Okinawan Adventure

Naminoue Beach, Naha, Okinawa 

REHAB with my fellow Fellows

Cape Maeda

Aharen Beach, Tokashiki Island

はいさい = Hello in Okinawa! (females word)

One week of beaches, swimming, feasting, relaxing, and sunshine!

Okinawa is truly an amazing place to visit. I love love love beaches and sunshine.

I flew on Vanilla Airlines.  It's a small airline company that flies to about 5 places! Naha is one of those places.  Roundtrip was about 17000¥, which is about 170USD.  Not bad at all!!!

There is not a big railway system on the main island (Okinawa Honto). There is a monorail.

Upon arrival we rode the monorail to Asahibashi and then walked to the hotel.

The hotel was near Naminoue Beach, Kokusai Dori, AND suprisingly the Redlight District. :O

oops!!! It was interesting to be near it, but I didn't see anything too risqué.

On Saturday, Sep. 6 it was a rainy day. We didn't do much, but luckily it wasn't rainy the rest of the trip.  On Sunday we headed north to Cape Maeda. It was a stunning view. It was low tide so we walked around the tide pools. There were plenty of people snorkeling. We wanted a beach to swim at.

So... we walked to a nearby resort and swam on their private beach and ate lunch there as well!!!

Prices were displayed in USD!! That was also surprising... AND the exchange rate wasn't bad either.

One of the best parts of the trip was Aharen Beach.  It's located on Tokashiki Island.  Tokashiki Island is about a 35 minute Marine Liner boat ride.  The ferry is slower and cheaper, but we were doing a day trip and wanted to get there quicker!  We left around 9:00am and spent most of the morning on the beach.  The water at the beach was a crystal blue that I've never seen before, and it was absolutely breath-taking! We were curious about Tokashiku Beach because there are sea turtles there, but there are no buses to that beach! So we attempted to walk, but luckily was offered a ride by a generous man name Hiroki!  He dropped us off at the beach and went on his way.  It was less crowded than Aharen.  No luck with any turtle sightings.  Afterwards we made our trek back to Aharen Beach... an uphill hike... AND once again... we were lucky enough to get a ride from another driver... It was my first time hitch hiking!! AND I'm grateful it was a safe experience on a small island with friendly people.

The last few days were spent at a resort that was isolated on a smaller "island" near the airport.  It had super nice hot springs, buffet breakfast, and 2 saunas.  It was one of the most relaxing hotels I have been in.  Okinawa was a great trip!!!! I would recommend it to anyone.  I think it would be great to stay at other islands around Okinawa as well. There is a lot to see and do throughout the Honto Island, and there are other islands to explore that are not far from it as well. 

This trip was more than I could ask for before I start my last semester at TIU.

Time to get back to WORK!!!! :)