hallen

I have heard great things about Okinawa and the surrounding islands. I am in search of the best beaches and cool small beach town atmosphere.
From your experiences, which are the best beaches I should focus on during my 7-10 days in the Okinawa Perfecture?

1) There are so many outlying islands to choose from and I just want to pick the best ones to visit.
(i.e. Ishigaki, Taketomi, Miyako, Aka, Zamami). So many choices and since this is my only real shot
to get out to this area, I want to select the right choices. Just want a nice relaxing beach
atmosphere to soak in the beauty.

2) Are there any beach areas on Okinawa itself or is it really best to get out to the outylying islands?

3) Also, any good small hotel suggestions near the beaches. Not really looking for those massive resorts.

Any other beach tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance for any help. BTW, we are not scuba diving so that is not a concern.

mrwunrfl

I haven't been to Okinawa and can only suggest that if you want a Japanese beach vacation then go to Waikiki. Am interested to see if you get some useful replies so am sending this ttt.

someotherguy

I have been to Okinawa, Ishigaki, Taketomi, but I'm not a beach person. I found them moderately interesting, though not especially attractive. I'd favor mrwunrfl's suggestion of Hawaii or other islands in Polynesia.

hallen

Hi-

My trip to Japan will be for 5 weeks. Note, it is not simply a beach vacation. I am adding on the Okinawa area for about a week for relaxing as I enjoy visiting great beaches around the world. I just want to find out more information on the beaches in Japan. I was hoping to get feedback on the best islands to visit for the beach atmosphere. You make it sound as though I would be wasting my time visiting some beach areas in Japan. Anyone have first hand experiences in the Okinawa area? Thank you so much for any assistance.

Kavey

I'm not sure anyone is suggesting you would be wasting your time, they are simply sharing with you their thoughts on the beaches of Okinawa. I've not seen much discussion of them here, so it may be that the gang of regular posters on Japan here doesn't include many beach babies, and we therefore don't have much experience to share with you. Japan-guide.com has a forum, you could try there. Best of luck! Would love to know more about the rest of your itinerary!

someotherguy

As Kavey says, you'll probably get better help on more specialized sites (there must be a bboard for surfers) or those with a bigger population (like tripadvisor).

Many Japanese actively avoid getting suntanned so their beach scene is quite limited and specialized. The one beach I visited on the Ryukyu Islands is probably not what you are looking for.

I took a ferry from Ishigaki over to Taketomi and went to Kaiji beach (the one that's famous for star-shaped sand) and, apart from two girls staffing a hut selling stuff, there was no one else there. There were, however, dozens of cats. Some lounging on the roof of the hut and the rest catching their rays on the beach. Very cute. The star sand is not so easy to find--one of the girls showed me how to look for it near the rocks. There are no metaled roads on the island, just sandy tracks, but there is a regular minibus service that putters around.

mrwunrfl

>>great beaches around the world.

That's the thing. Am not sure that anyone, other than the Okinawa Prefecture Chamber of Commerce, would put any Okinawa beach on a list of great beaches of the world. And my experience with Japan (not Okinawa) tells me that it is not a country that would have a place with a "cool small beach town atmosphere". At least not like the cool beach town where I live.

That is all FWIW, maybe not much. Try tripadvisor.

Or try the Okinawa COC or something like it:
https://www.oki-islandguide.com/spec...real-travelers

hallen

Thanks for all the help. This is what I came up with so far.

Other than the more talked about Yaeyami Islands (Ishigaki, Taketomi, Miyako and Iriomate).

I have read about:

SATSUNAN ISLANDS -

1) Amami Oshima Island
Ohama Beach
Tomori Beach
Sakibaru Beach


KERAMA ISLANDS
1) Aka
2) Zamami
3) Tokashiki - Aharen Beach

Anybody have any experience visiting these islands. I think you guys are right that the beaches are not real special. I have heard of no real good beaches on mainland Okinawa.

Thanks for the discussion.

mrwunrfl

I actually did go to a beach in Japan and stayed in a tourist hotel. This was in Ibusuki and the attraction on the beach was the hot sand bath. It was so hot that I couldn't take it for long.

Ibusuki won't rank among your most beautiful beaches but it can give you a unique beach experience.

CaliforniaLady

I also visited Ibusuki. I was about to do the hot sand bath, but unlike mrwurfl, I chickened out. The beach in that area is not gorgeous, but I enjoyed walking around the town, and the train ride down from Kagoshima was lovely.

someotherguy

I was over on Tripadvisor researching for a trip of my own and came across this set of photos of Japanese beaches--wow!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ippei-...7600321338295/

hallen

Thanks for the beach photos. They sure look nice. After further research, it looks as though the beaches on the mainland of Okinawa are a big zippo (correct me if I am wrong) and would need to head to the outlying island but there are so many to choose from. I have narrowed down my choices to the following beach islands.

1)Ishigaki Island (w/daytrip to Taketomi Island)
2)Miyako Island

3)Tokashiki Island (w/daytrip to Zamami Island)

Any other feedback would be great. Thanks again.

Adastra2200

There may be better beaches in the world but that's not being so helpful.
The best beaches tend to be the more popular, naturally, and so you will find some flights from the main islands, such as to Ishigaki and Miyakojima.

If you really want to see a number of places, I highly recommend you consider the Okinawa Island Pass.
http://www.churashima.net/jta/compan...ndpass_en.html

Amami is certainly one out of the way places - haven't made it there myself and actually it is part of Kagoshima, not Okinawa. There's a place you can kayak through mangroves which is not something you can easily do elsewhere (although Ishigaki has one too).
You seem to be interested in beaches more than anything. I think Ishigaki will suit you quite nicely.
goo.gl/RywFTE

someotherguy

Since I was there, they've opened a new airport on Ishigaki and you can now fly there directly from the mainland--previously it was only from Naha. The old runway was very short and quite exciting.

OTOH it's not a total bust if you have to go through Naha. I rented a car and circumnavigated Okinawa over the space of a few days. The war sites in the south are interesting (it's best to have some independent source of information as the Japanese descriptions are, shall we say, subjective), and Hedo Misaki (the cape at the north end) also. The most attractive place I visited was Nakijin castle (near Nago), but that owed a lot to it being in full cherry blossom (which happens at the end of January).