見渡せます。

Translation: “If you go north on the prefectural road from the Nagashi district, where Himegahama is, the Awai district is at the northern tip. If you follow the prefectural road as it is, you go over the mountain from the east side of the island to the west side. From the mountain road, you can look out over the superb views of the Seto Inland Sea.”

ほとんどの山道は険しい農道で、普通の乗用車で走るのは難しいですが、ここは県道なので道は走りやすく最高のドライブスポットです。青い海と空の狭間に遠くの島々まで見渡せます。

Translation: “Most mountain roads are steep farm roads and are difficult to drive in an ordinary passenger car, but this is a prefectural road, so the road is easy to drive and it is the best drive spot. Between the blue sea and the sky, you can see out to the distant islands.”

Source: 中島一周自然満喫ドライブ！（中島） - 中予地方局 - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ

What is written as easy to drive is the prefectural road that goes over the mountain from Awai. We could not find official statements about the width of other prefectural roads and municipal roads on the island, passing, or the height and width of tunnels. The update date of this page is November 14, 2023.

Driving counterclockwise from Oura Port

This article lists the places in the direction (counterclockwise) that leaves Oura Port, goes north to Awai, passes Kumata and Uwama in the west and Konoura in the south, passes Himegahama in Nagashi, and returns to Oura Port. There are two reasons.

• Ehime Prefecture’s model route goes over the mountain from Awai from east to west, and then to Kaikokan in Kumata and “Shiro” in Uwama.
• In Ehime Prefecture’s model route, Himegahama comes right after Mitsuhama Port, but Himegahama is south of Oura Port (from the positions in the map data), so if you stop there first, you pass in front of Oura twice. This article puts Himegahama at the end of the loop.

The island loop line of Nakajima Kisen’s bus also has an “Awai-mawari” in the same direction. The main stops are, in order, Awai (粟井), Kuwana (桑名), Odomari-guchi (大泊口), Hatazato (畑里), Nigi (饒), Nishinaka-ko (西中港), Shokenji (正賢寺), Kumata (熊田), Uwama (宇和間), Nagahama (長浜), Konoura Pier (神浦桟橋), Konoura (神浦), Miyano (宮野), Nagashi (長師), Kohama (小浜), and Nakajima Port (中島港) (this is the bus route, not an official guide to the car route).

The car times written in Ehime Prefecture’s model route are 10 minutes from the port to Himegahama (it does not say whether Oura Port or Konoura Port), 20 minutes from Himegahama to the prefectural road at Awai, 20 minutes to Kaikokan, and 15 minutes to “Shiro”. Adding them gives 65 minutes (this is our own calculation. It does not include the time for sightseeing and stops, or the time on the road back to Oura Port from Uwama).

Kaikokan has irregular closed days, and “Shiro” can be reached on foot only at low tide

Kaikokan is a Matsuyama city museum in the grounds of Shokenji Temple in the Kumata district. Ehime Prefecture writes the place as “on the right just after you enter the Kumata district”, and writes that the closed days and opening hours are irregular, and that people who want to visit should contact them in advance. The fee is free.

About “Shiro” in Uwama, Ehime Prefecture writes the following.

西岸、宇和間地区にある大きな岩で、普段は海に阻まれ近づくことはできませんが、干潮時のみ歩いて渡る事が出来ます。

Translation: “A big rock in the Uwama district on the west coast. Normally the sea blocks it and you cannot get close, but you can walk across only at low tide.”

Source: 中島一周自然満喫ドライブ！（中島） - 中予地方局 - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ

This page does not give the low tide times or cautions for crossing.

The road up Mt. Tainoyama is written differently by the prefecture and by Satojima Meguri

The pages of Ehime Prefecture and the Setouchi-Matsuyama Satojima Meguri Liaison Council write that you can drive up Mt. Tainoyama (泰ノ山, elevation 289 m) to near the summit. They write differently about the paving of the road.

This is Ehime Prefecture’s “Charms of the islands: Nakajima”.

現在、山頂へ行くための道は舗装されていませんが、頂上付近までは車で上る事ができ、大浦、睦月島、釣島、興居島などを眼下に見張らせる絶景スポットとなっています。

Translation: “At present, the road to the summit is not paved, but you can drive up to near the top, and it is a superb spot overlooking Oura, Mutsuki Island, Tsurishima, Gogoshima, and other places.”

This is the Setouchi-Matsuyama Satojima Meguri Liaison Council’s “Nakajima”.

安山岩からなる円錐状の泰ノ山（標高289m）は、山頂付近までは舗装され車で上ることができ、大浦・睦月島・釣島・興居島などを眼下に見張らせる絶景のスポットとなっています。

Translation: “Mt. Tainoyama (elevation 289 m), a cone made of andesite, is paved up to near the summit, you can drive up it, and it is a superb spot overlooking Oura, Mutsuki Island, Tsurishima, Gogoshima, and other places.”

Source: しまの魅力 中島 - 中予地方局 - 愛媛県庁公式ホームページ、中島｜見る・体験する｜瀬戸内・松山 里島めぐり｜瀬戸内・まつやま里島めぐり連絡協議会

“Not paved” and “paved” contradict each other, and we cannot decide from the two pages which is the present condition of the road. Because the place where the road starts and its width are not written either, we have not put it in the points.

Fuel, toilets, and parking

We confirmed only one gas station, in Nagashi

On Cosmo Oil’s store search page “Nakajima SS”, the address is 415 Nagashi, Matsuyama, and the phone number is 089-997-0251. The hours are 7:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, 7:00 to 18:00 on Saturdays, and 7:00 to 18:00 on holidays. No hours are listed for Sundays, and the regular closed day is “Sunday”.

Nagashi is in the last section of the loop. Calculated from the positions in the map data, this gas station is about 1.2 km in a straight line from Oura Port (not the distance by road). A private information site also listed the name of a JA gas station, but we could not confirm its hours on an official page, so it is not included in this article.

Toilets are at Nagashi Rest Area and Amiage Beach

Matsuyama City’s “Nagashi Rest Area” page says the following.

長師休憩所は、姫ケ浜の西端に位置し、公衆トイレや無料のシャワー（水のみ）、更衣室を備えた施設です。

Translation: “Nagashi Rest Area is at the western end of Himegahama, and is a facility with a public toilet, a free shower (cold water only), and changing rooms.”

Source: 長師休憩所　松山市公式ホームページ PCサイト

In the table of periods of use, the toilet is “all year”, and the shower and changing rooms are “July to early September”. This page has no latitude or longitude, and we could not find it in the map data either.

Ehime Prefecture’s “Charms of the islands: Nakajima” writes that Amiage Beach “is located a little less than 1 km north of Oura Port, and is an artificial swimming beach with shower, toilet, and changing room facilities.” We could not confirm on official pages whether the Oura Port terminal has a toilet.

Himegahama parking has two numbers, 30 and 50

The distance to Himegahama on Matsuyama City’s page is about 2.3 km and 5 minutes by car from Oura Port, and about 2.8 km and 6 minutes by car from Konoura Port. Ehime Prefecture’s model route says “10 minutes by car” from the port to Himegahama, and the access page of Splash Beach The Nakajima says “about 10 minutes” by private car from Nakajima Port (Oura) or Konoura Port, so 5 minutes and 10 minutes contradict each other. None of the pages say where in the port the starting point is, or whether the season or the crowds are different.

The number of parking spaces is also written in different ways.

Source	Parking
Satojima Meguri Liaison Council, “Himegahama Beach”	Free (30 spaces)
Splash Beach The Nakajima, “Access” (NPO Fureai Land Nakajima)	Free (50 spaces available)

The two pages do not say which one refers to which parking lot. Ehime Prefecture guides, “From Oura Port, leave and follow the road to the left. From Konoura Port, leave and follow the road to the right, turn toward the sea at the corner with the ‘Himegahama’ sign, and a little further on there is a parking lot.”

The return is from Oura Port. East line, 5 sailings

These are the departures from Oura Port and arrivals at Mitsuhama Port, taken from the inbound (toward Matsuyama) part of Nakajima Kisen’s “East line (ferry)” timetable.

Sailing	Leaves Oura Port	Arrives at Mitsuhama Port
1	5:40	6:40
2	8:35	9:57
3	11:40	12:34
4	14:10	15:32
5	17:30	18:55

If you cross on the 6:55 sailing in the morning, you arrive at Oura Port at 8:15, and the return sailings are the one 20 minutes later at 8:35 and then the one at 11:40. It is 3 hours 25 minutes until the 11:40 departure (a calculation). If you use the west line, there are 2 sailings from Konoura Port, at 7:45 and 15:39, which arrive at Mitsuhama Port at 8:50 and 16:25. Crossing by the west line and returning by the east line would split the car between two ports, Konoura Port and Oura Port, so this article does not cover it.

Oura Port is a port that can be reserved. The timetable page does not give a phone number for reservations. The number attached to the tide-level note is 089-997-1221 (Oura Port).

We found no construction or road closures in the range we checked

In the table of advance closures on Ehime Prefecture’s “Links for Ehime Road Information” (updated March 2, 2026), we found no row that includes a route on Nakajima. We also have not found, this time, an official page that describes road closures or construction on Prefectural Road 41, the Nakajima Loop Road, or on the municipal roads of the island. Not finding something does not mean that there are no restrictions. Where to check is in Where to check Ehime road information before you leave.

Among the news items shown on the screen on the date of retrieval on Nakajima Kisen’s top page, the ones from 2026 are two: the recruitment of crew (September 10) and the January 28 notice quoted above.

What comes next for this article

The latitude and longitude of each point have been checked with OpenStreetMap information (only the gas station uses the latitude and longitude from Cosmo Oil’s store search page). The point numbers will be the same as the chapter numbers of the driving video. This article is written only from official pages and map data, and we have not driven the route yet. After we drive it, we will add the width of the prefectural road, passing, the guide signs, and how getting on and off at Oura Port looks.

These are the things we could not confirm on official pages.

• The total length of the loop, and the time it takes to go around
• The width of Prefectural Road 41, the Nakajima Loop Road, and its tunnels and narrow sections
• The low tide times when you can walk across to “Shiro” in Uwama, and cautions for crossing
• The name, width, and paving of the road up Mt. Tainoyama
• Parking around Oura Port, the toilet at the terminal, and the place where cars wait
• The position of Nagashi Rest Area
• How long Nakajima Kisen’s timetable is valid
• Road closures and construction on Prefectural Road 41 and the municipal roads of the island