Okinawa Travel Report 2024 – A Magical Week in Japan's Paradise

I particularly enjoy writing reports like my Okinawa travelogue. There are quite a few magical and paradisiacal places in our world. Okinawa is one of them, and the island was practically unknown to me until a few weeks before our trip.

Japan's paradise Okinawa offers so much variety and has so many fantastic beaches and other activities that we could only see a fraction of it in a week.

But as it always is when you're in a place for the first time, it hardly matters which sight you see or which specific spot you visit. Everything is new, everything is heavenly and picturesque and exciting. That's how it was for us in Okinawa too.

In the following Okinawa travel report, I will introduce you to the five most beautiful sights we visited in one week. You will find out which attraction we should have visited right at the beginning at the very end. Since we also had many business appointments during the week, we visited some of the places rather „quickly“ and did not spend hours there.

This is always for me THE The main difference between traveling and taking a vacation is that you don't work on vacation. POINT

Getting to and Accommodation in Naha, Okinawa's Capital

It's called the Hawaii of Japan, Okinawa Prefecture, which consists of the main island, Okinawa Honto, and 113 other smaller islands, all belonging to the Ryukyu Islands group. In total, about 1.5 million people live on all the islands, with 1.3 million living in Okinawa.

We are flying from Tokyo to Naha. Okinawa is about 2,000 km from Tokyo, which is about a three-hour flight. Naha is the capital, with 320,000 inhabitants, and we will be staying there for a week. We are renting an apartment at Mercure Okinawa one which is strategically perfectly located on the monorail. The monorail runs from the airport right across the city. The hotel is only a few minutes from the airport. This is ideal for us.

I can highly recommend the Mercure, by the way, even for families. There's a large playground in the park 250 meters away, and if you have a free Accor membership, you can use the hotel lounge for free. They have drinks and snacks there all day long. Plus, it was a great place for us to work from, as it was usually very quiet.

On the very first evening, we eat at a diner around the corner and chat with a local couple. They are estimated to be around 90 years old and only speak broken English. Their 1,000 questions to us give us the first impression that the people here are incredibly nice and also interested. This impression is confirmed several times over the course of the week. I don't feel like a tourist here in Okinawa in that sense, but rather like a valued ’island visitor from afar.„ 🙂

Since we didn't rent a car, we're also staying mainly in the southern part of the island, where we can easily get around by monorail or Uber. If you want to rent a car, be sure to get the Japanese translation of your driver's license. You don't need an international driver's license, just the translation, which is basically notarized. Depending on your passport, you might get it faster or slower, but even the faster option still means a three-day wait.

Naha – The Capital of Okinawa

If you've already traveled to other Japanese cities, you'll like Naha. At least I was happy to be back in a smaller and cozier city. Naha offers you everything that cities like Kyoto and Tokyo also offer, but a little less of everything, and above all, without the stress.

We set off on the first day and explore the city. Right next to the Prefectural Office, which is a stop on the monorail, is the Ryubo Shopping Mall. We'll be here often in the coming days because there's a great indoor playground. It's so big that the kids love to keep themselves busy there for a few hours, and we can even have lunch there. And so, we actually end up coming here four times in total and spending half a day here each time. The kids have made friends by now and are looking forward to our „work time“ here.

The most famous shopping street in Naha is Kokusaidori Street, located right in the center. Here you'll find countless cute shops and stores. Everything is small here, but that gives the whole thing great charm. In addition to some delicious food stalls and restaurants, there are many jewelers here, all offering the typical and rare blue Okinawa stone. There are necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, and more. I lost the girls about half an hour ago somewhere in one of the many jewelry stores. 😉

Also located in the center are two parks, Matsuyama Park and Fukushuen Garden. The latter has a small entrance fee of a few euros. The parks are directly opposite each other, and we walk through Matsuyama Park. Since it's relatively hot at 35 degrees Celsius, the trees here offer pleasant shade, and we relax here for a bit.

Next, we head straight to Naminoue Beach. According to another Okinawa travel report, this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. Google Maps tells me that a highway runs over the beach. So I had to see that for myself.

Indeed, the beach itself is beautiful. It strongly reminds me of the Caribbean and Hawaii, but with a highway. We enjoy a delicious shaved ice on the beach and aren't bothered by the background noise. The engine noise mostly gets drowned out by the sound of the ocean, but the beach wouldn't be my favorite place in Okinawa. Nevertheless, the visit was worth it. We stretch our legs in the fine coral sand and then slowly make our way back to the city.

In the evening, we'll dine at Okinawa Dining Hateruma, a delicious and traditional restaurant located right in the center of Naha. It's always best to reserve a table here. We were lucky to get a free table as we visited on a weekday. Okinawan cuisine is one of the healthiest in the world. There are always delicious dishes with soups and seaweed, and above all, the Okinawan sweet potato, which is purple and used in all dishes here. Whether it's as a puree, fries, or even cold in a dessert.

The people in Okinawa have the highest life expectancy, so we're basically eating our way to health here. Yummy!

Mihama American Village Okinawa

Why is there actually an American village on a Japanese island? Good question. Here's the answer. The Americans simply stayed here after World War II. In other words, after Okinawa was attacked and occupied by the Americans in 1945, it simply remained under American leadership. This only changed in 1972.

The Americans also conducted the Vietnam War from Okinawa and also the Korean War supported. Soldiers were flown from Okinawa to the war zones. Today there are two large airbases in Okinawa, Kadena Airbase and MCAS Futenma. The former is the largest US Air Force base in the Asian region. But enough with the history. In any case, this is the reason why around 55,000 Americans live in Okinawa.

American Village is located in the southern part of Okinawa, about a 30-minute drive from Naha. We take an Uber there and don't say a word to the driver because he doesn't understand English. Thankfully, it's different at American Village. Everyone here speaks fluent English. It's nice after such a long time.

Essentially, the village is a shopping and entertainment district. There are numerous shopping malls, but they are designed like a village and strongly remind me of Honolulu in Hawaii. Generally, there’s a Hawaii and holiday vibe here. It’s a great atmosphere, with a promenade, many cafes and restaurants, and beautiful beaches.

We're spending a whole day here, going into the ocean for the first time in Okinawa, and enjoying the laid-back island life we normally only know from home. 😁 The food here is also fantastic, and there's a huge selection of restaurants. A travel report on Okinawa wouldn't be complete without mentioning the American Village. If it's your first time on the island, a trip to the American Village is definitely worthwhile. It was especially wonderful for the kids because they could relax and play on the beach.

Southeast Botanical Gardens – Japan's Paradise

Our whole family loves botanical gardens. In Barbados We even had a season pass because we visit these gardens regularly. The Southeast Botanical Garden is located north of Naha, about a 40-minute taxi or car ride away. The garden is divided into a water garden and a botanical garden. We only visit the water garden because there are several petting zoos for the kids there.

The first one is already behind the main entrance, right by the restaurant and cafe. For a few euros admission, you can feed and pet guinea pigs and rabbits here. The kids love this, and we spend almost an hour here. After a while, I hear a crazy rattling behind me, and when I turn around, I see an armadillo running around me. They look really funny. Unfortunately, it only wanted to be petted very briefly.

We'll eat something small to fortify ourselves, outside the petting zoo 😀, and then set off to explore the garden. I'm really glad we came here. The Botanical Garden in Okinawa is beautifully laid out. There are over 1,300 different plant species from all over the world.

My personal highlight was the many giant spiders you find in the trees and palm trees here. They spin a web that is partly 1 meter in diameter. This is actually unusual for such large spiders, which normally live more on the ground and in the undergrowth. But in this way, they can even catch bats. They are poisonous, but they don't attack people. Unless you fly into their web. 😉

The definite lowlight here was the fishing. Asians generally like to catch animals and release them. We saw this in many places where you could catch guppies and small goldfish, even small turtles with a net, count them, and then release them. Many indoor playgrounds had such pools. But here in the Botanical Garden, you could fish for goldfish and koi with hooks, count them, and then release them again. This means the fish are caught with hooks dozens of times a day. I find that pretty harsh.

But so many families joyfully caught buckets of fish and made a challenge out of it that nobody really thought about it anyway. The fun is the priority here. For us, it was creepy and totally unfair to the fish. Thank God our kids understood that right away. It's forbidden in Germany, by the way, but also allowed in some European countries. It's called "catch and release." For us, it's definitely not an option. We love animals!

We then walked a few meters further and saw a large enclosure with giant tortoises. There you could buy cucumbers and other vegetables for a few cents, and there were barbecue tongs to feed the tortoises with. It was fun and the tortoises slowly ate our vegetables.

A highlight for our youngest was the Bug and Crawly Creatures House. This is also located near the restaurant, and we stopped by again towards the end. All sorts of insects are exhibited here, and in a small room enclosed by a net, you can pet giant Hercules beetles. It was strange at first, but when we held the beetle in our hands, it didn't feel creepy at all. Our daughter had a blast with it. Whether the beetle enjoyed it as much remains unclear to this day, but it's possible they don't care, similar to snakes.

There's also a small bus that goes through the botanical garden, taking you to all the important points for a few euros. It's worth it because the ticket is valid all day. We only used it once because we preferred to walk, but it was quite convenient. Especially if you don't have all day.

After we were also offered a scorpion to nibble on after the beetle house, we thankfully declined and continued to view the rest of the garden. There are numerous baobab trees from Madagascar and the rarer dragon's blood trees here. They produce a red resin that looks like dragon's blood.

The day at the Southeast Botanical Gardens was amazing, and I can highly recommend a trip there. It's definitely worth it. We only visited one half and would absolutely see the second part next time. A travel report on Okinawa wouldn't be complete without mentioning this botanical garden.

Ginowan Tropical Beach

The Ginowan Tropical Beach is truly tropical, and we are thrilled to be on a tropical beach again. The beaches in Barbados still top all others, but this beach in Okinawa comes very close. Located about a 20-minute taxi ride north of the capital, this great urban style beach, as it's nicely called.

It's spacious and the water is beautifully shallow, which is ideal for kids. We see knee-high sea cucumbers, small deep blue fish, and a lot of small and large crabs there. The beach is ideal for relaxing. It's quiet, there's no noise from the city or the surrounding area, and it also seems ideal for BBQs. Above on the promenade, there's a large covered area with tables, benches, and barbecue facilities. We can't use that, of course, but the beach is also very popular with locals.

Baywatch ensures that no one drowns in shallow water and always keeps an eye on everything. That still gives us parents a good feeling. All in all, Tropical Beach is a great beach and place to be. It certainly contributes to Okinawa also being called Japan's paradise and should not be missing from an Okinawa travelogue.

Okinawa World – Experience the Island's Traditions Compactly

Now that we've visited Okinawa World, I know we should have visited it first. Because here you can learn everything compact about the culture, nature, and traditions in Okinawa. Okinawa World is a theme park in the south of the island, not far from Naha. We took an Uber for about 20 minutes to Nanjo.

The ticket I got through Trip.com booked, for about 11 EUR per adult and 5 EUR per child. With that I had it directly on my phone and we could bypass the line, meaning the line of people. We would see the other lines later on though.

Directly behind the entrance is the main attraction, the Gyokusendo Cave. It is a limestone cave that stretches for five kilometers. 850 meters of it are accessible to visitors, making it one of the largest caves in Japan. Since the cave is approximately 300,000 years old, there are thousands of stalactites and stalagmites here. This looks impressive and provides some breathtaking moments.

The lighting here has been particularly well done. The many individual formations are bathed in atmospheric colors thanks to a great lighting concept. For instance, a glowing blue river sometimes flows underneath, which then discharges into a violet waterfall. It's 21 degrees Celsius in the cave, which is pleasant for us since it's 36 degrees Celsius outside. This allows us to cool off a bit here.

Outside again, we go directly to Kingdom Village. This begins with a large fruit plantation. Here you can find every delicious fruit your heart desires. From mango trees to banana plantations and tasty papaya plants. There are even dragon fruit bushes here. I love dragon fruit and have only seen a dragon fruit bush once before, in Naha. Otherwise, I only know these fruits from the market or the supermarket.

In Kingdom Village, we also get to see many traditional local crafts, such as weaving, pottery, and glassblowing. There are workshops here, although they come at an additional cost. We'd rather treat ourselves to the fish spa. It's just too funny how the little fish clean our feet and legs. Even our kids love it. We've already done this extensively in Thailand. Afterwards, you walk as if on marshmallows, as one of our kids once described it.

So we keep walking on marshmallows to the Habu Park. Here, everything is dedicated to the native venomous snake, the Habu. The Habu Park consists of a snake museum and a small zoo. The park is intended to show visitors the importance of this snake. We learn here, for example, that we must never try to extract the venom, as it would have severe consequences. The venom is not life-threatening, but it causes „terrible“ pain. Well, we only encountered the snake here in Habu Park. Otherwise, you only meet them in dense forests and tall grass.

The comparison between the snake and the mongoose was impressive. We know the cute little animals well from Barbados. A mongoose is almost immune to all snake venom, and the snake usually comes out on the losing end. However, the Habu snake can bite so quickly and powerfully that it occasionally wins the fight. In Okinawa, mongooses were also introduced to control the snake population.

By the way, the Habu snake is also used for Habu sake, also called Haku-shu. This is a traditional liqueur from Okinawa that has a Habu snake steeped in the bottle. For Habu sake, regular sake is not used, but rather Awamori. This is made from Thai rice and has a higher alcohol content. After distillation, a Habu snake is added.

Habu sake is considered a strong symbol of courage and vitality in Okinawa. Locals believe that Habu sake promotes vitality and strength. I am already brave and vital, so I haven't tried it. But the bottle with the snake inside still looked interesting and exciting.

Okinawa Travel Tips and Trip Report – Japan's Paradise

Conclusion Okinawa – Japan's Paradise in the South

It was a fantastic week on a beautiful island. If you're anywhere in Japan, China, Taiwan, or Korea, be sure to plan a trip to Okinawa. The island is a dream and although we only saw a small part of it, we are already completely thrilled. You're much more flexible here with a rental car, but we had to work anyway and had to limit ourselves a bit here. Therefore, Uber was perfect for us.

The sights, attractions, cuisine, and beaches in Okinawa leave nothing to be desired. Besides the five attractions described above, there is so much more to see and experience. Okinawa therefore remains on my bucket list.

Now I'm at the end of my Okinawa travel report, which was especially fun this time. I hope I was able to make the island appealing to you and that you're planning your next trip there. It will definitely be worth it.

Have you ever been to Okinawa? What did you like best there? What should we see there next time? What's missing from my Okinawa travel report?

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