Ferry to Oita Airport

The trip the airport was extremely interesting. We were told to take the train out to Oita and catch a bus to the ferry that would take us to the airport. We can do this. The train was a breeze to catch and we headed out toward Oita. We took off to find a restaurant for lunch and then went to locate the bus to the ferry. Well…that was a little more difficult. First, we were in the wrong spot. Then, we found the right spot, could even read “airport” and the timetable so we were fine. We were a little confused about the “Ho-va” they had marked on the sign (in Japanese, of course). We just thought it was the Japanese way of saying harbor (you know …ha-ba). It seemed close enough and the driver accepted our mispronunciation so all was fine. We arrived in time, bought our tickets and got ready to board the ferry…then we walked across the concrete pad to the “boat” sitting on the pad. It was a hover craft that we were riding on to the airport – and what a ride it was. This thing lifted itself up (lots of air under it) and it proceeded to travel across the concrete and down to the water. It was FAST! But also very bumpy. The craziest part was our arrival at the airport. We could see the concrete pad coming up…we traveled up the ramp and then we kept going and going and going…sliding around corners, until we finally arrived at the airport. It was really a cool ride!!!
They have little brochures on the ferry - complete with some English entries including "What you should know about hovercrafts". It includes information about it being "fast and cool". They also assure you that safety measures have been taken (it can stop in 10 seconds- unbelievable!) and that it has been "carefully designed".
There is a link from the title of this entry takes you to the Oita Airport. There's a box on the map that shows the hovercraft ferry boarding area. You can see the concrete "road" we traveled from the water.