First Time in Okinawa
 

I'm 33 American visiting with my friends from Seoul for four full days first week of August. I see it's peak season so resorts are a ridiculous 500 USD plus a night.

We are looking at AirBnB and it seems they are scattered all over. Is there one area that is better than others for hopping around to other beaches or day trips? We will be renting a car.

It also seems these areas are literally tiny towns in the middle of nowhere, so we will even be doing a lot of cooking and home drinking.

We do plan to stay in Naha the first night as we arrive at like 6:30-7:30 PM. Our last day flight is at 1:30 so that's just wake up and head out.

Also if anyone can recommend any good restaurants or bars, please do! We have all been to Tokyo and Osaka countless times so the "novelty" of Japan isn't so much important haha. Just GOOD times!

First time for me in Okinawa, as well.
 

Going to Okinawa in July for the first time, as well.
4 nights. Day 0, we arrive ~11pm.
Then we have days 1, 2, 3.
Day 4, I don't know what time we're leaving yet. Probably mid-day.

I just want R&R. At this point of my life, I'm too lazy for sightseeing. I think my wife would like a bit of sightseeing, but then she actually doesn't know what she wants either.
I would like to go to the beach and maybe do a guided snorkel (or some other marine sports) tour.
Since we have kids, I suppose we have to take them somewhere for sightseeing, but I've skimmed through the Okinawa guidebook and nothing (asides from beach) looks interesting. I think our kids will manage to find most anything interesting regardless of where we take them.

I'd like to stay at Hilton. If their rates come down, we'll stay there. We'll mostly just stay at the resort, although there's this thing called American Village next to the hotel which can serve as a good diversion. Plus one half-day, we'll go check out some beach on the island. Another half-day, we'll do a snorkeling tour which I hope Hilton can organize for us.

More likely, though, we're stuck staying at Doubletree Naha. This hotel is nowhere near the beach. The hotel does not even have a pool. So it's a major problem. If we're stuck with DT, we'll have to figure out things to do outside the hotel everyday. Ideas include:
- two different beaches on the island.
- snorkeling tour once (but I doubt DT can actually organize this for us, unlike Hilton which is full-service resort with concierge)
- Okinawa World
- plus each day I'd imagine we'll be hanging out on Kokusai-dori which is a shopping street in Naha.

Actually, Renaissance looks really cool. But then the rates are too high there and I won't get any elite benefits. So it won't work. But at Renaissance, you actually get to play with dolphins. I'm sure you have to pay for it. Maybe if you stay there, you get a discount on that? I'm not sure. The hotel's beach looks very nice, too. It's really too bad the place is so expensive and I have no status with Marriott.

Questions:
- What are the best beaches on the island? So far, I've got Emerald Beach, Araha Beach, Okuma Beach.
- How do these beaches compare to Hawaii? I don't expect them to match the best ones in Hawaii, but I would hope they're about the same or better than Waikiki.
- Any can't-miss attractions for kids? If we were to pick one, is there anything better than Okinawa World?
- It seems like you have to have a car on Okinawa Honto if you want to get to the beach. How is driving in Okinawa? How does it compare to, say, Hokkaido or rural Kyushu?

To Laplap: I know you are going soon with your child. What's on our plan? If you're going in spring, won't the water be too cold at the beaches?

Too cold? Hah! Warmest the sea gets in the UK at the height of the summer is 18C. You can't get my kid out of the water from May onwards. 21/22C for middle April is going to be wonderful! Am just about to get a short wetsuit for us from eBay so we can spend longer floating, but that's as much to protect us from sunburn as against the cold.

None of my party drive and the cost of getting anywhere around Okinawa by bus racks up quickly. LapGirl and her Granddad both love hiking, and I don't doubt that the little one will want to spend every moment possible in the water gazing at the sealife. We're just going to Zamami, perhaps a day visit to Akajima. Plenty to do for three nights.
Then a night by the ocean in Naha, getting two rooms at the Naha Beachside will feel luxurious after sharing on Zamami, a full morning at the Senagajima onsen followed by lunch, and back to OKA for a 4:30pm flight.
After a week of thick snow in central London seems incredible we'll get this chance to preview the summer.

So you won't even spend that much time on the main island then. I'd never even heard of Zamami or Aka island. Just googled it to see where they're located, and indeed they're on my little guidebook. Beaches look beautiful on Zamami island. Alas no Hilton there. Wonder if I can do a day trip there from Naha. Only an hour by ferry, says my guidebook.

Actually I knew that one could see swimming deer (deer swimming across the sea) somewhere in Okinawa, and I now see that it's Aka island. Hope you get to see that, maybe swim with deer.

For me, going into 21/22C water is unthinkable. You are very hardy. For me, 25C is about the limit, ideally >28C.

Hope you have wonderful time in Okinawa.

Thanks, evergrn!
The Ferry schedule for boats to Zamami is pretty patchy this April, but the high speed cruisers are up and running. If there are five of you you could go to or from Zamami by chartering a helicopter for 12,000yen each each way. (Regular price on the fast ferry is 3,000 yen and journey takes 50 or 70 minutes.
alternatively, there's Tokashigi Island which is only 30 minutes away (chopper charter presumably a little less too).
Had attempted to go to Ishigaki or Miyako islands to cut out reliance on a ferry, but I'm really glad now that that wasn't possible. Zamami seems to offer EXACTLY what I wanted, a place for my daughter and her grandfather to bond over common interests and passions.
LapChild has spent hours and hours submerged in England's Blackwater Estuary. Her grandfather grew up collecting oysters in Matsushima Bay (he's a fantastic rower).
One of my husband's cousins spent a few days recently at Okinawa's Onna Beach. He'd landed a bed and breakfast deal at the Best Western for 4,000yen a night. It looked lovely, but the resort experience wasn't what I was after - although we're flirting with this kind of experience at Senagajima on our last day.

I also looked into Ishigaki/Miyako Island, but it was going to cost too much.
The cheapest transport (slower ferry) to/ Zamami Island from Naha will cost 12,000yen return for the whole family. Kind of a lot for a day trip, but I'll definitely keep that in mind and may give it a go depending on the weather, any further feedback on the main island beaches, etc.
You must really get on well with your father-in-law (correct?) to plan a trip like that. That's really great.

I've looked at the map of Tokashiki briefly, but it seems the best beaches there are too far to walk from the ferry. Zamami apparently has a very nice beach within walking distance from the ferry. I had not even considered Kume Island. You're right, it seems very nice. Didn't even know such place existed near Naha. But it sounds like it will still require an overnight trip (unless I fly) and, as silly as this may sound, I don't think I have the energy to overhaul our plans that much. I'm just not good at planning a visit to a place I haven't been before. You probably have researched Okinawa 10x as much as me. I just booked Okinawa because my wife wanted to check it out. But I want to keep the cost down while still staying in nice places, and I'm hopelessly tethered to Hilton. So on those premises, by default we're going to the main island. Beyond that, I hadn't planned anything until I started thinking recently about what we're supposed to do if we're stuck at the Doubletree Naha. But I'm hoping that the beaches on the main island meet our expectations. If not, then Zamami still seems like the best day-trip option beach-wise. If anyone has any feedback on Okinawa main island beaches, I'd like to hear.

We're having a DO there in a few weeks, consider following the thread to see where we're staying and what we're doing (activities not finalised yet) for some ideas! ^
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/comm...31-2018-a.html

"You probably have researched Okinawa 10x as much as me."
Not really, as soon as I saw how much it cost to go anywhere on the main island I stopped looking!
Ruled out Ishigaki and Miyako islands as they cost 10,000Avios each way instead of 7,500 from Tokyo
This was more of a bish, bash, bosh job.
Looked up hiking (bish!), looked up onsen (hence the kumejima/ojima flirtation - bash) and then realised snorkelling was on the table (bosh! - Zamami!!)
The rest is just refining the details.
Once at Naha, the cost per adult per day for 5 days including accommodation, ferry travel, monorail, breakfasts, dinners as well as an onsen admission and all you can eat lunch is 7,000yen.
I am fully satisfied with all the choices that had to be renounced to arrive at this one. A hackett knife can be your best friend in the tropics!

That's great. Have fun! Looked through some of the posts with great interest, esp the info from Wrath of Khan.


bish bash bosh... I love it!

Just discovered another reason to visit Kumejima in April/early May - fireflies!

https://www.visitokinawa.jp/destinat.../kumejima-fire

At Akajima (and I would presume Zamami) the time for fireflies seems to be mid May to early summer (late June?)
http://www.okinawainfo.net/kerama/aka3.htm​​​​​​​

My husband and I would like to go to Hacksaw Ridge and the nearby castle as well as the Underground Japanese naval installation. We'd also like to do a tour of Naha. We will be on a cruise ship that stops near Naha at Nagakusuku on April 29th around 8:30. We'd like to be back at the pier at 4 PM. Does anyone know a guide that we could hire who speaks decent English. It would be great if they have a car, but we are also open to touring on public transportation. I haven't been able to find a guide for the day through most traditional resources, Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

I would expect the cruise company to arrange some tours of the local sites, but if you want to strike out alone, you could try Okito Taxi Group - It looks like they may have English speaking drivers who can provide a sightseeing tour:
https://en.okito.or.jp/taxi/
You could also try the association of privately owned taxis - and ask if any of their members is capable of doing a tour in English:
https://www.islandlifeconcierge.com/...htseeing-taxis
Public transportation might get you to Naha and back (across the island) but I doubt that you can easily get to battle sites and the like by public transport - particularly when you consider your time constraints.

Worst case scenario over a 5 day period is five days of disruption with a slow moving storm. Two friends of mine decided to take a cruise to Okinawa many years ago and spent most of the week heaved to at some distance from land (unable to dock) in heavy weather. In the end, they had no time to visit the islands that they had hoped to see, with the added frustration that they spent a day at the airport in fine weather, waiting for severely delayed flights home. IIRC, the storm was not exceptionally severe as measured by wind speed, rainfall, and storm surge. But it moved slowly.

• Transportation boats / ferries - Will keep running as long as sea conditions permit. It can be tricky to dock on some islands, so these services are more easily disrupted.
• Pleasure boats / snorkeling tours - Pretty certain to be cancelled as soon as wind and sea conditions make them uncomfortable (which doesn't take much)
• Beaches - Will be not worth visiting in windy / rainy conditions as the storm approaches. Completely off limits if low pressure coincides with high tides and risk of storm surge
• Pools - Likely to be stay unless there's an electrical storm nearby

My understanding is that the speed that a weather system travels is not dependent on the severity of the system (in pressure, wind speed, etc.) so the length of disruption is hard to predict, even when the storm is overhead - let alone when you're talking about a hypothetical storm sometime in August this year or next.

You can get some idea of the uncertainty from the cones that are drawn on typhoon warning maps - The meteorologists will predict with >70% accuracy that a storm will be somewhere in that cone in two or three days time, but some of the time it will defy expectations and go outside the cone or just stay where it is.

The "strength" of a tropical storm can be measured in pressure, wind speed, or storm surge (effect on sea level). The potential for damage can depend on the tides and the physical geography of the location where the storm lands. The duration of damaging rain, wind, and pressure effects (which can raise sea levels) depends on the speed that the storm is moving.

Thanks for very comprehensive info, jibs. You talked me out of it. Would be terrible to get rained out all 5 days at a beach resort and don't want to take a chance. I didn't know that typhoons could be slow-moving regardless of its severity.

We even built in a buffer for our Spring trip last year - made sure we had an overnight in Naha before our flight rather than assume we could reach the airport in the evening after leaving Zamami the same morning.
jib nails my own expectations for August/September (and even early October). Have "followed" the paths of many Japan bound typhoons over the years and they often travel at the same speed as a person riding a bicycle - which I find to be a useful mental image.

Btw.. while trying to get kinda overview (season/strength/paths), I was looking into
Japan Meteorological Agency | RSMC Tokyo - Typhoon Center | RSMC Best Track Data (Graphics)
But you need to select every single one track, which is super tedious.
Happenstance you've some "aggregated" views there?

Between 2002 and 2006 I lived in London and my then fiancé (now husband) lived in Tokyo. I took a very keen interest in typhoons at that time.

A decent averagish cycling speed is about 20kph and a good cyclist can pelt along at about 30kph.

I understand that typhoons (cyclones) tend to move along at an average speed of between 10 and 30 km per hour.

Krosa currently moving towards Japan at 15Kph

Is that supposed to be slow or fast or average for a typhoon?
The storm is supposedly ~800km in diameter, which means it'll take just over 2 days to pass through a particular location.

I’m curious about whether my own perception of what’s “normal” holds.
Korsa, travelling at 15Kph, falls into what I’d expect (I only cycle rarely so it’s moving at my own top speed).
If we post a few examples this year, we’ll have a rough (and very imperfect) data bank for a typhoon season.

I’m not sure if my own expectation of movement at approx 20Kph is still valid a decade on.

Oh sorry, I missed your comment upthread that a typical typhoon moves at 10-30kph.
That means, if there was a huge 1000km-diameter typhoon moving slowly at 10kph, it'd take 4 full days to pass through.

I cycle a lot although I have a low-end endurance bike... on a flat stretch, I do a steady 30kph but often have riders on racing bikes zip past me.

There are outlier typhoons too, but since I could never personally cycle faster than 30Kph (and certainly not over any meaningful distance) my mental image of typhoons generally moving at the speed of a cyclist still works well for me ;)

Your chance of outrunning a 30kph typhoon is slim. You might be better off cycling toward it. If you can keep up 15kph, the effective speed of 45kph will put you on the other side of the 800km diameter storm in about 18 hours - unless you reach the beach first. You might be able to take a breather when you pass under the eye.

It's the typhoon itself I imagine whirling along on the bicycle, jib71.
Am sure there are those who might fantasise about outpeddling one of these monsters, but that's a mental exercise for those who are hard of core - not me.

I was just joking.
But since I've made that silly comment, I guess it's worth saying that there are often reports of fatal accidents involving people who went out to watch the typhoon and got swept out to sea or hit by an object that was flying through the air. It is not a good idea to be outside during these storms.

Surfers who look for typhoon waves are nuts. I can imagine some surfer with a surfboard strapped onto his bike trying to head for the beach in this kind of wind.

Anyhow, I wanted to put a few tips I've gleaned as an armchair traveler who lives in non-hurricane area as knowing what to do when "it is a small one" manages some of the anxiety and stress.

1. Stay away from rivers and large bodies of water as mentioned and from areas prone to mudslides
2. Prepare for no power or water (electric pump) - charge mobile devices, wash self, fill tub to water flush toilet.
3. Stock some bottled water and shelf stable food. If you have perishables that will go bad without power, cook or eat them first.
4. Locate emergency exit & stairs in case you need to evacuate or leave before the power comes back
5. Locate the flashlight. All business hotel rooms and ryokan have them (at least that I've been to). Perhaps buy extra batteries, too.
6. Close the curtains to avoid debris or broken glass. If your room windows open, close them.
7. Monitor train & airline websites in case of travel interruptions. JR Twitter accounts or JP site might have more current or comprehensive data so worth checking both.
8. People do go out if it isn't too bad but avoid long distance travel in areas which will probably be impacted to avoid being stranded if things get worse.

Some less obvious (to me) ones:

1. Typhoons can be loud. Earplugs might not be a bad idea.
2. If you have a rental car, fill the tank and perhaps go park it in an indoor lot to save yourself some trouble
3. Clothing might take a while to air dry indoors due to high humidity. A few trash bag liners will help keep stuff in a bag/suitcase dry if it is safe to go out but still raining buckets.
4. Charge up your power bank as mobile disaster warnings will probably run down your phone's battery. As will the insomnia browsing due to the noise (see #1 )
5. Bed under the window? Consider moving the bed/mattress/futon if possible. If you're checking in, this also might not be a bad time to request a lower floor if possible as the elevator power might go out and you have to take the stairs. The buildings are seismically built to sway which gets worse with height in high winds.
6. Tidy things up in case you're told to evacuate your room or need to get to the bathroom when there's no power.