How to see the mangrove on Kohama island

The tiny Kohama island in the very South of Japan has a mangrove (map):

Having never wandered in such an area, I would like to go see it closely.

QUESTION: How to get close to it?

Taking the ferry from Ishigaki to Kohama then walking sounds like the easiest, but I am not sure one can "see" a mangrove on foot. The best would probably be kayaking/canoeing, I guess, but I haven't found any rental place.

Alternatively, are there more accessible mangroves accessible as a day trip from Ishigaki city?

Picture: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/File:Mangrove_of_Rhizophoraceaes.jpg

Best Answer

The Haimurubushi Hotel on the island offers:

Kayak rental. Based on my rough estimate from Google maps, the mangrove is about 7km/4mi away. That would be an easy round trip for an experienced kayaker, I think, but it may be a bit far if you are a novice. (Caveat: IANAK - I am not a kayaker, so please make sure you get more experienced advice before attempting something like this!) I don't know whether it would be possible to rent a kayak and transport it somewhere else.
A nature tour that includes seeing the mangrove.

I suspect there may be other options, as well, but perhaps not easily findable in English. There is a town in the southwest corner of the island, which has a hotel and other tourist amenities. I would not be at all surprised if it were possible to rent a kayak or other watercraft there. This would be much closer to the mangrove--perhaps 2km/1.5mi.

Update: there are also packaged day tours of Kohama Island that leave from Ishigaki. Perhaps you can find one of these that includes touring the mangrove.