Okinawa, Japan (2017 April)

Okinawa, Japan

Okinawa is Japan’s southernmost prefecture, is the portal between Japan and the tropics. Okinawa’s climate is subtropical, with temperatures around 15 degrees in winter. The beaches, the seas, are just amazingly beautiful!

Travel type: Couple
When: 2017, April 1-9
Weather: Though sunny, it was cold with strong wind blowing occasionally
Flight: Peach (Hong Kong > Okinawa, 2h 45m)

Day 1: Hong Kong > Okinawa

Naha Airport LCC Terminal 
Reached Naha Airport Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Terminal in the evening. Passengers arriving at this terminal have to take a free shuttle bus to the domestic terminal. There’s no other way to leave other than the shuttle.

Car Rental with Paradise 
Some car rental company have their own shuttle bus, which will take you to their office. Our car rental was with Paradise, which doesn’t have a counter at LCC Terminal, so we proceeded to their counter at the domestic terminal. It was about 10 minutes for another bus ride from Naha Airport to Paradise office.
car-rental-okinawa
car-rental-paradise-suzuki

It was about an hour drive to our hotel, so we stopped by for dinner at Yamashirotei (山城亭).
menu-yamashirotei yamashirotei-dinner

Day 2

Sunmarina Beach
We spent the morning enjoying the beautiful beach attached to the resort. It was pretty sunny and windy on that day, but how can we not love the crystal clear sea water and beautiful blue sky!
beach-lighthouse-sheraton-sunmarina sunmarina-oki-hammock okinawa-beach okinawaphotographer sheraton-sunmarina-bridge

Onna No Eki Market (Farmer’s Market)
There are lot of food stalls selling different food and a market, also selling souvenir. We had some snacks but did not really enjoy due to the crowds.
farmers-market blue-seal-soft-serve-icecream

Cape Manzamo
cape-manzamo-sun cape-manzamo-okinawa

Dinner at Sakurana
Expensive, not up to our expectations  :-|. The beef was too chewy. Would not recommend this place.
sakurana

Day 3

Snorkelling with Seven Ocean’s Club
First activity of the day! We initially booked the Blue Cave snorkel but due to strong waves on that morning, we had to settle for another snorkel,  somewhere in the sea, I guess.  :roll:

Lunch at Okinawan Hamburg Steak and Curry
English speaking staff and the food was nice.
okinawan-hamburger

Dinner at Hamanoya (浜の家)
Very popular among Hong Kong tourist. The food was ok la~
okinawa-sashimi sashimi-lobster

Day 4

Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort
Another morning just relaxing at the resort.
sunmarina-beachsunmarina-pool-slides sunmarina-pool

Mega Zip & Go Fall:
Mega Zip: 250 meters zipline across the ocean (Hotel guests: ¥1,200, Visitors: ¥1,500)
Go Fall: Kinda like bungee jump, but slower (Hotel guests: ¥800, Visitors: ¥1,000)
Both rides can be purchased in a set for ¥1,500 for hotel guests and ¥2,000 for visitors.

Lunch at Nakamura Soba
A nice ramen restaurant facing the sea. Order you ramen from the machine.
Nakamura-Soba Nakamura-Soba-noodle

Motobu District
Checked in into another hotel for 2 nights where Churaumi Aquarium is located.

Dinner at Yakiniku Motobu Bokujo
We liked our grilled beef dinner. Quite a queue though.
Yakiniku-Motobu-Bokujo-beefokinawa-grill-beef

Day 5

Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
Admission fee: ¥1,850 (MYR70)
churaumi-aquariumchuraumi-aquarium-sea-turtlechuraumi-aquarium-dolphin

Okinawa Park & Village
churaumi-park okinawa-village

Day 6

Emerald Beach
emerald-beach

American Village
american-village-1 american-village-ferris-wheel

Naha
Returned our car at Naha and keep exploring Okinawa by the rail, Yui Rail.
yui-rail
Source: Yui Rail website

Day 7

Shurijo Castle
Admission fee: ¥820 (MYR31)
Get a free gift after completing the stamp rally. Some of the questions are quite tough though. But I don’t think they really check it. 
shurijo-castle shurijo-okinawa shurijo-castle-sweets shurijo-castle-teashurijo-castle-stamp

Naha Kokusai Dori Shopping Street
Get your souvenirs here!
naha-okinawa-shopping naha-okinawa-shopping-2 calbee-plus-okinawa okinawa-naha-shopping-street

Our Accommodations

Day1-4: Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort

Day 4-6: Centurion Hotel Resort Vintage Okinawa Churaumi

Day 6-8: Naha Tokyu REI Hotel