Many visitors upon descending down from the ropeway observation deck would next go on the boat that takes visitors around Lake Kawaguchi for a different view of Mt. Fuji. Tickets for the Lake Kawaguchi Sightseeing Boat Ride were already included in our 3 day pass, and like the other places so far, we just needed to flash the pass at the admissions gate without needing to pick up additional vouchers. And the pass offers unlimited rides at various attractions, so you can go for as many boat rides as you want.
The boat ride was about 25 minutes and does a loop around the lake. Our particular ride at about 9:20AM was uncrowded, and guests were easily able to move around the boat to different sides to get the best view of the mountain. But if your ride is crowded, then this is where you want to be: at the beginning, stick to the port (i.e. left when facing the front of the boat) as that’s where Mt. Fuji will be. The boat will eventually slowly turn towards port side at the far end of the lake. That’s when you’d want to pivot to the starboard side if you’d like more pictures. But really, the view is the same on either side when the boat does the loop, so you really just need to be one side for the trip.
By the time we’d left the area at noon and returned to Kawaguchiko Station, a semi-long queue had formed. I only saw one boat making the loop, so but the boat can take a pretty big crowd – perhaps in excess of 50 guests – so the waits still shouldn’t be too long unless the queue snakes past the carpark.
The lake itself is also a decent place to just hangout and chill, as we did, and also had had an early lunch and assorted cakes thereafter too.
Of the four places we’ve captured Mt. Fuji from so far at this point, the Lake Kawaguchi boat ride offers the best and closest view of the mountain itself, and the boat ride is easily accessible. So don’t miss it!