Do you plan to use your stroller at Enoshima when traveling with your kids?
Are there nursery rooms or diaper changing station in Enoshima?
Enoshima is a must go place when traveling Shonan area. However it is a bit hard work to take your kids up to Sea Candle, a light house located at the top of Enoshima. In this article, we will advise how you can enjoy your walk at Enoshima with your kids including information on nursery rooms, diaper changing stations, as well as COVID-19 countermeasures conducted in the area.
Where do you keep your stroller when taking the Escar (the nickname for escalators located in the island)
Bringing a stroller might be a bad choice when travelling Enoshima with your kids. There are too many stairs in the island. The only situation when your stroller can help you is when you walk your half-mile way through the station (Odakyu Line or Enoden Line or Shonan Monorail) to the island. If you take a bus (Enoden Bus) you can directly reach inside the island. The buses arrive every 20-30 minutes and you can ride with your stroller opened (belts must be used to attach your stroller firmly to the position).
After you reach inside of the island, you can push your stroller through the approach of Enoshima Shrine, but you need to keep in mind it is quite a busy road especially in weekends.
The approach of Enoshima Shrine
If you wish to climb up to the top of the island where the Sea Candle and the Samuel Cocking Garden are located, you need to choose whether to take the stairs or to take the Escar (the escalators). The easier way is to take the Escar but keep in mind that the Escar can only provide you a one way travel up to the top which means you have to go down the stairs on your way back.
There is a stroller keep area at the entrance of the Escar to use with your own risk. After the close hours, the strollers are moved outside the entrance. The use of the keep is limited to the Escar customers.
Stroller keep area at the entrance of Escar
We have tried to find a way to push our stroller up to the top, but we found it was not possible. In addition we have even interviewed one of the workers at Enoshima and confirmed it is impossible.
Are there any nursery rooms or diaper changing stations in the island?
A nursery room is located in the building in which the restaurant IL CHIANTI is tenanted, nearby the exit of the Escar. It can be used by anyone. The nursery room is furnished simply with two chairs and a diaper changing table.
Inside the nursery room
This is the only nursing room available in the island, however there is another one at the Enoshima Aquarium located in the neighborhood, near the station (which means the outside of the island). Because re-entry is permitted at the aquarium, we recommend that you add this aquarium into your itinerary when traveling this area.
Most of the public restrooms in the island are furnished with diaper changing tables. There are many public restrooms in the island and they all have been renewed to be prepared for the visitors to the Olympic game. On the other hand, the public restrooms in Katase area have not been renewed and some of them are not very clean.
How much to enjoy the walk at the Samuel Cocking Garden and the Sea Candle?
Any countermeasures to COVID-19?
The Samuel Cocking Garden is a garden constructed by Irish merchant Samuel Cocking in Meiji-period (1868-1912). The Enoshima Sea Candle is the symbol of this garden. To reach there you need to enter the Samuel Cocking Garden with charge.
The Samuel Cocking Garden
The “Enoshima Sea Candle set ticket (adult: 800yen, child: 400yen)” includes access to the Escar, Samuel Cocking Garden admission fee, and the admisshion fee to the observation deck of the Sea Candle. This enables you to save some money compared to buying tickets separately. There is a similar ticket named “Enoshima One-day Passport eno=pass which includes additionally the entrance fee to the “Iwaya cave”, but we don’t recommend bringing your kids to the cave because you need to pass through many steep stairs.
There are many tropical plants in the Samuel Cocking Garden. In some seasons, some special events are held such as light-ups and Hawaiian festivals. We’ve seen new restaurants opening recently.
To access the observation deck of the Enoshima Sea Candle, you first take the elevator to the indoor observation floor, and then go up the stairs. Be careful when you take this stair as this is a bit narrow and steep one if you are with your kids. As a countermeasure to COVID-19, the staffs control the number of visitors in the elevator, not to be too crowded. At the observation floor, signs encourage you to keep distances between each other and we saw here also, staffs disinfecting the windows and hand rails. However on the outdoor observatory deck, we saw some crowds.
What is it like on your way back?
The way back is covered mostly by stairs, in some area a bit steep too. In our case, my husband carried our one year-old child who weighed about 10 kilograms down the stairs, but he seemed a little exhausted at the bottom. If you are with little kids who are not ready to take the stairs, we recommend that you visit with more than two adults. Be aware of the mosquitoes too in the summer!
Steep and narrow stairs
In the end…
To go to the top of Enoshima with your kids is a hard work, but if you reach there you can enjoy the unique view and the nature of the island. You can also enjoy gourmet with great views at some of the restaurants or fancy cafes as you go your way. The number of tourists is decreasing recently due to COVID-19, but it is still crowded in the weekends. Enjoy your trip to Enoshima with your kids!