The Unexpected Winter Destination in Japan, Okinawa

When it comes to travel to Japan from Europe or America, most people tended to have the idea that: Oh Tokyo is too expensive! Considering flights, accommodation, and other costs, well, Japan could be an expensive destination. But this time, I am going to tell you that: Travelling to Okinawa in the wintertime is not expensive at all!

Okinawa is a small island that is located off the Japanese main island, it is well known for scuba diving, food in the summer, and boats and there were a bunch of small islands nearby.

Despite its somewhat remote location, Okinawa is visited by a great number of tourists all year round that come to the area to explore the beautiful nature and blue seas among other things. Most tourists tend to visit Okinawa in the summer, which also made me want to give Okinawa a nickname - Asian Hawaii.

Day 1: Started the Journey in Naha

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa, which is usually the location where all the flights go. Small but clean airport and you might also pick up some snacks there.

Airport Transportation: You can get a train from Naha airport to the city center. Public transportation is very convenient.

Where to stay: We stayed near Maejima, this area has a lot of restaurants nearby, even a little cafe. The rooftop of our hotel even has a swimming pool, which was a plus point.

Day 2: The most famous ramen in Naha & Cape Manzamo

Started day 2 pretty late, we decided to queue for the most famous ramen place in Okinawa:

📍Ramen Danbo Naha Makishi Branch

I ordered a normal pork one and my friend Yo ordered a spicy version of it.

The ramen place opens at 10 am in the morning, we started to queue at 9 am.If there are 10 scores, I would give it 6.5/10, worth trying.

📍Cape Manzamo

In Japanese, it describes as: 万人が座するに足る毛(野原)

Basically means in the past, this place can sit 10,000 people on the grass. Cape Manzamo itself is an extremely stunning rock formation.

We got the bus from the city too there, which is very convenient, the bus journey might take around 1-2 hours, pack some snacks and drinks in 711(24 hours convenience store) will help you a lot.

See this famous "elephant nostril" which is very unique and definitely worth to visit.

The cliff walk itself is very beautiful, you may also see people who are taking a boat trip and pass by the cliffs. It is suitable for family, couple or even solo travellers.

📍American Village

If you are taking a bus coming back from Cape Manzamo, I would highly you stop by this American village. It is a large outdoor theme shopping place that includes a lot of restaurants, hand-craft shops as well as a big Ferris wheel. Especially during the nighttime, it is beautiful and definitely worth visiting.

Passed by a Taiwanese bubba tea shop and get myself a bubba tea, for those who don't know what is bubba tea, bubba is a type of chewy texture thing made of tapioca balls, and tapioca is made from taro. I recently made a Youtube video about bubba tea tasting too.

Day 3: Find Whales

Before I went to Okinawa, I never saw a whale in my life.

One of my top lists in Okinawa is to see Humpback Whale. Most of them live in the Pacific Ocean, and in order to see them, we signed up for a whale trip!

Each small boat can sit around 10 people. The trip itself is about 3 hours or so, if you are seasick, I'd highly recommend you take some medicine before the trip started. And don't eat too much food before you go. Because the waves can become very wavy, especially when the whale started to appear!

We were waiting on the sea for half an hour, and eventually, we saw one beautiful Humpback Whale. Couldn't take any photo of it, because it was too wavy!

Where to eat: 📍Yunangi

Yunagi is a very famous local restaurant that is known as Okinawa local cuisine.

One thing you cannot miss in Okinawa is to try the Okinawa local cuisine, for me, I always like Japanese food, and one of my favorites was Japanese Katsu, which is a crispy chicken dish.

Day 4: 📍Tokashiki Island (Tokashikijima)渡嘉敷島

I mentioned at the beginning of this blog that Okinawa has some small islands together, if you have a bit of time, definitely go to another small island. One of the closest islands is Tokashiki Island (渡嘉敷島) . From Naha, you can get a boat there for around 40-50 mins, and these islands have so many cute cats there!

We wandered around the island first, took some photos on the beach, and then signed up for an island half a day tour, the local guide will drive you around Tokashiki Island and introduce you to its history of it. Maybe because it was in the winter time, our tour was extremely quiet and peaceful, think about this island is already away from the main tourist attraction, and you are here, another island, fully enjoying the time by yourself, and surrounded by beautiful nature. Because the Pacific Ocean is relevant warm, even in late January time I can see some cherry blossoms already started to bloom.

The ocean is extremely blue, with a warm temperature, although it was winter time, it is around 18 degrees, which is not too cold! If you are into sea swimming, definitely go for a dip there!

This is one of the tourist attractions on the island, it is a water tower, if you have some creativity, can easily take a photo which make people think you are in the movie of Star Wars!

Day 5: 📍Umikaji Terrace Senagajima (瀬長島 ウミカジテラス)

瀬長島 ウミカジテラス is known as little Greece in Okinawa, because it has a lot of buildings and shops that are painted in white color.

How to get there: It is very close to Naha's city, you can search by using Google Maps, it will suggest you the route. From where we live, only took us 30 mins walk to get to there.

What to eat: You may think milk product in Europe is good, definitely try the Hokkaido ice cream in there, it will give you another definition of milk icecream. Eating ice cream, enjoying the sunset.

What to see: Except for the beautiful white buildings that you might see in Greece, my favorite part of Umikaji Terrace Senagajima is watching the beautiful sunset there. And you might be surprised about how many little lovely cafes or Shaka bowls you can find there!

Day 6: Shopping and see you next time Okinawa!

For souvenirs, you can find a lot of shops on the main street, one of my favourites is the sea salt soap! Because it is very unique and you won't find in another place in Japan, give yourself half a day's walk around the city, taste Japanese cakes, and enjoy the local vibe there before your flight.

I hope you enjoy my Okinawa unlimited guide, subscribe to the news letter to get more content in the future!