Takachiho Gorge, boat reservations required?

We will be visiting Takachiho Gorge in May 2024 (AFTER Golden Week - we will be there a couple weeks later, on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday in mid-May). Of course, we want to do the boat rental. Is it necessary/recommended to book that in advance (if so, how far in advance?)? Or can we just walk up and rent a boat when we get there without reserving in advance?

Is there a "best" time of the day to have the best experience (as soon as they open in the morning? late in the afternoon?)? Ideally I'd like to have good light for photos, and for it to be as un-crowded as possible (I know, it's a popular tourist attraction - and I'm one of them - so it's impossible to avoid crowds completely, just looking to avoid the most crowded times). I also know that weather is unpredictable.

Basically I'm looking for a good strategy to have the best experience possible (and don't want boats to be "sold out" when I show up). All suggestions appreciated. Thank you!

Book for mid morning or mid afternoon.

Thanks.

What about reservations/pre-booking a specific time for a boat? Necessary? Recommended?

Thanks.

go to their website and read the instructions for booking. the answer is in the website.

Though everything is in their website, but unfortunately the booking page seems to be only in Japanese. And further google translate seems not to work.

https://eipro.jp/takachiho1/eventCalendars/index

However you can find the rough image of the booking situation. Open circle indicates there are still vacancy. On October 24th 2021 we booked the boat for 27th, 10:30. I think their website sells 15 boats, but they have more so you can always get onsite. There might be a queue so you might need to wait for hours.

They allow reservation one week ahead so you can't at this time. You should look, say, 10 days before, at their website.

About the best time, it would be around noon, but itt would be more crowded in the afternoon so you might better visit before noon. At least the Oshioi parking lot which is the nearest to the boat was not full at 9 when we visited.

We were there a few years ago, plenty of boats, we did not book. Our boat ride was only 30 minutes. Even If you have to wait, I doubt it will be long.

Been there few years back, not sure how things changed. The gorge is in a remote area and there wasn't that many tourists. We took the boat without any reservation and didn't have to wait. Most people only took the ride for 15-20 as the distance from the dock to the waterfall isn't that great.